Illinois’ penalty for borrowing now 7 times higher than when Quinn took office
Illinois’ penalty for borrowing now 7 times higher than when Quinn took office
This week Illinois borrowed $350 million to pay for projects including roads, bridges and schools. The state issued 25-year taxable general obligation bonds, the first borrowing by Illinois since the state passed its pension “fix” in early December. But not unlike someone with a terrible credit score, Illinois must pay the highest penalty rate of...
Illinois employers warn of nearly 1,800 layoffs
Illinois employers warn of nearly 1,800 layoffs
Nearly 1,800 workers will be laid off throughout Illinois in the next two months. This unfortunate holiday news will affect nearly 500 Dominick’s employees as the company prepares to close up shop in Illinois. The latest round of notices includes 141 workers from the company’s Oak Brook headquarters and another 332 workers at its Northlake...
By Hilary Gowins
Chicago aldermen prioritize Styrofoam ban over real business of the city
Chicago aldermen prioritize Styrofoam ban over real business of the city
Two Chicago aldermen are convinced that banning Styrofoam containers would protect the children of Chicago. Accordingly, these aldermen – Ed Burke and George Cardenas – have proposed an ordinance banning the use of Styrofoam by coffee shops, restaurants, schools and other frequent users, according to the Associated Press. Burke and Cardenas are pushing this ban...
By Hilary Gowins
Illinois added 100 people to food stamps for every net new job created during past decade
Illinois added 100 people to food stamps for every net new job created during past decade
The number of Illinoisans enrolled in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, remained above 2 million in September. This is the 12th month in a row enrollment has remained above 2 million people. That means one-sixth of Illinoisans have spent more than a year relying on government handouts for their next meal. And it should...
By John Klingner
Current government retirees turn sick days into pension dollars
Current government retirees turn sick days into pension dollars
The pensions that government workers receive in Illinois are often based upon more years of service than these employees actually worked. That’s because, among many other perks, government workers can apply unused sick days to their pensionable service credit. In the Teachers’ Retirement System, or TRS, Illinois’ largest state pension fund, a 55 year-old teacher...
By Benjamin VanMetre
Illinois has 43% of the country’s public pension plans
Illinois has 43% of the country’s public pension plans
Illinois has 43 percent of the nation’s public pension plans, according to a 2012 study published by the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability, or COGFA, conducted by Marquette Associates on local police and fire pensions in Illinois. According to publicly available data, there are 1,511 public pension plans in the United States. With 657...
By Brian Costin
7,000 Illinoisans enrolled in ObamaCare plans in the first 2 months
7,000 Illinoisans enrolled in ObamaCare plans in the first 2 months
Almost 365,000 Americans have “enrolled” in the ObamaCare exchanges, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. That number is far below the Obama administration’s impending goal of enrolling 3 million people by the end of December and 7 million by the end of March. But the true number of people who have...
By Naomi Lopez Bauman
Chicago backs off e-cigarette ban
Chicago backs off e-cigarette ban
Last month, Chicago was poised to become the second city in Illinois to impose burdensome new restrictions on e-cigarettes, threatening to regulate them like tobacco products even though they contain no tobacco. But after facing strong opposition at the City Council’s joint Finance and Health Committee hearing on Monday, a much weaker version of the...
By Bryant Jackson-Green
Pension bill’s accounting gimmicks ignore $6-$8B in debt
Pension bill’s accounting gimmicks ignore $6-$8B in debt
House Speaker Mike Madigan and proponents of the temporary pension “fix” enacted last week promised taxpayers that it would immediately reduce the state’s unfunded pension liability by about $20 billion. But despite these promises, the credit rating agencies have indicated that they would be waiting for actuarial analyses before making any decisions on how the new law...
By Jonathan Ingram
Government union power cracking as support wanes
Government union power cracking as support wanes
While teachers unions hold tremendous power, cracks are starting to appear in their foundations. As Stephanie Simon reports in Politico, both the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers are dealing with new challenges: declining membership, the growing popularity of Right-to-Work laws and a loss of support among the public. As Simon describes...
By Paul Kersey
Delaying the day of reckoning
Delaying the day of reckoning
While the media and politicians across Illinois celebrate the state’s “landmark,” “monumental” and “courageous” pension fix, for most Illinoisans nothing has changed. Taxpayers will continue to hear calls for higher taxes to keep the state’s pension systems afloat. Government workers and retirees are still trapped in a pension system that gives them no voice, no...
National unemployment falls to 7% in Nov. as federal employees return to work
National unemployment falls to 7% in Nov. as federal employees return to work
The national unemployment rate fell to 7 percent in November, down from 7.3 percent a month earlier, according to the latest report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, or BLS. The number of unemployed Americans fell by 365,000, while both the number of employed and the labor force grew over the month. The number...
By John Klingner
October unemployment: 8 of 10 Illinois MSA’s unemployment rates rose or experienced no improvement year over year
October unemployment: 8 of 10 Illinois MSA’s unemployment rates rose or experienced no improvement year over year
Eight of Illinois’ 10 Metropolitan Statistical Areas, or MSAs, saw their unemployment rates rise or remain stagnant compared to October 2012, according to today’s combined September-October metropolitan area unemployment report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Decatur and Danville regions are still suffering the highest unemployment in the state, with 12.3 percent and...
By John Klingner
Amazon Associates back in business in Illinois thanks to Supreme Court decision
Amazon Associates back in business in Illinois thanks to Supreme Court decision
On Wednesday, thousands of Illinois residents got good news when Amazon announced that its Amazon Associates program – which allows bloggers and others with websites to make money when people click links on their sites to make purchases – would once again be open to them. Amazon dropped Illinoisans from the program in April 2011...