California

Taxpayers on the hook for billions in hidden government-worker health-care costs

By Benjamin VanMetre, John Klingner

07/25/2014

The problem Skyrocketing retirement costs for Illinois’ state and local government workers are wreaking havoc on governments’ ability to provide core services such as public safety, education and infrastructure. States and cities across the nation continue to struggle with massive pension and health-care costs, which force residents to pay higher taxes and fees to receive...

TAGS: health insurance

Stockton bankruptcy: Federal judge hints that pensions ‘can be adjusted’

By John Klingner

07/10/2014

The California city of Stockton’s bankruptcy case took an interesting turn yesterday. The big question surrounding the city’s bankruptcy has always been what might happen to city employee pensions. Most government advocates assumed that these pensions would remain untouched no matter what happened to Stockton’s finances. Now the federal judge in charge of the bankruptcy...

TAGS: bankruptcy, pensions

Two more Illinois companies turn Hoosier

By Michael Lucci

07/10/2014

Two Illinois businesses have announced they will leave for Indiana since the start of July. One of them, ironically, is named after the state of Illinois. Illini Hi-Reach is a rental provider of industrial equipment. Illini announced on July 2 that it will move its corporate headquarters from Lemont, Ill. to Crown Point, Ind. Less...

Illinois’ jobs report card

By Michael Lucci

06/30/2014

It’s report-card season in Illinois, as the journey and efforts that began last August have come to fruition for students across the state. State governments can be graded too, in particular on the subject of jobs. How Illinois fares on job creation is critically important for local high school and college seniors, who have just...

‘Keep Your Promise’: IL lawmakers must let temporary tax hikes sunset

By Benjamin VanMetre

06/20/2014

Temporary tax hikes notoriously stick around longer than planned. Pennsylvania passed a 10 percent tax on alcohol to pay for damage from a flood in 1936. The state continued to levy the tax after the flood damage was paid for. Today the rate is 18 percent. But lawmakers across the country have been better at...

TAGS: income tax, taxes

Have teachers unions become instruments of injustice? One judge in California thinks the answer is ’yes’

By Paul Kersey

06/12/2014

In a ruling that has already sent shockwaves through public education, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Rolf Treu found in Vergara v. California that five California laws governing the hiring, firing and laying off of teachers – laws that teachers unions favor – violated the California Constitution’s equal protection clause, and should be struck...

Not as good as you think: Illinois’ underperforming schools

06/05/2014

Is the school your child attends as good as you think it is? New research by Lance Izumi – senior director of education studies at the California-based Pacific Research Institute – shows that a large number of suburban Illinois public schools aren’t making the grade. His study complements research conducted by the Illinois Policy Institute...

What D.C. lawmakers aren’t asking about ObamaCare

By Naomi Lopez Bauman

06/03/2014

The House Energy and Commerce Committee wants answers. According to a June 3 letter from committee leaders to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, lawmakers are seeking details on how and why several state-run health care exchanges have failed. They want to know why the administration awarded more than $1 billion...

Chicago unemployment rate 5th highest of nation’s 49 largest metro areas

By John Klingner

06/02/2014

Illinois politicians want to make things worse for the many Chicagoans struggling to find jobs and make ends meet. They’re calling for state, county and local tax hikes on the city that already has one of the worst metro area unemployment rates in the nation, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Gov. Pat...

Why Illinois doesn’t need mandatory labeling for genetically modified food

By Bryant Jackson-Green

06/02/2014

Should food producers be forced to label genetically modified, or GM, goods? It’s a trend that’s been popping up in states across the country, with laws now on the books in Maine and Connecticut. The possibility has been raised in Illinois, too, with a Senate bill under discussion that would require foods with even one...

Pathway to a Profession: How Apprenticeships Could Reshape Illinois’ Beauty Service Industry

Occupational licensing requirements present one of the steepest barriers to low-income Illinoisans starting careers in beauty services. Illinois requires anyone seeking to become a barber, cosmetologist, nail technician or hair braider to obtain a state license, essentially a permission slip to work. Unlike 45 other states, Illinois offers only one pathway to licensure for each...

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