Bruce Rauner

Illinois corruption watch, July 2014

By Brian Costin
08/09/2014
The bad news keeps piling up for Illinoisans. Illinois Policy’s “corruption watch” blog series hit a new high in the month of July with nearly 100 corruption-related stories. Chicago and Springfield are the two cities most synonymous with the state’s corruption woes. Unsurprisingly, both cities dominated headlines with the top two corruption stories of the...

Quinn seeks unpaid interns, higher minimum wage

By Austin Berg
07/25/2014
Perusing Gov. Pat Quinn’s website, one can easily find calls for increasing Illinois’ minimum wage to $10 from $8.25. Just a few clicks away is an application to work for the governor, full time: for free. If Quinn did what he says he wants every Illinois employer to do – pay these workers $10 an...

TAGS: minimum wage, Pat Quinn

Analysis of GOP gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner’s ‘Bring Back Blueprint’

By Michael Lucci, Benjamin VanMetre
07/18/2014
Illinois GOP gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner released yesterday another portion of his “Bring Back Blueprint,” acknowledging Illinois’ jobs crisis and identifying many of the pain points that make Illinois the lowest performing state in the Midwest, economically. The Illinois Policy Institute has reviewed Rauner’s proposal, and while the plan is not perfect, it addresses many...

Illinois corruption watch, June 2014

By Brian Costin, Anthony Trania
07/09/2014
Unfortunately for taxpayers, June was a groundbreaking month for corruption in Illinois. In June alone, there were reports of 85 corruption-related stories in the state. Some of the record-breaking highlights include the following: For the first time in 33 years, the Illinois Legislative Audit Commission exercised its subpoena powers in the issuance of a subpoena...

Madigan and Illinois’ million-man migration

By Michael Lucci
05/21/2014
Gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner publicly opposes the tax-hike plan championed by Gov. Pat Quinn and House Speaker Mike Madigan. Rauner claimed that raising income taxes again in 2015 will cause more businesses and people to flee the state. Madigan fired back at Rauner with one of the most poorly-conceived statements of this campaign season. Madigan...

Term limits initiative submits 590,000 signatures, one step closer to ballot

By Brian Costin
04/30/2014
A ballot measure that would limit state legislators to eight years in office cleared a major hurdle today. In a press conference, Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner announced that the group, The Committee for Legislative Reform and Term Limits, is submitting more than 590,000 petition signatures in support of a term limits constitutional initiative. The...

Illinois GOP leaders introduce executive term limits proposal, Quinn flips opposition

By Brian Costin
04/25/2014
Illinois is one of only 14 states that doesn’t have some form of gubernatorial term-limits. A proposal introduced by Illinois State Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno (R-Lemont) and Illinois House Republican Leader Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs) would give Illinois voters an opportunity to change that this coming November by enacting eight-year term limits on executive...

Term-limits referendums are overwhelmingly successful

By Brian Costin
09/23/2013
Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner is championing a term-limits referendum proposal to amend the Illinois Constitution. If the measure is successful, it would limit terms in the Illinois General Assembly to eight years. The proposal has three major hurdles to pass to become law. It must: Gather more than 300,000 signatures to appear on the ballot Survive...

Chicago only major U.S. city without term limits; Illinois one of 11 states without term limits

By Brian Costin
09/17/2013
Term limits are a foreign concept to most Illinoisans. There are no term limit provisions governing our state legislature or constitutional officers. At least 39 other states have some form of term limits that apply to either state legislators or constitutional officers. Only a few municipalities in Illinois, such as Downers Grove, have any formal term-limits policy. But...

TAGS: Chicago, Committee for Legislative Reform and Term Limits, Mike Madigan, term limits

Copper-plated doors tip of iceberg in wasteful spending

By Brian Costin
09/14/2013
With unpaid bills exceeding $8 billion, long-term debt surpassing $200 billion and the worst credit rating in the nation, revelations that the “broke” state of Illinois spent $670,000 on copper-plated doors and another$500,000 for chandeliers and sculptures for the Capitol in Springfield is an embarrassment for the entire state. Earning bad press and the scorn of angry taxpayers still reeling from the 2011 income...