Illinois

Billions in unpaid health care bills shine a light on overly generous benefits

By Ted Dabrowski, John Klingner

10/06/2017

State workers receive a platinum-level health care plan at a heavily subsidized cost, while Illinoisans in the private sector paying for those plans see their own premiums skyrocket.

TAGS: AFSCME: American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees, debt, health care, pensions

More than 2,200 Cook County workers receive salaries over $100,000

By Ted Dabrowski, John Klingner

10/06/2017

More than 2,200 Cook County workers receive salaries over $100,000. For career county workers, that means pensions worth millions of dollars over the course of their retirements.

TAGS: 401(k), Cook County, municipal pensions, pensions

Wheeling to use $1 million in TIF funds to build bridge to nowhere

By Amy Korte

10/05/2017

Wheeling village trustees have voted for a plan to use tax increment financing to build a bridge to a vacant piece of land.

TAGS: TIF: Tax Increment Financing, Wheeling

Preckwinkle admits soda tax was ‘first and foremost’ about revenue

By Chris Lentino

10/05/2017

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle shared an admission that the soda tax was always about revenue.

TAGS: Cook County, municipal pensions, soda tax, Teamsters, Toni Preckwinkle

Lawmaker turned lobbyist turns the tables on taxpayers

By Austin Berg

10/05/2017

State Rep. Brandon Phelps' draw as a lobbyist obviously comes from his Statehouse connections and former role in the legislative process.

TAGS: Brandon Phelps

If your child misses 90 minutes of school you could be charged with a misdemeanor

By Jeffrey Schwab

10/04/2017

Is criminally charging the parents of a truant child an appropriate way to handle missing class?

Illinois home to higher ‘sin taxes’ than every neighboring state

By Brendan Bakala

10/03/2017

Illinois ranks eighth in the nation for state and local excise and selective sales tax collections.

TAGS: alcohol tax, cigarette tax, soda tax, taxes

More than a third of Illinois’ largest cities shrinking in population

10/03/2017

Twelve of the 29 Illinois cities with over 50,000 in population are losing residents.

TAGS: outmigration, population, U.S. Census Bureau

IRS data show continuing Illinois wealth flight

By Orphe Divounguy

10/02/2017

Illinois households that moved out of state earned $19,600 more, on average, than those who moved in during the 2014-2015 tax year.

Illinois’ next tax hike could mean pain at the pump

By Ted Dabrowski, John Klingner

09/29/2017

A proposed increase in gas taxes to pay for state infrastructure spending would impose another burden on overtaxed Illinoisans.

TAGS: gas tax, taxes

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Pathway to a Profession: How Apprenticeships Could Reshape Illinois’ Beauty Service Industry

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...

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