Published Jan. 28, 2025 Illinois Policy Institute Center for Poverty Solutions, in partnership with the Archbridge Institute By Joshua Bandoch, Ph.D., head of policy, Illinois Policy Institute and Justin Callais, Ph.D., chief economist, Archbridge Institute EXECUTIVE SUMMARY A low-income person’s ability to move up in society is worse in Illinois than in any other Midwestern...
Published Oct. 16, 2024 Illinois finds itself at a crossroads: will it empower minorities and poor people to unleash their potential, or will it perpetuate an inequitable status quo? For far too many Illinoisans, opportunity is unfairly and unnecessarily out of reach. Illinois ranks in the bottom ten among all states in social mobility and...
Illinois wireless plan holders paid more on average in federal, state and local taxes than anywhere else in the U.S. The taxes were higher than the combined taxes of the two lowest-ranked states. Chicagoans managed to pay even more.
Illinoisans will notice more expensive food July 1 when Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s election-year suspension of the grocery tax expires. Only Illinois and 12 other states will tax groceries then.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s temporary tax relief expires July 1 when Illinois reinstates the grocery tax instead of joining the 37 states that don’t tax groceries at all.
Low-tax states attract the majority of movers, while high-tax states push them away. Illinois takes nearly 13% of all money made in the state as taxes, and lost 141,656 residents in 2022.
New Census Bureau data shows people moving out of Illinois continues to drive the state’s population decline. So many moved away in the year before July 2022, it was almost like Rockford disappearing.
Politicians use a loophole to bypass the Illinois Constitution’s requirement that bills be read on three separate days before they are passed. Instead, they often gut minor bills and put significant legislation in the bills within a day of the vote.
Occupational licensing requirements present one of the steepest barriers to low-income Illinoisans starting careers in beauty services. Illinois requires anyone seeking to become a barber, cosmetologist, nail technician or hair braider to obtain a state license, essentially a permission slip to work. Unlike 45 other states, Illinois offers only one pathway to licensure for each...