Research Reports

IRS data show continuing Illinois wealth flight

Illinois households that moved out of state earned $19,600 more, on average, than those who moved in during the 2014-2015 tax year.

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Illinois’ $21 billion in school debt pushes up property taxes

Illinois’ debt per student is the 11th highest of any state in the nation. It is almost 15 percent higher than the national average of $8,764.

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The history of Illinois’ fiscal crisis

Illinois’ fiscal collapse is the culmination of decades of budget gimmicks and taxes used to paper over the state’s structural spending problems and misplaced priorities that favor special interests over ordinary Illinoisans.

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Illinois’ economic weakness results in nation’s highest black unemployment rate

Only 51 percent of black adults reported having some form of work in Illinois.

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Illinois’ youth problem: More millennials left Illinois than any other age demographic from 2011 through 2014

Illinois is suffering from an out-migration crisis, and millennials are leading the exodus. On a national scale, Illinois is the second-biggest net loser of both millennial taxpayers and their dependents, and millennial college students. Illinois’ youth out-migration problem threatens the state’s long-term financial stability and economic vitality. Illinois’ out-migration trend has worsened in recent years, helping to catapult Illinois…

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Illinois remains uncompetitive after 2011 workers’ compensation changes

Illinois’ workers’ compensation system costs taxpayers $1 billion per year, and employers repeatedly cite hefty workers’ compensation costs as a driving factor in fleeing the state for friendlier business climates. High workers’ compensation costs most directly affect labor-intensive blue-collar employment sectors – which have struggled to regain their footing in Illinois since the Great Recession. Despite mounting evidence that workers’ compensation…

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Illinois lawmakers passed 938 bills that became law from 2015 to 2017 – just 3% had a price tag

Despite Illinois’ severe financial problems, less than 3 percent of bills passed by the 99th General Assembly and enacted into law have fiscal notes.

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Workers’ compensation estimated to cost Illinois taxpayers nearly $1 billion per year

Workers’ compensation is a significant cost to Illinois taxpayers and drains scarce tax dollars from government coffers. A previous report in this series estimated the direct cost of workers’ compensation to state, county and municipal governments is $402 million in worker payouts per year.1 Building upon those findings, this report estimates that the total cost of workers’ compensation to…

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Unpaid sick leave spikes Illinois teachers’ pension benefits

While sick leave is necessary for working teachers, letting unpaid sick leave accumulate for the purpose of boosting pensions is an expensive perk that taxpayers cannot afford.