From the first quarter of 2001 until the second quarter of 2015, business establishment growth has been 34 percent while jobs growth has been only 1 percent.
Instead of spending reform and policies to promote economic growth, Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan proposes the same high-taxing, big-spending plans that got Illinois into its current fiscal mess.
Illinoisans handed over a larger portion of their earnings to state and local governments than did taxpayers in 45 lower-tax states in fiscal year 2012, according to a new Tax Foundation study.
The 2011 income-tax hike was supposed to address the state’s unpaid bills and ailing government-worker pensions; but five years and $31 billion in additional revenues later, Illinois’ unpaid bills are back up to 2011 levels, and the state’s government-worker pension debt has soared to $111 billion.
While the state moves to impose costly new requirements on private businesses in the name of privacy, the state is itself violating the privacy of thousands of Illinoisans.
Amid budget gridlock, Illinois lottery winners sue to have their winnings paid with interest and to prevent the state from selling more tickets it can’t pay out.
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...