Chicago

Food fight in Evanston

08/07/2012
On August 7, 2012, the Liberty Justice Center filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a City of Evanston ordinance that exists only to protect established restaurant owners from the legitimate competition that food trucks would bring to the C

Seven DuPage County-area governments receive high marks in online transparency audit

By Brian Costin
08/02/2012
CHICAGO (Aug. 1, 2012) – In the latest round of online transparency audits conducted by the Illinois Policy Institute, only 13 of 22 local government agencies in the York Township-area in DuPage County received passing grades. In an effort to fight corruption and encourage public participation in government, the Illinois Policy Institute grades governments on...

Look at who they have to deal with

By Paul Kersey
07/20/2012
The budget that CPS produced is not without its flaws but CPS Chief Administrator Tim Cawley at least managed to display a certain bedraggled graciousness – too tired to be strident – as he walked the audience of 200, mostly CTU partisans, through the board’s handiwork. By contrast, the union members and their allies in...

Rahm’s Union Problem

By Paul Kersey
07/08/2012
The City of Chicago recently released its Annual Financial Analysis 2012: 85 pages detailing the city’s awkward financial position. There are two sections worth highlighting. The first deal with public employees in general, the second has to do with pensions. The city’s workforce is getting small but more expensive: dropping from almost 42,400 full-time-equivalent positions in...

Illinois pension debt: It’s worse than you imagined

By Jonathan Ingram
07/03/2012
Last week, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, or GASB, finalized new rules to make pension funding more transparent. These new rules require governments to use more appropriate discount rates than most public pension plans have been using. Pension plans with sufficient funds set aside to pay future benefits can continue to discount future liabilities by current investment...

TAGS: GASB: Governmental Accounting Standards Board, pensions

Supreme Court: states don’t have to expand Medicaid

06/28/2012
The federal government can't force states like Illinois to expand their Medicaid programs. Lawmakers should refuse to implement the massive expansion of Medicaid in 2014 and halt plans to implement the expansion early in the Chicago area.

Kane County earns 100% in government transparency audit

By Brian Costin
06/26/2012
CHICAGO (June 26, 2012) – With the click of a mouse, residents in Kane County can find out when is the next county board meeting or what tax rates they pay. But in many counties across northern Illinois, this type of information is not readily available to the public. In the Illinois Policy Institute’s latest...

Gov. Quinn signs Medicaid package that fails to deliver

By Jonathan Ingram
06/14/2012
Earlier this afternoon, Gov. Quinn signed the “Medicaid reform” package. As you may recall, Quinn called on lawmakers to reduce Medicaid spending by $2.7 billion in his February budget address. The Institute offered a 59 point plan to help lawmakers hit that target. Our plan would have reduced Medicaid spending by $2.7 billion without cutting reimbursement rates...
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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