Chicago

Chicago has nation’s worst travel tax burden

By Hilary Gowins
05/29/2014
There’s nothing like summer in Chicago – after months of winter weather, the city awakens and becomes a haven for residents and tourists alike. But travelers who come to the city take in its splendor at a high price, on top of what they pay for hotel rooms, dinner and entertainment. Out-of-towners shell out more...

Chicago a ‘dystopian nightmare’ for entrepreneurs

By Michael Lucci
05/26/2014
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce ranked the regulatory environment in 10 major U.S. cities, and the results aren’t pretty for Chicago. One writer described starting a professional services business in Chicago as a “dystopian nightmare.” Professional and business services make up 780,000 payroll jobs in the Chicago metropolitan area, a major part of current employment...

Chicago drivers gouged at the pump this Memorial Day weekend

By Hilary Gowins
05/23/2014
An estimated 32 million drivers will hit the road this Memorial Day weekend, according to AAA. And those leaving from the Chicago area will feel much more pain at the pump. The national average for a gallon of gas is $3.65. In Illinois, the average price per gallon is $3.83. But the average price per...

TAGS: gas tax

Illinois politicians’ obsession with tax hikes

05/21/2014
Fifty percent of all Illinoisans would leave the state if they could. Twenty-five percent think it’s the worst state to live in. Another 72 percent don’t trust their government. These numbers came from three recent Gallup polls. In all three surveys, no state polled worse than Illinois. You’d think with results like that, the last...

Rideshare drivers rally to defend their jobs

By Bryant Jackson-Green
05/16/2014
Drivers and supporters of rideshare company Lyft rallied earlier this week on Chicago’s Federal Plaza to urge community members to oppose House Bill 4075, which would restrict ridesharing at the state level. The Illinois Senate approved the bill this week. Thanks in part to the efforts of Illinois Policy Action, the most anti-competitive aspects of...

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...

Pickle vs. City Hall: The fight to save Chicago’s horse-drawn carriages

By Hilary Gowins
05/13/2014
For nearly 35 years, Larry Ortega has run his popular horse-drawn carriage business, Chicago Horse and Carriage Ltd. And for all the time he has been in business, Ortega and his staff have operated without a major incident, and demand continues to boom. But an ordinance proposed by Chicago Alderman Ed Burke would put an...

Chicago’s $63 billion debt burden

By John Klingner
05/12/2014
It’s no secret that Chicago is in a pension crisis and deeply in debt. Most of that debt comes from the city’s pensions, but health insurance and long-term debt are also a significant part of Chicago’s fiscal shortfall. In total, Chicago residents are officially on the hook for $63.2 billion in government pensions, health insurance...

The impact of Illinois’ education funding overhaul

05/12/2014
After months of hounding by Illinois legislators, the Illinois State Board of Education has finally released a preliminary analysis of Senate Bill 16, a proposed education funding bill that completely transforms how the state distributes money to local districts. Proponents of the bill say the bill makes education funding more equitable. But, as many suburban...

Unintended consequences of a plastic bag ban

By Bryant Jackson-Green
05/09/2014
It’s already been widely reported that the Chicago City Council voted to ban the sale of plastic bags in city. Alderman Joe Moreno, a main sponsor of the ordinance, wrote in the Chicago Tribune that plastic bags are “one of the most destructive, offensive and wasteful products ever created.” This is a difficult claim to...
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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