The Problem Bob and Rita Smith* are generous people. Every year, they give about $2,000 to wealthy, politically connected real estate developers doing business in their Wilson Yard neighborhood. Bob and Rita live frugally, work hard to save for retirement, and struggle to make ends meet each month—and yet, they keep on giving to the...
The Problem Imagine you’re about to have heart surgery. Would you want your doctor operating on your heart in the dark? Or without looking at your x-ray first? Without an x-ray, he wouldn’t know where to operate, the severity of your sickness or understand exactly what he needs to do in order to save your...
The Problem Imagine for a moment that your father, brother or husband had prostate cancer. That is bad enough, of course, but now imagine that they had to unnecessarily wait in long lines to get the most advanced and least invasive treatment possible, or perhaps, not receive this better treatment at all. Or imagine it...
Executive Summary Every day, the state of Illinois is in a competition with 49 other states and the rest of the world. The rewards for succeeding? More businesses, more jobs, more resources, and a better place to live for all citizens. Unfortunately, the Illinois economy is lagging behind—and unless we turn away from the government-centered...
Executive Summary Illinois has 871 school districts. Each one is supposed to efficiently provide a high-quality education to all students who enroll in its schools. It is no secret that many districts have struggled with providing a high-quality education. Others have struggled to do so efficiently. A number of reforms exist to help school districts...
What to do about 47 million uninsured nationwide and 1.4 million Illinoisans without insurance? This has become a central issue in the debate over health care. In recent years, mandates, both on individuals and businesses, have emerged as a popular solution among policymakers to address the chronic problem of the uninsured and uncompensated care. Last...
WHY HEALTH CARE COSTS SO MUCH AND WHAT WE CAN DO ABOUT IT (Springfield, Ill.) Government intervention in the economy, whenever it is tried, often comes with unintended consequences that make matters worse. The arena of health care is no exception. Over recent decades, the debate over what has caused health care costs to rise so...
Critics say that the effect of suspending the Illinois Gas Tax will be minimal and would deprive state government of needed taxes to build highways and roads. They are wrong on both counts. Lowering the gas sales tax from 6.25% to 1.25% (HB6318) will make a material difference in the lives of Illinois residents in...
We’ve joined with Citizens Against Government Waste to put together the book that Springfield doesn’t want you to read, highlighting over $686 million in wasteful spending. Highlights include: $4 million for a Ford Technical Training Center in Chicago Heights $1 million for the Illinois film office in Chicago $920,000 for the Chicago Aerospace Education Initiative $550,000 for the conservation of pheasants...
Do Illinois citizens deserve to know where their tax dollars go? Less than ten years ago, a state audit found that many of our public officials didn’t think so. More than two-thirds of requests for public documents, the study found, were turned away at local offices. More than a quarter of them were denied altogether....
Illinois’ Medicaid program suffers from a number of maladies that increase costs for all while deteriorating service for its enrollees. Among these are a perverse set of incentives—incentives that not only perpetuate a culture of dependency among Medicaid recipients, but that also block potential reforms to fix the system. Because Medicaid is a joint federal...
Many Illinois citizens, facing unaffordable insurance costs within state borders, are forced to cross their fingers when it comes to their family’s health. It doesn’t have to be this way. Illinois families and children can live healthier, happier and safer lives. Every day, Americans purchase products from around the country—vegetables from California, fruit from Florida,...
Many Illinois children are currently trapped in failing public schools. Most of these children, whose futures are put at risk due simply to geography and bureaucracy, would thrive if given equal choices and greater educational opportunities. Those opportunities can come in the form of the expansion of a simple tax credit—the Illinois Education Expense Tax...
The most significant development in American public education over the past fifteen years has been the advent of charter schools. There are more than 4,000 charter schools operating nationwide. Some states are home to hundreds of charter schools. Illinois is lagging far behind. There are only 35 charter schools in Illinois, enrolling less than one...