To reform policing, Illinois must rehabilitate its errant labor laws

By Vincent Caruso

07/28/2020

A police union contract that protects deviant officers while muzzling those who wish to serve honorably is one set up to fail the public.

TAGS: government unions, Lori Lightfoot, police brutality, police misconduct

Automatic state worker pay hikes, gas tax hike coming to Illinois July 1

By Brad Weisenstein

06/25/2020

How fair is it that some of the highest-paid state employees in the nation are getting a raise that must be funded by an economically wounded bunch of taxpayers?

TAGS: COVID-19, gas tax, government unions, lawmaker pay, unemployment

Illinois bill would make Election Day a holiday, but only for government workers

By Joe Barnas

05/21/2020

Tucked into sweeping vote-by-mail legislation is a holiday provision that would make Nov. 3, 2020, a holiday for all state and local government workers.

TAGS: AFSCME: American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees, government unions, public sector, vote-by-mail

Nonunion Chicago educators sue CTU, AFT to end forced union dues

By Vincent Caruso

05/07/2020

While members can opt out of CTU at any time, the union says they may only stop paying the union if they do so during a one-month period. A lawsuit filed against the union argues this violates teachers’ First Amendment rights.

TAGS: AFT: American Federation of Teachers, Chicago, CPS: Chicago Public Schools, CTU: Chicago Teachers Union, government unions, Janus v. AFSCME

New Mexico passes bipartisan pension reform

By Adam Schuster

03/10/2020

As Illinois elected leaders continue to delay action on pension reform, a broad and bipartisan coalition has succeeded in pushing for reforms to public employee benefits in New Mexico.

TAGS: COLA: cost of living adjustment, constitutional amendment, government unions, Illinois Supreme Court, JB Pritzker, New Mexico, pensions

Chicago teachers who don’t want to fund CTU leadership’s politics have options

By Mailee Smith, Vincent Caruso

01/30/2020

Leaders of Illinois’ largest local teachers’ union received swift blowback after their latest push into public politics. Members dissatisfied with the priorities of their union’s leadership deserve to know they have other options.

TAGS: Chicago, CPS: Chicago Public Schools, CTU: Chicago Teachers Union, government unions, Jesse Sharkey, Kim Foxx, labor, Lori Lightfoot, Nicolas Maduro, opt out, public sector, Stacy Davis Gates, strike, Venezuela

The 1%: Illinois’ pension millionaires

By Austin Berg

01/23/2020

More than 129,000 Illinois public pensioners will see expected payouts of $1 million or more during retirement.

TAGS: 401(k), government unions, ILGA: Illinois General Assembly, Illinois, JRS: Judges’ Retirement System, pension guarantee, pensions, private sector, public sector, SERS: State Employee Retirement System, Social Security, Springfield, SURS: State Universities Retirement System, TRS: Teachers’ Retirement System

Illinois pensions 101: Paltry contributions yield million-dollar payouts

By Adam Schuster

01/17/2020

Across all five state retirement systems, typical career workers pay for about 5% of the cost of their pension benefits. They receive an average of $1.7 million to $3.6 million.

TAGS: Edgar Ramp, firefighter pensions, GARS: General Assembly Retirement System, government employees, government services, government unions, government workers, IEA-NEA: Illinois Education Association, IFT: Illinois Federation of Teachers, ILGA: Illinois General Assembly, Illinois, Illinois Constitution, Jim Edgar, JRS: Judges’ Retirement System, municipal government, municipal pensions, pension guarantee, pensions, police pensions, public sector, retirement age, Rod Blagojevich, SERS: State Employee Retirement System, Social Security, social services, Springfield, SURS: State Universities Retirement System, tax hikes, tax increase, TRS: Teachers’ Retirement System

2019 laws in review, Illinois lawmakers passed both nice and naughty bills

By Mindy Ruckman

12/20/2019

The Illinois General Assembly passed over 600 new laws in 2019. Some helped taxpayers, but many more hurt as they spent $85 billion while doing little to fix the pension crisis.

TAGS: AFSCME: American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees, capital plan, consolidation, Cook County, corruption, expungement, free speech, gas tax, government unions, ILGA: Illinois General Assembly, Illinois, Illinois Constitution, JB Pritzker, lawmakers, Luis Arroyo, Martin Sandoval, Open Illinois Checkbook, progressive income tax, record sealing, Springfield, tax hikes, taxes, transparency, vehicle registration

How Illinois unions re-gifted member dues to Madigan for sexual harassment settlement

By Austin Berg

12/19/2019

So who wants to fund a highly unpopular politician’s sexual harassment settlement on behalf of a disgraced political worker under federal investigation? Executives at Illinois’ largest public-sector labor unions.

TAGS: AFSCME: American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees, Alaina Hampton, Christmas, government unions, ILGA: Illinois General Assembly, Illinois, Janus v. AFSCME, JB Pritzker, Kevin Quinn, Mike Madigan, PAC: political action committee, SEIU: Service Employees International Union, sexual harrassment, Springfield, unions

Pension apocalypse? COVID-19 exposes long-running fragility of Illinois public pensions

Illinois’ pension crisis has been a growing problem for decades, and its negative effects on state residents are well documented.1 Economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and related government shutdown orders threaten to bring that long-running crisis closer to its breaking point. The state’s five pension systems collectively held nearly $139 billion of debt at...

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Pension apocalypse? COVID-19 exposes long-running fragility of Illinois public pensions

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Joanne Troesch

Policy lessons from Illinois’ exodus of people and money

CBS Chicago: Illinois’ highest-paid superintendent receives $400K per year to oversee 1,200 students