California

Public support plummets when government unions strike

By Justin Hegy

12/30/2013

For decades, labor unions have used public demonstrations such as rallies, pickets or strikes to generate public support for their cause. But in 2013, unions learned the hard way that this strategy can backfire on them. A recent poll by the Field Research Corp. showed public support of government unions in California plummeted over the...

TAGS: strike

Don’t buy mom Illinois bonds for Christmas

12/19/2013

Would you invest your mother’s money in municipal bonds? In a recent interview on Fox Business News, host Gerri Willis asked me that very question. It didn’t take me long to say I’d certainly do my homework first. Based on the growing number of city bankruptcies from Alabama to Rhode Island to California, it’s clear to me...

Broken: A guide to Illinois’ pension crisis

By illinoispolicy

12/02/2013

REPORTS Pension Solutions: reforming retirement age More than 50% of Illinois government pensioners retired at age 59 or younger. Read more… Pension Solutions: cost-of-living adjustments are supersizing state pensions More than 8,000 Illinois government retirees receive more than $100,000 in annual pension benefits. Read more… Illinois’ pension system lacks transparency Actuarial data need to be...

The next municipal bankruptcy?

By John Klingner

11/15/2013

Yet another city is heading toward bankruptcy. Desert Hot Springs, Calif., a city of 26,000 in the south-central part of the state, warned it could run out of money as soon as March 2014. If that occurs, the city could be forced to file for bankruptcy. If that happens, Desert Hot Springs will be the...

TAGS: bankruptcy, Desert Hot Springs, pensions

Illinois Obamacare grant goes to California

By Jackson Adams

10/28/2013

A California group with a history of making political contributions to Illinois politicians and connections to the Obama administration was awarded a federal “navigator” grant from the Department of Health and Human Services, or HHS, to help Illinoisans enroll in the Obamacare health insurance exchange. The East Los Angeles Community Union, or TELACU, was awarded...

TAGS: ACA: Affordable Care Act

Lessons from Vallejo: Don’t avoid pension reforms

By Ted Dabrowski

10/08/2013

Illinois legislators and local officials could learn a thing or two from California cities that have buckled under the weight of too much debt. The first is if they don’t implement reforms early enough, bankruptcy for the city of Chicago and other municipalities may be unavoidable. In California, both Stockton and San Bernardino were forced...

Shrinking the Illinois Senate

By Brian Costin

10/08/2013

With 42,336 elected officials as of 1992, Illinois has nearly 12,000 more state and local elected politicians than any other state. Amazingly, with this unprecedented wealth of legislators Illinois hasn’t been able to adequately address some of its most dire problems. Illinois still ranks near the bottom of the nation in numerous key economic indicators,...

TAGS: term limits

Unmasking state Rep. Naomi Jakobsson’s agenda for higher taxes

By Benjamin VanMetre

10/04/2013

State Rep. Naomi Jakobsson, D-Urbana, penned a press release attempting to mask her agenda for higher taxes in Illinois and sell her progressive tax plan as something it isn’t. When it comes to her peers and opponents, Jakobsson suggests that arguments about a progressive income tax for Illinois need come with coherent policy arguments combined with facts....

TAGS: fair tax, graduated income tax, income tax, Naomi Jakobsson, progressive income tax

Illinois’ ObamaCare exchange and Gov. Quinn’s failed math

By Naomi Lopez Bauman

09/24/2013

A Sept. 24 press release from Gov. Pat Quinn’s office announced with excitement that Illinois’ health insurance premiums under the state’s ObamaCare health insurance exchange would be lower than previous government estimates. This statement implies that Illinoisans won’t see their insurance premiums go up despite the massive health insurance expansion about to unfold under ObamaCare. But what...

Illinois: nation’s 2nd-highest unemployment rate for sixth straight month

By Ted Dabrowski, John Klingner

09/21/2013

ix months ago, Illinois overtook California to become the state with the second-highest unemployment rate in the nation, behind only Nevada. It hasn’t budged since. Today’s release from the Bureau of Labor Statistics details yet another month of stalled unemployment numbers for Illinois. The state’s August unemployment rate remained at 9.2 percent – 1.9 percentage...

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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