Pat Quinn

Quinn reneging on ‘temporary’ tax hike cowardly, dishonest

By Jonathan Greenberg
04/03/2014
Gov. Pat Quinn began his recent op-ed in the Chicago Tribune with a couple of quotes. In that spirit, I’ll do the same. Cowardly Lion: “What makes the sphinx the seventh wonder? Courage! What makes the dawn come up like thunder? Courage! What makes the Hottentot so hot? What puts the ‘ape’ in apricot? What...

TAGS: income tax, Pat Quinn

Quinn’s 3 budget falsehoods

By Benjamin VanMetre
03/26/2014
In January 2011, Illinois politicians pushed through a record income tax increase that raised the income tax rate on individuals to 5 percent from 3 percent, and on corporations to 7 percent from 4.8 percent. After passing the record tax hike, Gov. Quinn went on record saying: “We have some temporary tax increases [falsehood number...

TAGS: income tax, Pat Quinn

Why Illinois’ Medicaid 1115 waiver is cause for concern

By Naomi Lopez Bauman
03/12/2014
This week, the governor’s office is scheduled to submit “The Path to Transformation: Illinois 1115 Waiver Proposal” to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. If approved by the federal government, this proposal would overhaul the Illinois Medicaid program. The state would not only consolidate multiple health-care programs aimed at providing home and community-based...

TAGS: Medicaid, Pat Quinn

Illinois politicians considering changes to law under review by U.S. Supreme Court

By Paul Kersey
03/05/2014
The Illinois General Assembly is poised to consider a bill that looks harmless at first glance, but should be raising eyebrows across the state. House Bill 5935 is supposed to make technical changes to the state’s Medicaid programs, but in the process it affects people who are involved in a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case....

TAGS: Harris v Quinn, labor, Medicaid, Pam Harris, Pat Quinn, U.S. Supreme Court

Illinois borrowing penalty still three times higher than when Quinn took office

02/06/2014
It didn’t take long for Illinois’ spending machine to cram more debt down taxpayers’ throats. Only two months after signing a pension bill, Gov. Pat Quinn is borrowing yet another $1 billion to fund state construction projects. This will be the first large borrowing for Illinois since it passed Senate Bill 1, a pension fix...

TAGS: borrowing, capital project, debt, Pat Quinn, penalty borrowing rate, pensions

Gov. Quinn’s past State of the State addresses vs. reality

By Donovan Griffith
01/28/2014
This Wednesday, Gov. Pat Quinn will take the pulpit in front of the Illinois General Assembly and give his annual State of the State address. The speech, which is given annually by the standing governor, is an opportunity for the governor to give his view on the condition of the state, and how they envision...

TAGS: Pat Quinn, State of the State

Taxpayers to foot big bill for pointless legislator pay stunt

01/13/2014
In July, Gov. Pat Quinn used his line-item veto power to suspend Illinois legislators’ salaries, pledging to withhold their paychecks until they solved the state’s pension crisis. This predictably provoked a lawsuit by House Speaker Mike Madigan, Senate President John Cullerton and other legislators. A Cook County Circuit Court judge then ruled in September that...

TAGS: lawmaker pay, Pat Quinn

Five reasons why Madigan’s pension fix is a step backward

11/29/2013
There’s immense pressure on Illinois legislators to pass a pension bill. With the state pension system nearing insolvency and credit agencies warning of further downgrades, the perceived wisdom is that any pension fix, no matter how small, is a “step forward” that must be passed. But when it comes to pension reform in Illinois, that...

TAGS: COLA: cost of living adjustment, Jim Edgar, Pat Quinn, pensions, retirement age

Half of Illinois Medicaid enrollees reviewed found ineligible

By Jonathan Ingram
11/08/2013
In January, the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, or HFS, began a new project verifying eligibility for Illinois’ 2.7 million Medicaid enrollees. For years, state workers had failed to take adequate steps to ensure the people receiving Medicaid benefits were actually eligible for the program. As an Auditor General report noted, state workers failed to...

TAGS: AFSCME: American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees, fraud, Medicaid, Pat Quinn