Press Room

Laughingstock State

The Institute is cited in the following opinion piece by the Peoria Journal Star. Only in Illinois could you end the fiscal year with $6.1 billion in red ink and have it be considered good news. On Monday Illinois Comptroller Judy Barr Topinka said that a $1.3 billion unanticipated windfall in April allowed the Deadbeat State to...

No movement in Illinois pension reform

Illinois Policy Institute CEO John Tillman joined Charles Thomas on ABC 7 to discuss the pension committee’s lack of progress. After a summer of continued credit downgrades and persistent high unemployment, the bi-partisan pensions committee has nothing to show despite nearly three months of work. At an un-related event, a self-described “anxious” Governor Pat Quinn worried that...

Where is your town hiding its salary report?

Illinois Policy Institute Director of Government Reform Brian Costin is quoted in the following Daily Herald article. by Jake Griffin Of all the information available on a municipality’s website, salary details for most department heads should be one of the easiest things to find. After all, a state law dictates that current compensation records for employees making...

No Pension Reform, No Pay

The Institute is mentioned in the following The Wall Street Journal article: by Collin Levy Illinois lawmakers have been notoriously reckless with the state’s pension liabilities, leaving the system among the most underfunded in the country. In its latest bellyflop, the committee in charge of finding a “compromise” solution to the crisis missed a July 9...

Quinn’s pension stunt may spur action — but will it be the right kind?

Crain’s Chicago Business published the following opinion piece by Institute Vice President of Policy Ted Dabrowski. There’s no question that Gov. Pat Quinn’s decision to hold hostage legislators’ paychecks until pension reform passes is, in Mr. Quinn’s mind, a political slam dunk. What better way for Mr. Quinn to show he’s serious about reform than making legislators...

Governor Quinn signs Medicaid expansion into law

Illinois Policy Institute Vice President of Policy Ted Dabrowski joined Mike Flannery on Fox Chicago to discuss Illinois’ Medicaid expansion. Beginning New Year’s Day, up to 1 million more low-income adult Illinoisans will be eligible for free health care coverage. Governor Quinn signed it into law on Monday. He noted that the President’s Affordable Care Act promises...

Ted Dabrowksi discusses pension reform in Illinois

Illinois Policy Institute Vice President of Policy Ted Dabrowski joins Matt Schmidt on WGEM to discuss pension reform.

Ill. unemployment at 9.2 percent for July, above nat’l average

Illinois Policy Institute CEO John Tillman joined Charles Thomas on ABC 7 Chicago to discuss Illinois’ stalled unemployment rate. In Illinois, the unemployment rate is 9.2 percent, while nationally the rate stands at 7.4 percent. Why is it so much higher here? Illinois has the second-highest state unemployment rate in the country. Only Nevada’s 9.6...