Press Room

Illinois sees nation’s worst population decline of the decade

Population loss driven by nearly 853,000 residents leaving Illinois since 2010

Pritzker signs police, fire pension fund consolidation bill with hidden costs

SB 1300 includes pension sweeteners without public cost estimates

Taxpayers face 9 new taxes on Jan. 1

Nine new taxes and fees will take $1.7 billion out of Illinois’ economy and taxpayers’ wallets in 2020.

Small Business Saturday: Illinois’ best job creators experienced sharp slowdown last year

More than 4,600 small business establishments shuttered in Illinois last year, even though they still create the vast majority of the state’s net new jobs.

Chicago Mayor Lightfoot’s budget avoids major tax hikes but isn’t truly balanced

Chicago’s budget can’t be balanced without a constitutional amendment to align pension costs with what taxpayers can afford

Lawmakers vote to consolidate police, fire pension funds without crunching the numbers

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (Nov. 14, 2019) – Today, the Illinois General Assembly voted to consolidate more than 640 local police and fire pension funds. An amendment also added provisions that ramp up Tier II benefits for those hired after 2011. Senate Bill 1300 will now move to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s desk for signature. By creating one...

Bill obstructing public employee rights heads to Gov. Pritzker’s desk

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (Nov. 13, 2019) – A bill to restrict public sector employee rights, expose their private information and limit their access to information heads to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s desk today, following a 45-9 concurrence vote by the Illinois Senate. Senate Bill 1784 allows for opt-out windows of only 10 days each year, while giving unions...

Statehouse solutions could protect taxpayers from Illinois’ corruption problems

Legislative veto session offers opportunity for lawmakers to pass anti-corruption measures