Illinois gas prices show 2nd-highest increase in nation

By Hilary Gowins

03/15/2016

While Illinois motorists have seen the country’s second-highest increase in gas prices, Chicagoans pay even higher prices at the pump due to multiple layers of city, county and state taxation.

TAGS: gas tax

Expanding record sealing and negligent-hiring protections offer ex-offenders a better shot at a second chance than “ban the box”

By Bryant Jackson-Green

03/10/2016

Letting nonviolent former offenders petition to have their records sealed and protecting businesses from negligent-hiring lawsuits would do more to encourage hiring ex-offenders than “ban the box” alone.

TAGS: criminal justice reform, record sealing

Illinois now home to the highest sales taxes in the Midwest

By Austin Berg

03/10/2016

Combined sales taxes in Illinois have leaped past those of every other state in the region.

TAGS: sales tax

Rauner: Madigan not ‘doing his job’

By Mark Fitton

03/09/2016

More than two-thirds of fiscal year 2016 has passed with the state lacking an overall budget.

TAGS: Bruce Rauner, Mike Madigan

Illinois corruption watch: February 2016

03/07/2016

Illinoisans’ confidence in their state government is the lowest of residents of any state in the nation, and corruption stories from February 2016 don’t help.

Nearly 1,700 Illinois workers hit with layoffs, hundreds in manufacturing

By Austin Berg

03/07/2016

Illinois’ manufacturing meltdown and weak jobs growth are pummeling workers.

TAGS: jobs, manufacturing

Chicago remains a segregated city by race and income – and government deserves much of the blame

By Mark Adams

03/04/2016

City zoning policies serve to keep many neighborhoods segregated. These rules also keep lower-income residents of all races out of popular areas, allowing city officials to shape who can live where and making housing more expensive.

TAGS: zoning

Chicago Teachers Union’s threatened April 1 strike date isn’t legal

By Jeffrey Schwab

03/03/2016

The Chicago Teachers Union has threatened to strike as early as April 1 over Chicago Public Schools’ announced plan to stop paying a portion of teachers’ required contributions to their pension fund. Under Illinois labor law, however, CTU cannot legally strike before mid- to late-May.

TAGS: CPS: Chicago Public Schools

11 things you need to know about Chicago teacher pensions

By Ted Dabrowski, John Klingner

03/01/2016

Pension holidays, steep increases in teachers' salaries, and lopsided ratios of teacher contributions to pension payouts have caused the Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund’s unfunded liabilities to shoot up to $9 billion in 2015.

TAGS: CPS: Chicago Public Schools, pensions

CPS budget breakdown: Where has the money gone?

By John Klingner, Amy Korte

03/01/2016

Unaffordable salaries and pension benefits on top of a structurally unstable retirement system have pushed CPS to the brink of insolvency despite record tax revenues.

TAGS: budget, CPS: Chicago Public Schools, pensions

Chicago

Illinois gas prices show 2nd-highest increase in nation

Expanding record sealing and negligent-hiring protections offer ex-offenders a better shot at a second chance than “ban the box”

Illinois now home to the highest sales taxes in the Midwest

Rauner: Madigan not ‘doing his job’

Illinois corruption watch: February 2016

Nearly 1,700 Illinois workers hit with layoffs, hundreds in manufacturing

Chicago remains a segregated city by race and income – and government deserves much of the blame

Chicago Teachers Union’s threatened April 1 strike date isn’t legal

11 things you need to know about Chicago teacher pensions

CPS budget breakdown: Where has the money gone?

Taxed out: 10 reforms to stop Illinois from losing people and jobs

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Take advantage of the various ways to vote

Process for unionizing non-state workers raises red flags

CBS Chicago: Illinois’ highest-paid superintendent receives $400K per year to oversee 1,200 students