Illinois

Repeal death, franchise taxes by ending cronyism

By Michael Lucci
08/18/2014
Illinois government does some strange things. A case in point is how the state treats people and businesses that create jobs. Illinoisans are subject to both a death tax and a franchise tax. The death tax is a special tax on wealthy people just for the privilege of dying in the state of Illinois. This...

TAGS: Chicago, cronyism, death tax, jobs

Teachers can opt out of paying for union politics

By Paul Kersey
08/15/2014
As the start of a new school year approaches, Illinois teachers deserve to know their rights. That includes the right to join or not join a union, and the right to support or not support union politics as the political season in Illinois heats up. Teachers unions are one of the most powerful lobbying groups...

TAGS: Chicago, teacher salaries, unions

Medicaid’s broken ‘doctor fix’

By Naomi Lopez Bauman
08/15/2014
When the Affordable Care Act, or ACA, was signed into law, three out of 10 physicians were not accepting new Medicaid patients. So to entice more physicians to participate in the Medicaid program, the federal government began temporarily paying higher reimbursements for some of primary care physicians’ routine services. But temporarily boosting a narrow subset...

Illinois still 170,000 jobs away from recovery

By Michael Lucci
08/15/2014
Illinois gained 10,300 jobs in July, according to the Illinois Department of Employment Security, or IDES. The Quinn camp was quick to tout this number as an indicator of the administration’s success. However, by comparison Illinois only created 10,600 net new jobs in first 66 months of Quinn’s tenure. Perhaps the Quinn administration believes that...

TAGS: Chicago, jobs, unemployment

Taxpayers on the hook for risky investments in state pension systems

08/15/2014
Politicians have made a mess of Illinois’ finances, in large part through their mismanagement of state and local pension systems. With most of the state’s pension funds heading toward insolvency, it’s no surprise that politicians’ actions – from using government-worker retirements as slush funds, to trading retirement benefits in exchange for union support, to taking...

Traditional pensions a bad fit for teachers, millennials in Illinois

08/14/2014
More mobile than any generation before them, millennials need retirement plans, such as 401(k)s, that are just as flexible. But if you’re a millennial looking to become a state-government worker in Illinois, you may want to look elsewhere. Mobility isn’t a priority for state officials. Illinois almost exclusively offers its government workers traditional pension plans....

SEC charges prove politicians shouldn’t control public pensions

08/13/2014
Illinois taxpayers and government workers got proof in 2013 that politicians can’t be trusted to manage public-worker retirements. That’s when the Securities Exchange Commission charged Illinois with securities fraud. Now, Kansas joins Illinois and New Jersey as one of three states to face SEC civil charges for misleading investors about the health of their pension...

Nation’s worst credit rating costs Illinois millions more in interest payments

By Benjamin VanMetre
08/11/2014
Illinois has the lowest credit rating in the nation. And just like people with poor credit scores, the state must pay higher interest rates. Higher rates mean higher interest payments that drain the budget and leave less money for education, health care and public safety. For every $1 billion of new borrowing, Illinois taxpayers are...

TAGS: credit rating

Illinois paychecks shrink

By Michael Lucci
08/11/2014
Illinoisans enjoyed a larger paycheck than their Iowa counterparts for 30 years – until 2012. For the first time ever, the median household in Iowa surpassed its Illinois counterpart, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. If you lined up all households in order of income, the median household would be the one in the very...

National Employee Freedom Week tells workers about their options

By Paul Kersey
08/10/2014
Aug. 11 marks the start of National Employee Freedom Week, when nonprofit organizations in 44 states reach out to workers across the country to let them know they have choices when it comes to union membership. Even in states that do not have a Right-to-Work law, such as Illinois, workers don’t have to join a...

TAGS: labor, nonprofits, unions

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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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Diana Graham

Process for unionizing non-state workers raises red flags

By Paul Kersey
06/19/2014

CBS Chicago: Illinois’ highest-paid superintendent receives $400K per year to oversee 1,200 students

By Ted Dabrowski
05/02/2016