Chicago Tribune

Pritzker price tag: Candidate’s spending promises require doubling state income tax

By Adam Schuster, Orphe Divounguy, Bryce Hill
10/15/2018
While J.B. Pritzker has not released a detailed tax plan of his own, reasonable cost estimates suggest the tax hike required to pay for the candidate’s spending promises would require doubling Illinois’ state income tax rate and cost the state an estimated 132,000 jobs and $31.3 billion in forgone GDP.

Waste Watch: Nearly $100M of waste in Illinois state and local government

By Adam Schuster, Alec Mena, Travis Nix
10/08/2018
Illinois taxpayers are fed up and overtaxed. Residents have little faith that their governments are spending their tax dollars well – and for good reason. The state’s most recent spending plan is out of balance by as much as $1.5 billion, and includes $54.2 million in wasteful spending and $27 million in pork-barrel spending. The...

Property-tax-for-pensions plan would pummel Illinois homeowners

By Orphe Divounguy, Bryce Hill, Joe Tabor
05/25/2018
With one proposal to pay off Illinois’ pension debt asking the typical homeowner to pay more than $1,900 in additional property taxes for the next 30 years, the stakes for pension reform have never been clearer.

Budget Solutions 2019: The responsible budget for Illinois

By Orphe Divounguy, Bryce Hill, Joe Tabor
02/06/2018
Even after a 32 percent income tax hike, the Illinois General Assembly passed a state budget in 2017 that will generate an estimated $1.5 billion deficit in fiscal year 2018. That deficit is projected to grow to $2.15 billion in fiscal year 2019, according to the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget, or GOMB. The...

Rising property tax burdens squeeze Illinois families

By Orphe Divounguy
01/06/2018
While effective property tax rates might be on the decline in some communities, census data show Illinois families are seeing a larger share of their household budgets eaten up by property tax bills.

The history of Illinois’ fiscal crisis

By Ted Dabrowski, John Klingner
06/28/2017
Illinois’ fiscal collapse is the culmination of decades of budget gimmicks and taxes used to paper over the state’s structural spending problems and misplaced priorities that favor special interests over ordinary Illinoisans.

AFSCME: The 800-pound gorilla at the negotiating table

By Mailee Smith
11/14/2016
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees claims to be seeking a “fair contract” on behalf of Illinois state workers. But the power and influence exerted by the state’s largest government-worker union means the bargaining table almost always tilts in AFSCME’s favor. The reality is that AFSCME is the power player in negotiations...
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FAQ: How the federal scholarship program would help Illinois students

Illinois students could soon benefit from scholarship money to help them find a tutor, attend ACT or SAT prep sessions, pay tuition, get special education services or assist with other academic needs. That will happen in Illinois only if Gov. J.B. Pritzker lets the state’s schoolchildren benefit from the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit program, established...

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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