Illinois’ comeback story starts here.
A weekly podcast tackling Illinois' most important issues.
This episode of The Policy Shop is by writer Patrick Andriesen Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s campaign pledge to end the ShotSpotter gunshot detection system has come to fruition. The city’s contract expired on Sept. 22. Analysis of city data shows the aldermanic wards reporting the most gunshots were the ones who fought hardest to keep...
This episode of The Policy Shop is by Bryce Hill, director of fiscal and economic research. When Democrats come to Chicago Aug. 19-22, they will find plenty of elbow room: people are leaving, and not because of the potential for protests to turn ugly near the United Center. Chicago has lost nearly 130,000 residents since 2014, marking...
This episode of The Policy Shop is by writer Patrick Andriesen Compare Illinois’ median property tax bill to Alabama’s. Illinois’ is higher. Add Alabama’s and West Virginia’s bills together. Illinois’ is still higher. Take Alabama’s, West Virginia’s, Arkansas’, Louisiana’s and South Carolina’s bills and total them all up – Illinois’ is still higher. If you...
This episode of The Policy Shop is by writer Patrick Andriesen The typical Illinois homeowner is paying $756 more in property taxes than five years ago, and it’s not just inflation: half of Illinois’ 102 counties saw their bills rise faster than the cost of living. Homeowners across 61 Illinois counties saw their property taxes...
This edition of The Policy Shop is by Bryce Hill, director of fiscal and economic research. When you treat people like piggy banks, some of them will get fed up and move. It is most likely the folks with the most money will be the ones to go. Illinois politicians seem to be ignoring those...
This edition of The Policy Shop is by policy analyst Hannah Schmid. If you were given $68,000 per student and two staffers for every three students, what do you think the result would be? National Honor Society graduates with Ivy League schools clamoring for their presence? Well, not if you gave that money to the Chicago Teachers...
This edition of The Policy Shop is by writer Patrick Andriesen The Illinois Supreme Court is being asked to quickly decide whether to allow a mid-election attempt by state leaders to prevent challengers from getting on the Nov. 5 ballot. The issue will decide whether state lawmakers and Gov. J.B. Pritzker can win by changing...
This episode of The Policy Shop is by policy analyst Hannah Schmid. If you are spending part of your day reading this, it’s more than a little likely you had solid teachers in first through third grades. They taught you to read, which was essential to learning all that was to come during the rest...
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