Alaska

Madigan’s rules: How Illinois gives its House speaker power to manipulate and control the legislative process

By Joe Tabor, Ted Dabrowski
01/04/2017
The little-known legislative rules that govern the legislative process in the Illinois House of Representatives give the House speaker extraordinary power to orchestrate the legislative or political outcomes he or she wants. Those rules allow the speaker to influence the makeup of legislative committees; how lawmakers vote; and when, if ever, the bills get voted...

Illinois is a high-tax state

By John Klingner
08/17/2016
Illinois had the fourth-highest combined state and local tax burden as a share of state income in the country.

Solving Illinois’ pension crisis

By Benjamin VanMetre, Ted Dabrowski
06/08/2015
Actuarial analysis offers options to transition to a defined-contribution retirement plan

401(k)-style pension reform in Alaska

By Benjamin VanMetre
11/05/2014
In 2005, Alaska froze the state’s traditional defined-benefit pension plan and created a self-managed 401(k)-style retirement plan for new public employees and teachers.

TAGS: 401(k)

Illinois’ workforce hits new low in August, and it’s not because of retirements

By Michael Lucci
09/18/2014
Illinois continues to bleed workers, with another 19,000 Illinoisans dropping out of the workforce in the month of August alone, according to a press release from the Illinois Department of Employment Security, or IDES. As a result, Illinois’ labor force participation rate hit a new 35-year low in August. The state’s jobless rate fell from...

TAGS: labor

Record number of Illinois government workers opt out of pensions, into 401(k)-style plans

By Benjamin VanMetre
09/03/2014
Illinois has the worst-funded pension systems in the nation. But there’s one group of state-government workers that isn’t worried about whether their retirement checks will be slashed. Today, more than 13 percent of all active employees in the State Universities Retirement System, or SURS, participate in a 401(k)-style plan instead of a traditional pension plan...
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4 ways to break out of Illinois’ pension trap

Causes, costs, how to set the state free

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Diana Graham

Process for unionizing non-state workers raises red flags

By Paul Kersey
06/19/2014

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

By Ted Dabrowski
05/02/2016