by Amanda Griffin-Johnson The U.S. Department of Transportation estimates that the states have spent a total of around $5 million of stimulus funds on signs “touting ‘The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act’ and reminding passers-by that the program is ‘Putting America Back to Work.’” ABC News reports that “the state of Illinois has spent $650,000 on about 950...
by Will Compernolle The State of Illinois hired 9 nuclear safety inspectors in fiscal year 2008 for $635,997 in combined total wages. The average nuclear safety inspector took home an annual salary of $70,666.33 while the highest paid inspector made $73,403. To find this information on our IllinoisOpenGov.org, go to “Payroll” and search “nuclear safety inspector”...
by Rhys Seiffe The State of Illinois paid 12 Benefit Counselors $679,791 in combined total wages in fiscal year 2008. The average salary was $56,649.25, and the highest paid counselor received $79,446. According to the Illinois Teachers Retirement System website, Benefits Counselors “prepare benefit estimates showing your projected pension benefits in different retirement scenarios”. To find this...
by Will Compernolle A court-appointed watchdog group claims Cook County Board President Todd Stroger is “using the county payroll to reward those who backed his failed re-election effort and punish those who did not,” the Chicago Tribune reports. Stroger’s staff has lowered minimum job qualifications, pretended not to know job applicants when they did, tried to invoke...
by Kristina Rasmussen The Center for Individual Freedom (CFIF) is challenging Illinois’s new campaign finance laws. From CFIF’s press release: Center for Individual Freedom Files Federal Lawsuit Challenging Constitutionality of Illinois’ Campaign Finance Law Vagueness of Illinois law and its discriminatory exemption for labor unions violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments ALEXANDRIA, VA — The Center for...
by Kristina Rasmussen If you were amazed that the State of Illinois is handing out pay bumps to tends of thousands of state workers in the midst of a multi-billion dollar budget deficit, get ready for this. Between June 2011 and January 2012, unionized state workers are scheduled to receive a total of 7.25 percent in cost of...
by Kristin Nisbet Robby Stoave referred to the following quote from an op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal by Columbia University President Lee Bollinger recently in a post on reason.com. There are examples of other institutions in the U.S. where state support does not translate into official control. The most compelling are our public universities and our...
by Joe O’Malley Contrary to the free-market principle that businesses which make reckless decisions should fail, Chicago Democrats are now petitioning Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to bail out a local community bank. Its name is ShoreBank. According to the New York Times, ShoreBank made business decisions that were very poor: “An ill-timed, overly aggressive expansion at the...
by Collin Hitt John Fund turns in an interesting, short piece on teacher pensions. He interviewed Bill Gates, who has sometimes been soft on education reform but is frustrated with the budget bombs created by teacher pension schemes. Joel Klein, however, turns in the money quote: “The education system is built on the three pillars of...
by Kristina Rasmussen Okay, so what will ObamaCare really mean for you? The Cato Institute’s Michael Tanner recently released a helpful guide: “Bad Medicine: A Guide to the Real Costs and Consequences of the New Health Care Law.” Among the findings: While the bill will increase the number of Americans with insurance coverage, it falls significantly...
by Kristina Rasmussen Talk of a soda tax is bubbling up again: CHICAGO (CBS) ― Feel like you’re taxed enough already? More could be coming. There’s an early push to explore taxing soft drinks that are sweetened with sugars – all to get you to stop buying them. CBS 2’s Kristyn Hartman reports it’s all about...
by Will Compernolle The State of Illinois hired four breath alcohol analysis technicians for a total of $241,878 in combined total wages in fiscal year 2008. The highest paid breath alcohol analysis technician made $60,985 and the average wage was $60,469.50. The Illinois Department of Central Management Services website says the technicians perform “regular maintenance, major servicing,...
The Problem Illinois’s state budget is billions of dollars in the hole, but that didn’t stop Illinois government from handing out pay increases to 46,000 state workers on July 1, 2010. Indeed, Governor Pat Quinn has handed out 43 raises (averaging 11.4 percent to his staff) since he took the oath of office. All areas of government...
Ashley Muchow Amid the financial turmoil that has inflicted most every world region in the past decade, much attention has been given to the timeless question of whether free markets work. Ultimately, are we better off in a free market economy or is this just an erroneous belief whose figureheads undeservedly became household names? Pew...