Illinois politicians have looted and mismanaged government-worker pensions for decades. Now the retirement security of government workers is at risk. It’s time to take politicians out of the retirement business and give workers control over their own retirement futures. Here are the top 10 facts you need to know about 401(k)-style retirement plans: 1) 401(k)s...
Illinois is ready to boom. That is the single most important fact about Illinois’ jobs climate and economy as a whole. However, Illinoisans have been held back by policy errors that have plagued the state for decades, especially since the Great Recession. Policy errors are causing tremendous pain for Illinoisans, but that pain can be...
One of the best protections against government corruption is transparency. And in today’s digital age, one of the easiest ways for government to be open and accountable is through posting public documents on the Internet. Illinois needs to strengthen online transparency standards to fight government corruption and wasteful spending practices, especially given its troubled history...
The Affordable Care Act, or ACA, commonly known as ObamaCare, is failing to deliver on its promises to provide health-care access and affordability. While some Illinoisans now have coverage, it has come at the expense of people like Michéle who lost her employer-based coverage as a result of the law and now struggles to find...
The school board in Hinsdale Township High School District 86 is expected to approve a contract with the local teachers union this week, despite the fact that the school board refused to make the terms of this agreement available to the public. Luckily, on Oct. 19, the contract was obtained by the Illinois Policy Institute...
For weeks, teachers in Hinsdale Township High School District 86 threatened to strike after contract negotiations went awry. But on Oct. 9, the union and district officials reached a deal. A strike was avoided, but at what cost? Hinsdale taxpayers won’t find out until after the ink is dry on the new contract because of...
From the beginning of the Great Recession in January 2008 through August 2014, Illinois is still down 157,100 payroll jobs, more than any other state in the U.S. Some sectors of Illinois’ economy have recovered completely, while others remain dramatically below pre-recession levels. Manufacturing and construction have had it the worst through the recession era,...
On Sep. 30, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s office announced the “2014 Taxi Driver Fairness Reforms,” which purport to be major improvements that “[put] thousands of dollars back into [Chicago taxi drivers’] pockets” and “[cut] bureaucratic red tape” these drivers have to navigate. The reforms, some of which will need to be passed in a new...
Missing from Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s recent 2015 budget proposal is a plan to prepare for a massive increase in the city’s pension costs. The city’s required pension payment is slated to more than double next year. The increased cost wasn’t included the 2015 proposal because the city won’t have to pay for the full...
For weeks, teachers in Hinsdale Township High School District 86 threatened to strike after contract negotiations went awry. But on Oct. 9, the union and district officials reached a deal. A strike was avoided, but at what cost? Hinsdale taxpayers won’t find out until after the ink is dry on the new contract because of...
Kankakee County already has one of the highest average property tax rates in the country. In 2012, the Tax Foundation ranked Kankakee County as having the 79th-highest property taxes in the nation out of more than 800 of the largest counties in the U.S. Soon, Kankakee County could have one of the highest sales-tax rates...
Hudson rights are important to Illinois government employees, because under state labor law unions are entitled to collect union dues – or their functional equivalent – from every worker they represent, even if the employee does not support the union. Hudson rights mitigate the harm done by forced dues, allowing workers to opt out of...
Should a school district be allowed to use your tax dollars to promote a ballot measure that would raise sales taxes? Of course not. In fact, the Illinois State Officials and Employees Ethics Act requires all units of local government, including school boards, to adopt policies prohibiting their officials and employees from using government resources...
President Barack Obama promised that he would “not sign a [health-care] plan that adds one dime to the deficit, now or in the future, period.” But according to a new analysis by Republican members of the Senate Budget Committee, or SBC, ObamaCare is now estimated to increase the federal budget deficit by $131 billion over...