Chicago Sun-Times

Quinn passes the buck on cell-phone tax hike, Chicago cashes in

By Austin Berg
07/31/2014
Back on June 6, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn signed legislation authorizing Chicago city officials to enact a 56 percent per-line 911 fee hike. This measure gave the city of Chicago the authority to raise the city’s per-line 911 fee to $3.90 from the old fee of $2.50. It didn’t take long for Chicago City Council...

TAGS: cell phone tax, taxes

Harris v. Quinn detractors are missing the point

By Paul Kersey
07/24/2014
Since the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling in Harris v. Quinn, union supporters – including many politicians who have benefitted from union support themselves – have written articles and statements bemoaning the decision. These pieces have been notable for the things they don’t talk about: who the plaintiffs actually were and what the court...

TAGS: Harris v Quinn, Pam Harris, SCOTUS

Liquor license red tape favors the politically connected

By Bryant Jackson-Green
07/16/2014
How much political influence should you need to get a liquor license in Chicago? The Chicago Sun-Times highlighted the role of “clout” in helping Pete’s Fresh Market, a grocery chain opening a new location on Chicago’s underserved West Side, get one. On its face, the article is a critique of how well-connected people use political ties...

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...

Illinois Corruption Watch, May 2014

By Brian Costin
06/04/2014
In completing our second month of the new “Illinois Corruption Watch” project, we are shocked at the volume of corruption stories being reported across the state. In just two months we have found reports of 101 different corruption-related stories; 45 in April and 56 in May. It’s no wonder Illinois citizens have by far the...

Quinn should take note: Only 1% of Chicagoans support property-tax hike

By Benjamin VanMetre
05/14/2014
Gov. Pat Quinn’s approval rating is low, typically hovering just shy of 30 percent. But one thing voters disapprove of even more is hiking property taxes to pay for Chicago pensions. A recent Chicago Sun-Times poll shows that only 1 percent of Chicago voters would support a property tax increase to help prop up the...

Illinois’ Corruption Hall of Shame, April 2014

By Brian Costin
05/06/2014
April was a very busy month for public corruption stories in Illinois. In total, there were 45 different public corruption-related news stories in just 30 days. A full list of those stories can be found here. Here are the April inductees to the Illinois Hall of Shame: 5. The city of Chicago spent more than...

The 6 worst things about Illinois’ proposed ridesharing law

03/27/2014
Taxi-industry lobbyists have been working hard to get Chicago to hobble or ban popular ridesharing services such as UberX and Lyft, but they haven’t gotten very far. The problem: these services are just too popular. Aldermen have been overwhelmed with calls and emails from Chicagoans asking them to leave ridesharing alone. So now the taxi...

TAGS: Lyft, rideshare, Uber

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What is the Education Freedom Tax Credit and how can it benefit Illinois students?

The Education Freedom Tax Credit, also known as the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit, will give Illinois students access to donor money if the state opts into the program.

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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