Harvey is seeking state aid under Illinois’ Financially Distressed City Law, but without pension reform, state oversight offers little hope to fix its $164M crisis.
As veto session begins and power goes back to the Democratic majority state legislature, the consequences of a single-party state are more evident than ever.
The average retired career state employee in Illinois was paid $93,558 in pension benefits last year. That’s $24,538 more than the average Illinoisan working to pay for those retirees.
Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s sentencing to 7.5 years for bribery, conspiracy and wire fraud ends his active role in Illinois politics. But his legacy of gerrymandering will continue to shape Illinois politics long after he’s behind bars.
This legislative session members of the Illinois General Assembly passed a bill to make it easier to sue out-of-state businesses and a bill that would prevent state agencies from adopting eased workplace regulations. Illinois’ business climate is bad, but these bills could make it worse.
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...