Mayor Emanuel’s minimum wage executive order doesn’t apply to political pals

By Brian Costin

10/11/2014

With great fanfare, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel recently announced an executive order requiring city contractors and concessionaires to pay their employees no less than $13 per hour. The move was highly touted in both the Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune, as well as a number of other publications and television news broadcasts. None of these...

TAGS: Rahm Emanuel, transparency, unions

Good politics makes bad policy on Emanuel minimum-wage hike

By Jane McEnaney

09/12/2014

On Sept. 3, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel signed an executive order requiring city contractors to immediately hike wages for the city workers they employ to $13 per hour from the current rate of $11.93 per hour. The current rate is already nearly 45 percent higher than the statewide minimum wage of $8.25 per hour. Illinoisans...

TAGS: Chicago, minimum wage, Rahm Emanuel

‘Lewis for mayor’ is a fundraising force to be reckoned with

By Paul Kersey

07/17/2014

For years the left has complained about the influence that money has on politics. And almost without fail, they have focused on money held and used by private businesses. But money is money, whether it comes from companies or some other source, and it can be used to buy political influence, or political office, just...

TAGS: Chicago, Karen Lewis, Rahm Emanuel

Coffee Run: Chicago forces out entrepreneurs

07/08/2014

Sara Travis loves Chicago. She’s lived here her whole life. When Sara decided to start her own business, there was no question that she would set up shop in her hometown. Sara founded The Brew Hub, a mobile coffee-vending business that sells iced coffees and teas, in June 2013. But she encountered endless obstacles to becoming...

TAGS: Chicago, Rahm Emanuel, Sara Travis, small business, taxes

Chicago property tax hike plan will drive away people and prosperity

By Michael Lucci

04/14/2014

Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s pension reform scheme passed through the General Assembly this week and has been moved to Gov. Pat Quinn’s desk. This plan authorizes Chicago to raise $2.25 billion in additional property taxes over the next decade. Despite this massive tax hike, the city will raise only half its legally required pension payments. Hiking...

TAGS: Chicago, property taxes, Rahm Emanuel

Mayor Emanuel’s property tax hikes: $750 million is just the beginning

04/08/2014

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s pension proposal, which is headed to Gov. Quinn’s desk, does very little to reform how Chicago’s pension systems work. Under his plan, workers and taxpayers would experience more of the same tired game, except they would be expected to contribute more to keep it afloat. But if Emanuel is going to rely...

TAGS: pensions, Rahm Emanuel

Saving Chicago

03/22/2014

Chicago and state politicians have ignored the city’s growing pension crisis for nearly two decades. But with the recent onslaught of credit downgrades, billion-dollar budget deficits and comparisons to Detroit, the city’s problem has become impossible to ignore. Chicago’s slide toward bankruptcy now threatens the city’s status as an economic powerhouse, as well as the...

TAGS: Chicago, Rahm Emanuel

Government unions protecting Chicago city worker scofflaws

By Justin Hegy

02/27/2014

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...

TAGS: Chicago, labor, parking violations, Rahm Emanuel, unions

Parks and wreck

By Ted Dabrowski

11/07/2013

The Illinois General Assembly today approved a pension bill that requires taxpayers to pay an additional $75 million into the Chicago Park District pension fund in addition to tripling the taxpayer contribution to the troubled pension fund. Unfortunately, this bill is mistakenly being heralded by some as a potential model for pension reform. Make no mistake:...

TAGS: Chicago Park District, pensions, Rahm Emanuel

Chicago school closings: a natural school choice experiment

10/25/2013

It was huge news in the summer of 2013. Chicago Public Schools, or CPS – one of the largest school districts in the country – had just voted to close almost 50 schools in an effort to right-size the district and eliminate wasteful spending. This meant thousands of CPS students would be attending new schools...

TAGS: CPS: Chicago Public Schools, CTU: Chicago Teachers Union, Rahm Emanuel

Rahm Emanuel

Mayor Emanuel’s minimum wage executive order doesn’t apply to political pals

Good politics makes bad policy on Emanuel minimum-wage hike

‘Lewis for mayor’ is a fundraising force to be reckoned with

Coffee Run: Chicago forces out entrepreneurs

Chicago property tax hike plan will drive away people and prosperity

Mayor Emanuel’s property tax hikes: $750 million is just the beginning

Saving Chicago

Government unions protecting Chicago city worker scofflaws

Parks and wreck

Chicago school closings: a natural school choice experiment

Chicago Forward 2026: A pro-growth plan to end city budget deficits

Report Archive

Diana Graham

Process for unionizing non-state workers raises red flags

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