By Naomi Lopez Bauman
09/10/2014
The proportion of Illinois Medicaid enrollees found to be ineligible remains high, according to the state’s Medicaid Redetermination Project Quarterly Report for the second quarter of 2014. But here’s the kicker: The state will end up paying for more and more of them, regardless of eligibility. According to the report, 55 percent of the reviewed...
By Paul Kersey
08/20/2014
Nearly all government employees are forced to pay money to a union as a condition of keeping their jobs. And it’s not cheap. The forced dues can reach as high as $1,000 per year in the case of Chicago public school teachers. Union officials can count on hundreds of millions of dollars a year in...
TAGS: labor, membership, unions, waste
By Justin Hegy
08/19/2014
Introduction It pays to work for state government. Compensation costs for state workers make up roughly one third of Illinois’ state budget. How much state workers are paid is largely decided by contracts with government employee unions, specifically Council 31 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. Since 2003, two consecutive Illinois governors – now disgraced former...
By Justin Hegy
08/19/2014
State government employees working for Illinois’ Department of Children and Family Services, or DCFS, racked up 5,002 hours of “tardy time” – instances of unexcused late arrival – in fiscal years 2012 and 2013, but were still paid for the time.1 Estimated cost to taxpayers: $180,346.44. During this same two-year span, DCFS paid out more than $11.8 million2 in...
By Bryant Jackson-Green
06/18/2014
It’s hard to make a living as a Chicago taxi driver. A recent study showed that Chicago drivers make an average of just $5.40 an hour, far below minimum wage, and just over $20,000 per year. Some cab drivers have tried to change this by suing the city of Chicago. They argue that because the...
By Naomi Lopez Bauman
05/30/2014
Rather than push for true Medicaid reform that might ensure patient access to high quality care and protect taxpayer dollars, Gov. Pat Quinn is about to sign legislation that will further prop up this failing system. As evidence of just how dysfunctional the system is, Auditor General William Holland reported that the state paid $12 million for dead...
By Justin Hegy
05/01/2014
With everyone arguing about the minimum wage, taxes and pension reforms, many people may not realize the most important battle Illinois’ next governor will face: negotiating the state’s largest government union contract. Whoever is elected governor will be stuck with a partisan and bitter legislature, making his ability to push through bold legislative reforms extremely...
By Naomi Lopez Bauman
04/21/2014
Illinoisans are all-too familiar with jokes about cemeteries full of voters. But, according to a recent audit, the dead are also receiving Medicaid benefits. National news outlets reported recently that the state made Medicaid payments to health-care providers on behalf of nearly 3,000 deceased Illinoisans under the Medicaid program. The federal-state program, which is supposed...
By Benjamin VanMetre
03/26/2014
JOB CREATION: Since 2010, Illinois has recovered only 215,800 jobs, which is 42,000 fewer than Gov. Pat Quinn’s claim of 257,400. More importantly, Illinois is the only state in the Midwest that had fewer payroll jobs in January 2014 than it did when Quinn took office in January 2009. UNEMPLOYMENT: Illinois has the second-highest unemployment...
By illinoispolicy
01/27/2014
Unions are often presented as the plucky defenders of the working man or woman, whose only interest is seeing that workers get a fair shake on the job. But in reality unions are well financed and powerful. And in government, at least, union influence goes beyond the job to include how government itself operates. Government...
