The 2012 Illinois Piglet Book highlights nearly 200 examples of wasteful government spending totaling more than $354 million.
The 2012 Illinois Piglet Book highlights nearly 200 examples of wasteful government spending totaling more than $354 million.
In the mid-1990s, Illinois lawmakers were facing a serious problem: the unfunded liability of the state’s five public pension systems. By 1996, the state’s unfunded pension liability stood at $20 billion. As a way to combat this growing problem, the state created a repayment schedule, often called the “pension ramp.” The pension ramp promised to...
PRESS RELEASE from the ILLINOIS POLICY INSTITUTE MEDIA CONTACT: Diana Rickert Diana@IllinoisPolicy.org or (312) 607-4977 Vernon Hills only bright spot in suburban government transparency audit 19 out of 22 local governments in Lake County receive failing grades CHICAGO (Dec. 19, 2012) – Lake County residents pay some of the highest property tax rates in the...
In the mid-1990s, Illinois lawmakers were facing a serious problem: the unfunded liability of the state
Are you worried about your own retirement? With the downturn in the economy, did your 401k and savings take a big hit? If so, you're like millions of other Americans forced to confront a dramatically different outlook for their post-work years. But one gr
State Rep. Elaine Nekritz, state Rep. Daniel Biss and several of their rank-and-file colleagues recently unveiled a new pension reform proposal. These lawmakers should be commended for stepping forward with a plan, rather than waiting on their political leaders to get around to fixing the problem. Unfortunately, the Nekritz-Biss plan falls short of fixing the...
It is a basic axiom of government collective bargaining: If you have to bargain with a union about anything, you are liable to have to bargain with them about everything, and that includes things that you aren’t supposed to bargain about at all. This why collective bargaining with government employees is such a problem: Even...
State Rep. Elaine Nekritz, state Rep. Daniel Biss and several of their rank-and-file colleagues recently unveiled a new pension reform proposal.
It is a basic axiom of government collective bargaining: If you have to bargain with a union about anything, you are liable to have to bargain with them about everything, and that includes things that you aren
The Illinois Policy Institute's Director of Government Reform, Brian Costin, submitted the following letter to the Illinois Times. An edited version appeared in the latest print edition
In the last two years, our Midwest neighbors in Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan have curtailed the power of labor unions.
Yes, Quinn