Chicago: The city that works but not for entrepreneurs
Chicago: The city that works but not for entrepreneurs
Chicago has the worst entrepreneurship rate among the 15 largest metropolitan areas in the country.
Willowbrook mails public employee compensation info to residents
Willowbrook mails public employee compensation info to residents
Ever since the Village of Willowbrook’s participation in the Illinois Policy Institute’s Local Transparency Project, the Mayor and Board of Trustees have been interested in ways of furthering the Village’s transparency efforts.” – Garrett Hummel, Management Analyst, Village of Willowbrook. The Village of Willowbrook previously earned a transparency award from the Illinois Policy Institute for scoring an...
Institute in Daily Herald: A road map to transparency
Institute in Daily Herald: A road map to transparency
Only when our government leaders emphasize the importance of transparency in all they do will taxpayers truly benefit.
Teacher retirement costs stealing our kids’ futures
Teacher retirement costs stealing our kids’ futures
Just over the past five years, 71 cents from every new dollar set aside by state government for Pk-12 education went to teacher retirement costs.
Illinois’ economic turnaround depends on entrepreneurship
Illinois’ economic turnaround depends on entrepreneurship
As the graphic shows, the rate of entrepreneurship in Illinois has been below the national average every year since 1996 except for 2001. The Kauffman Foundation entrepreneurship index measures the percentage of adults ages 20 to 64 that start a new business each month and work 15 or more hours per week. It’s measured across all 50...
Evanston lawsuit much more than just a food fight
Evanston lawsuit much more than just a food fight
Illinois has felt the bite of the Great Recession more than most states. Our unemployment rate increased to 8.7 percent in June, the highest in the Midwest and 10th highest in the nation. Lawmakers should be doing all they can to make opening a business easier. But in Evanston, Illinois, they are imposing needless restraints....
In tough economic times, Evanston piles on
In tough economic times, Evanston piles on
by Andrew C. Quinn “Take a risk! Be bold! Blaze your own trail!” We college students, along with recent graduates, constantly hear these commands to forge our own path through these uncertain times. Commencement speakers, counselors, columnists and family friends all repeat the conventional wisdom that entrepreneurial flexibility is now a prerequisite for success. Gone,...
Illinois’ economic turnaround depends on entrepreneurship
Illinois’ economic turnaround depends on entrepreneurship
by Lawrence J. McQuillan, PhD Chief Economist As the graphic shows, the rate of entrepreneurship in Illinois has been below the national average every year since 1996 except for 2001. The Kauffman Foundation entrepreneurship index measures the percentage of adults ages 20 to 64 that start a new business each month and work 15 or more hours...
Food fight in Evanston
Food fight in Evanston
On August 7, 2012, the Liberty Justice Center filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a City of Evanston ordinance that exists only to protect established restaurant owners from the legitimate competition that food trucks would bring to the C
Seven DuPage County-area governments receive high marks in online transparency audit
Seven DuPage County-area governments receive high marks in online transparency audit
CHICAGO (Aug. 1, 2012) – In the latest round of online transparency audits conducted by the Illinois Policy Institute, only 13 of 22 local government agencies in the York Township-area in DuPage County received passing grades. In an effort to fight corruption and encourage public participation in government, the Illinois Policy Institute grades governments on...
Illinois has highest cost of government in Midwest
Illinois has highest cost of government in Midwest
The average Illinoisan works 208 days to pay the cost of government July 26 is Illinois’ Cost of Government Day, the date of the calendar year on which the average Illinois worker has earned enough gross income to pay off his or her share of the spending and regulatory burden imposed by government at the federal,...
Liberty Justice Center files lawsuit challenging lllinois campaign finance law
Liberty Justice Center files lawsuit challenging lllinois campaign finance law
On July 24, 2012, the Liberty Justice Center filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Illinois’ campaign finance law. The law establishes a series of contribution limits on individuals and associations, including our client, Illinois Liberty PAC, while exempting political parties and their leaders from these same limits. The law’s overall scheme includes political party exemptions...
Look at who they have to deal with
Look at who they have to deal with
The budget that CPS produced is not without its flaws but CPS Chief Administrator Tim Cawley at least managed to display a certain bedraggled graciousness – too tired to be strident – as he walked the audience of 200, mostly CTU partisans, through the board’s handiwork. By contrast, the union members and their allies in...
Lawmakers should not opt-in to ObamaCare’s Medicaid expansion
Lawmakers should not opt-in to ObamaCare’s Medicaid expansion
Now that the dust has settled from the Supreme Court’s ObamaCare decision, states are trying to decide whether they should opt-in to ObamaCare’s massive Medicaid expansion. Just 10 states have committed to expanding Medicaid, with another three leaning toward implementing the expansion. Leaders in 13 states, including those run by both Republicans and Democrats, have...