Press Room

Rockford’s dangerous pension status

Ted Dabrowski, VP of Policy at the Illinois Policy Institute joins Scot Bertram and Riley O’Neal to discuss the dangerous status of Rockford’s pension system.

Chicago’s credit downgrade

Illinois Policy Institute CEO John Tillman joined John Kass and Lauren Cohn to discuss Chicago’s pension crisis and latest credit downgrade.

Rockford taxpayer pension liability double what it was a decade ago

by Kevin Haas Pension costs have consumed more of Illinois’ cities revenues, forcing higher taxes and cuts in services, a statewide report from the Illinois Policy Institute shows. The Institute, a research group that previously advocated for 401(k)-style public pension plans, highlighted some of Rockford’s pension woes in the report released last week. The report states...

Study outlines Rockford’s pension crisis

By Kristin Crowley A city in crisis. That’s how one research group describes Rockford because of its pension problems. It gives the city a critical rating, and warns taxpayers aren’t the only ones feeling the impact. “A lot of attention is being put on Chicago because Chicago is the super dangerous pension system in the...

Central Illinois cities top list of state’s worst-funded municipal pension systems: Illinois Policy Institute audit

Peoria, Decatur and Bloomington have some of the worst funded public pension systems in the state PEORIA (Feb. 27, 2014) – State lawmakers spent the last few years debating state-level public pension reform in the capital, but a new study released by the Illinois Policy Institute suggests attention should now be turned to local...

City of Rockford ranks among state’s worst-funded municipal pension systems: Illinois Policy Institute audit

Rockford has more government retirees collecting benefits than active public employees, taxpayers picking up the tab ROCKFORD (Feb. 27, 2014) – State lawmakers spent the last few years debating state-level public pension reform in the capital, but a new study released by the Illinois Policy Institute suggests attention should turn to local government pensions, such...

President Obama’s home state seeks to make tax code more regressive

by Patrick Gleason When a national soda and snack food tax went into effect in Mexico last month, it gave hope to those looking to revive efforts to impose such levies north of the Rio Grande. While there have been repeated attempts in recent years to pass punitive soft drink taxes in the U.S. at the national, state,...

Obamacare may be causing a shift to part-time workers in Illinois

by Naomi Lopez Bauman The Obama administration announced last week another one-year delay of the Affordable Care Act’s employer mandate for some firms. This comes on the heels of the Congressional Budget Office’s “The Budget and Economic Outlook: 2014 to 2024,” which contains the now infamous analysis that the ACA will reduce work by a...