While government jobs outpaced the overall growth for the month, manufacturing and construction took the biggest losses as the unemployment rate remains among the worst in the nation.
It’s a simple choice for Illinois’ top legislative leaders this fall: listen to the over $1 million each got in campaign cash from teachers unions, or back the futures of 9,600 low-income students with a tax credit that is barely a blip in the $50 billion state budget.
Being in the top 10 of Illinois’ five statewide pension systems is an investor’s dream and a taxpayer’s nightmare. The median investment is shy of $166,000, but the estimated lifetime payout is $5.5 million.
Illinois labor leaders claimed their push to enshrine public union supremacy in the Illinois Constitution was the “blueprint” for other states. Now both California and Pennsylvania are following Illinois’ lead.
The Chicago Teachers Union registered its opinion on legislation more than 1,360 times in just six legislative sessions. Its legislative priorities would drive up taxes and make government more expensive, no matter where you live in Illinois.
The Chicago Teachers Union pours money into political campaigns, but that isn’t all. It also pressures lawmakers to abide by its legislative agenda. It’s a one-two political punch: helping elect lawmakers and then telling them what to do.
An ominously titled document by close confidants of new Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson states the new administration’s top priority is to take more money from households making $100,000 or more to fund what they claim is a “just Chicago.”
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.
The “gift room” scandal, a botched police raid and a smokestack implosion underscore how the head of Chicago’s Law Department, also known as the corporation counsel, too often lacks independence from the mayor’s office. Chicago’s corporation counsel is appointed by the mayor and can be removed at the mayor’s discretion. Experience in other major cities...