Bruce Rauner

General Assembly passes SB 19, which would hinder care for IDOC inmates and saddle taxpayers with unnecessary costs

By Mailee Smith
04/06/2017
Senate Bill 19 could prevent the state from providing the best, most cost-effective medical services for inmates in the Illinois Department of Corrections, and it forces the state to pay for employees that may not be necessary.

TAGS: health care, IDOC: Illinois Department of Corrections, INA: Illinois Nurses Association, labor, prison, prison population

AFSCME blurs the lines between ‘representational’ and ‘political’ spending, to the detriment of fair share payers

By Mailee Smith
04/05/2017
Government workers in Illinois can opt out of union membership, but they still have to pay fees to the union. Those fees are not supposed to go toward political activities, but a close look at AFSCME’s most recent union report demonstrates how unions use fair share fees for activities most people would consider “political.”

TAGS: AFSCME: American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees, fair share

Workers’ compensation estimated to cost Illinois taxpayers nearly $1 billion per year

By Michael Lucci
04/05/2017
Workers’ compensation is a significant cost to Illinois taxpayers and drains scarce tax dollars from government coffers. A previous report in this series estimated the direct cost of workers’ compensation to state, county and municipal governments is $402 million in worker payouts per year.1 Building upon those findings, this report estimates that the total cost of workers’ compensation to...

Illinois Supreme Court’s denial of quicker AFSCME appeal means taxpayers still on the hook for millions each month

By Mailee Smith
04/04/2017
AFSCME obstructed progress for months on a new contract for state workers. Whether AFSCME and the state are at impasse in negotiations now sits with the Illinois courts – and the Illinois Supreme Court’s decision not to take a direct appeal of the case means taxpayers must continue to pay an additional $35 million to $40 million each month in health care costs alone.

TAGS: AFSCME: American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees, Bruce Rauner, state worker pay

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

Chicago’s $1.15 billion projected budget gap is the latest in a decades-long string of structural deficits. Making Chicago’s high taxes worse is not the solution.

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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