Florida

Illinois’ sputtering population growth

01/09/2014
The U.S. Census Bureau announced that Illinois had the sixth-lowest population growth in the nation in 2013. The state’s population growth was just 0.11 percent, adding only 14,000 people to its population of nearly 13 million people. Other large states such as Georgia, North Carolina, Florida and Texas grew seven to 13 times faster than...

TAGS: population

Enacting Right to Work would help halt business exodus from Illinois

By Paul Kersey
01/01/2014
There is a virtual caravan of businesses leaving Illinois. Office Depot, which announced that it would be setting up its headquarters in Boca Raton, Fla., rather than Naperville, Ill., is only the latest. A string of smaller companies, mainly manufacturers such as Modern Drop Forge or Food Warning Equipment Company have been relocating – sometimes...

ADM relocates to Chicago – without state tax incentives

By Michael Lucci
12/19/2013
Archer Daniels Midland, an Illinois-based agribusiness giant, announced today that it will move the company’s global headquarters from Decatur, Ill., to Chicago, despite a tax incentive bill worth $30 million to ADM being stalled in the Illinois General Assembly. The decision keeps 60 to 75 executive-level jobs in Illinois, and comes a week after Office...

TAGS: Archer Daniels Midland, Chicago, cronyism, taxes

Cutting property taxes begins with cutting government

By illinoispolicy
11/17/2013
A lot of local governments are looking at increasing their property tax rates this time of year. Although many of the individual government increases appear relatively small, when added up they could represent a significant increase in cost to local property owners. The root of the problem — explored once again in a new study...

Illinois Obamacare grant goes to California

By Jackson Adams
10/28/2013
A California group with a history of making political contributions to Illinois politicians and connections to the Obama administration was awarded a federal “navigator” grant from the Department of Health and Human Services, or HHS, to help Illinoisans enroll in the Obamacare health insurance exchange. The East Los Angeles Community Union, or TELACU, was awarded...

TAGS: ACA: Affordable Care Act

Shrinking the Illinois Senate

By Brian Costin
10/08/2013
With 42,336 elected officials as of 1992, Illinois has nearly 12,000 more state and local elected politicians than any other state. Amazingly, with this unprecedented wealth of legislators Illinois hasn’t been able to adequately address some of its most dire problems. Illinois still ranks near the bottom of the nation in numerous key economic indicators,...

TAGS: term limits

Toss a cigarette, get a felony, go to jail

By Bryant Jackson-Green
08/30/2013
Smokers should be careful not to flick too many cigarette butts out of their windows on their commute – starting next year, it could land them in prison for one to three years. The punishment sounds too outrageous to believe, but it’s true. Under a new Illinois law, someone who tosses a cigarette on the...