Illinois

Addison, Algonquin and Mundelein earn high marks on government transparency audit, while 18 cities fail

By Brian Costin
09/22/2014
The towns of Addison, Algonquin and Mundelein earned high marks for online government transparency in a recent survey of Illinois municipalities. The current project evaluated 25 towns with populations ranging from Oak Forest’s nearly 28,000 to Calumet City’s 37,000 residents, the 51st– through 75th-largest municipalities in the state. The towns were graded using the Illinois...

TAGS: good government

Bloomington enacts online transparency ordinance based on Illinois Policy guidelines

By Brian Costin
09/21/2014
In late October, the city of Bloomington enacted one of the most comprehensive local government online transparency ordinances in the state, and taxpayers should be celebrating their officials’ commitment to open honest governing. By adopting an online transparency ordinance, largely based on the Illinois Policy Institute’s 10-Point Transparency Checklist, Bloomington is taking the strongest possible action...

TAGS: good government, transparency

Is pension reform dead in Illinois?

09/19/2014
In June 2014, in response to attempts by the state to reform government-worker health-care costs, Illinois’ Supreme Court found these benefits to be protected by the state’s pension clause ­– even though retiree health-care benefits are nowhere to be found in the state pension code. As a result, many assume that if the state can’t...

TAGS: budget, pensions, taxes

Federal numbers show Illinois remains last in post-recession recovery

By Michael Lucci
09/19/2014
A day after the Illinois Department of Employment Security reported that Illinois’ workforce shrank by 19,000 people in August, driving Illinois’ labor-force participation rate to a new 35-year low, new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics confirms the severity of the state’s labor-force dropout crisis. The labor-force participation rate measures the share of Illinois’...

TAGS: Chicago, IDES: Illinois Department of Employment Security, jobs

Illinois’ workforce hits new low in August, and it’s not because of retirements

By Michael Lucci
09/18/2014
Illinois continues to bleed workers, with another 19,000 Illinoisans dropping out of the workforce in the month of August alone, according to a press release from the Illinois Department of Employment Security, or IDES. As a result, Illinois’ labor force participation rate hit a new 35-year low in August. The state’s jobless rate fell from...

TAGS: labor

Chicago takes pole position in race for Obama library, no tax dollars required

By Jane McEnaney
09/16/2014
On Sept. 15, the Barack Obama Foundation announced four semifinalists in the battle to build Barack Obama’s presidential library and museum. The four potential host sites include the University of Chicago, the University of Illinois at Chicago, Columbia University in New York City and the University of Hawaii. Holding two of the four slots, the...

TAGS: Barack Obama, library, Obama presidential library, taxes

Food-stamp enrollment in Illinois outpaces job creation by nearly 2-to-1

By Michael Lucci
09/16/2014
Illinois’ sluggish jobs recovery is coming at a tremendous cost. For every post-recession job created in Illinois, nearly two people have enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps. In the recession era, the number of Illinoisans dependent on food stamps has risen by 745,000. Without adequate job creation in the...

TAGS: SNAP

The disappearance of Illinois’ manufacturing jobs

By Michael Lucci
09/15/2014
Illinois’ manufacturing sector has been hemorrhaging jobs for decades, and policy has a lot to do with it. Since 2004, Illinois has lost 125,000 manufacturing jobs. Most of these losses resulted from the Great Recession – a colossal 117,000 manufacturing jobs were shed from January 2008-January 2010 – but precious few have returned. In the...

TAGS: jobs