The Policy Shop

A weekly podcast tackling Illinois' most important issues.

The Policy Shop: Illinois public schools lower the bar instead of raising proficiency

Summer break is here, and with it an opportunity to reflect on how things are going in our schools. Illinois found itself among the minority of states graduating a higher percent of students post-pandemic in 2022. Yet, a deeper dive into state data reveals a troubling trend: while high school graduation rates rose, SAT scores...

The Policy Shop: Numbers don’t lie

This edition of The Policy Shop is brought to you by director of fiscal and economic research Bryce Hill. They say numbers don’t lie. If so, Illinois communities are now faced with an undeniable truth: 85% of them experienced population decline in 2022, with Chicago, the heart of our state, suffering a loss of nearly...

The Policy Shop: Springfield’s big budget crunch

This week’s The Policy Shop is by Bryce Hill, director of fiscal and economic research at the Illinois Policy Institute. With just a week left of session and a hard deadline of July 1 (the beginning of the new fiscal year) to pass a state budget, Springfield politicians are running out of time. As of...

The Policy Shop: Meet Chicago’s new machine boss

This week’s The Policy Shop is by Bryce Hill, director of fiscal and economic research at the Illinois Policy Institute Brandon Johnson was inaugurated as Chicago’s newest mayor on Monday following a surprising and polarizing campaign. So now the hard work begins. We need him to get down to business. Johnson needs to face –...

The Policy Shop: The one group trying to kill Illinois’ sole school choice program

This week’s The Policy Shop is from Mailee Smith, senior director of labor policy and staff attorney at the Illinois Policy Institute The start of spring reminds us two things are ending: the school year and the spring legislative session. That means time is running out to save Invest in Kids – the tax credit...

The Policy Shop: The connection between Illinois’ pension and population crises

This week’s The Policy Shop is by Bryce Hill, director of fiscal and economic research for the Illinois Policy Institute. Illinois’ pension crisis is the driving force behind its high property taxes. With $140 billion in unfunded liabilities in the five state-run systems alone, plus another $70 billion in local pension system debt, state lawmakers’ default...

The Policy Shop: Where have all the (ex-)Illinoisans gone?

This week’s The Policy Shop is by Bryce Hill, director of fiscal and economic research for the Illinois Policy Institute. We all know someone who’s left Illinois … or talks about it. What’s shocking is how deep the negative outlook on the state of Illinois runs. New polling shows 51% of Illinoisans want to leave,...

The Policy Shop: What’s driving big labor’s big membership decline?

This week’s The Policy Shop comes from Mailee Smith, staff attorney and director of labor policy at the Illinois Policy Institute.  The subjects: People are rejecting uber-political government unions. The numbers prove it. There has been an 18.5% drop in membership across Illinois in the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31...