More than 150,000 Medicaid enrollees found ineligible for the program
More than 150,000 Medicaid enrollees found ineligible for the program
In January, the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, or HFS, began a new project verifying eligibility for Illinois’ 2.7 million Medicaid enrollees. For years, state workers had failed to take adequate steps to ensure the people receiving Medicaid benefits were actually eligible for the program. As an Auditor General report noted, state workers failed to...
By Jonathan Ingram
ObamaCare: How much is it going to cost Illinosians?
ObamaCare: How much is it going to cost Illinosians?
Illinoisans have heard the pitches about how affordable health insurance will be under the Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as ObamaCare. On Sept. 24, Gov. Pat Quinn was trumpeting the ObamaCare health insurance exchange in Illinois. Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is at it. Both have been cheering the least-expensive health insurance...
By Naomi Lopez Bauman
Labor law fails to protect whistleblowers
Labor law fails to protect whistleblowers
The ethics of big labor tend to be completely backward, protecting the corrupt while punishing the diligent. One reason why is a federal labor law that fails to protect union officials when they try to protect their members from crime, as James Sherk writes in National Review’s “Corner” blog. In a recent article that appeared...
By Paul Kersey
Illinois’ ‘weak management practices’ land it low on Forbes’ list of best states for business
Illinois’ ‘weak management practices’ land it low on Forbes’ list of best states for business
Forbes released this week its Best States for Business 2013 index. Illinois held onto its 2012 rank of the 38th-best state for business. The study scores all 50 states using 35 data points that are boiled down to six main categories. Illinois’ ranks generally fall in the mid-to high-30s out of the 50 states, with the exception its...
By Benjamin VanMetre
Teachers can reclaim a portion of union dues
Teachers can reclaim a portion of union dues
School has been back in session for about a month now, and teachers across Illinois are busy making lesson plans, grading papers and more. But they should also be thinking about whether or not they want to contribute to their union’s political campaigns. Public school teachers are almost always forced to pay union dues or...
By Paul Kersey
Corruption-fighting inspector general sharing program comes to Cook County
Corruption-fighting inspector general sharing program comes to Cook County
An inspector general investigates allegations of fraud, waste, abuse, mismanagement, misconduct and related violations of the law involving individuals employed by or doing business with a government agency. With Illinois’ long history of corruption, inspector generals are one of the most important public servants who help make sure taxpayer dollars are being spent appropriately. Unfortunately,...
By Brian Costin
Tax myth: progressive income taxes reduce the tax burden on middle-and low-income earners
Tax myth: progressive income taxes reduce the tax burden on middle-and low-income earners
Several special interest groups and lawmakers in Illinois are pushing to increase taxes by swapping out the state’s constitutionally protected flat rate income tax for a progressive income tax. Advocates for the progressive income tax increase are disguising their plan as a tax cut for middle-and low-income earners. But the legislation that’s been proposed thus...
By Benjamin VanMetre
Term limits puts career politicians and lobbyists on notice
Term limits puts career politicians and lobbyists on notice
Despite their rationale, critics who oppose term limits are siding with the status quo, which not only keeps intact all-powerful political dynasties but also preserves special-interest lobbyists’ relationships with legislators. Christopher Mooney is one such critic, as he made clear in his recent anti-term limits editorial in Crain’s Chicago Business. By opposing term limits, Mooney isn’t...
By Brian Costin
Illinois’ ObamaCare exchange and Gov. Quinn’s failed math
Illinois’ ObamaCare exchange and Gov. Quinn’s failed math
A Sept. 24 press release from Gov. Pat Quinn’s office announced with excitement that Illinois’ health insurance premiums under the state’s ObamaCare health insurance exchange would be lower than previous government estimates. This statement implies that Illinoisans won’t see their insurance premiums go up despite the massive health insurance expansion about to unfold under ObamaCare. But what...
By Naomi Lopez Bauman
Term-limits referendums are overwhelmingly successful
Term-limits referendums are overwhelmingly successful
Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner is championing a term-limits referendum proposal to amend the Illinois Constitution. If the measure is successful, it would limit terms in the Illinois General Assembly to eight years. The proposal has three major hurdles to pass to become law. It must: Gather more than 300,000 signatures to appear on the ballot Survive...
By Brian Costin
Capital City CrossFit is breaking the status quo
Capital City CrossFit is breaking the status quo
The story of two entrepreneurs who are disrupting the status quo in Illinois and nurturing a stronger business environment.
By Jackson Adams
Illinois: nation’s 2nd-highest unemployment rate for sixth straight month
Illinois: nation’s 2nd-highest unemployment rate for sixth straight month
ix months ago, Illinois overtook California to become the state with the second-highest unemployment rate in the nation, behind only Nevada. It hasn’t budged since. Today’s release from the Bureau of Labor Statistics details yet another month of stalled unemployment numbers for Illinois. The state’s August unemployment rate remained at 9.2 percent – 1.9 percentage...
By Ted Dabrowski, John Klingner
More than 141,000 Medicaid enrollees in Illinois found ineligible for the program
More than 141,000 Medicaid enrollees in Illinois found ineligible for the program
In January, the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, or HFS, began a new project verifying eligibility for Illinois’ 2.7 million Medicaid enrollees. For years, state workers had failed to take adequate steps to ensure the people receiving Medicaid benefits were actually eligible for the program. As an Auditor General report noted, state workers failed to...
By Jonathan Ingram