Illinois’ collapsing state pension systems are seen as the poster child of pension crises across the nation. But another pension crisis is taking place even closer to home. There are nearly 650 locally run pension funds in Illinois, which cover retired police officers and firefighters, along with one consolidated fund for municipal retirees. These municipal...
The same group that rates Illinois’ state bonds as the worst in the nation recently reported that Illinois’ pension shortfall jumped by $53 billion in fiscal year 2012. Moody’s Investors Service said the funding shortfall of the state’s five pension systems – covering state workers, university employees, judges, legislators and teachers outside Chicago – now...
Under state law local governments in Illinois are required to post the following information on their websites, as applicable. All public bodies Open Meetings Act The Open Meetings Act has the following requirements for public bodies: Minutes posting Any public body that has a website must post the minutes of a regular meeting of its...
Remember in 2011 when Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said he was going to get “deadbeat” city workers to pay up on unpaid parking tickets, fees and fines? Back then, he threated lengthy suspensions or termination. Emanuel scolded workers, stating “the free ride is over for everybody.” It turns out public unions are making this a lot...
At the beginning of this month, things weren’t looking good for “transportation network providers” such as Uber and Lyft in Chicago. On Feb. 5, Mayor Rahm Emanuel unveiled a proposed ordinance that would force these services to severely change the way they do business, if not leave the city entirely. That same day, aldermen Ed...
CNN’s Crossfire hosted a Texas vs. Illinois debate on Friday. The debate ranged from health care and fracking to the minimum wage and job creation. A new ad was unveiled that will roll out in Illinois to entice businesses and workers to move down to Texas. This would be nothing new, as Illinoisans have been...
The rollout of the president’s signature legislation has been a calamity, as it further threatens the prospects of the lowest-wage workers in Illinois and across the country. There is mounting evidence that employers have already been cutting employees’ hours in the low-wage employment sectors. This trend has been observed in Illinois – and among the...
Income taxes will arguably be one of the most contentious issues during the current legislative session. And rightly so. Under current law, all Illinois families and businesses will receive tax relief in 2015. That’s because the state’s personal income tax is slated to drop to 3.75 percent from 5 percent, and the corporate income tax...
Faculty members are going on strike for the first time in the University of Illinois at Chicago’s history after ongoing negotiations with administrators failed. Although union leadership repeatedly makes the argument that they are fighting for the students, the truth is the students are the ones being hurt by this strike. Some 16,000 undergraduates are...
A smaller and smaller percentage of adults are working to support the entire state population. Why does this matter? Because a booming economy provides the benefits of opportunity and upward mobility. But not only that. Growing the number of taxpayers is essential for funding core government services and pension bills. The only other tools legislators...
Most people assume that Chicago is home to Illinois’ lowest-performing schools – those schools that scored in the bottom 10 percent on the Illinois Standard Achievement Test, or ISAT. But, in actuality, Chicago is home to only 45 percent of the state’s lowest-performing elementary schools and high schools. More than half of Illinois’ lowest-performing schools...
Illinois’ Department of Children and Family Services, or DCFS, has had no shortage of controversy in the past few years – which makes the latest appointment such a mystery. DCFS has been under scrutiny in recent months for under-reporting record-high child death cases that involved DCFS’s prior involvement. A senate panel was called regarding the...
The “Sweetened Beverage Tax” bill – proposed legislation before the Illinois Senate – would impose a tax of one cent per ounce on all “bottled sugar-sweetened beverages” – has already started to receive a lot of attention. According to the bill’s authors, the tax would result in “a 23.5 percent reduction in sugar-sweetened beverage consumption” and “a...
Are you a bike rider? If so, chances are you’ve broken the law while on your wheels. If you’ve taken both hands off your handlebars while on your bike – even if stopped at a street corner – you’re in violation of Public Act 82-132: Sec. 11-1506. Carrying articles. No person operating a bicycle shall...