Illinois

Quinn’s three-step plan to increase taxes

By Benjamin VanMetre
05/05/2014
In 2011, the Illinois General Assembly passed a record income tax hike. The higher rates are legally required to partially sunset in 2015. That means all Illinois taxpayers are less than one year away from tax relief. But Quinn is back for more. He wants to increase taxes again on Illinois’ middle-class residents instead of...

U-Haul moving rates shine a light on out-migration

By Michael Lucci
05/05/2014
Illinois has a domestic migration problem. The state is losing too many people. Illinois has lost more people to other states than it gained in every single year since 1985 . And in every year, the people who left earned more money than the people who entered. The Internal Revenue Service released new migration data...

U.S. payroll gains leaving Illinois behind

By Michael Lucci
05/02/2014
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a gain of 288,000 payroll jobs nationally for the month of April, better than consensus expectations of a gain of 218,000. The national jobless rate dropped to 6.3 percent from 6.7 percent. The month-over-month gain in payroll jobs was the best since January 2012. However, the entire decline in...

There’s an alternative to Rahm’s proposed $750M in property tax increases

By Benjamin VanMetre
05/02/2014
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is calling for a $750 million property tax increase on Chicago residents over the next five years in his recent pension proposal. And his proposed “reform” plan covers only the city’s municipal and laborers pension funds. That doesn’t include whatever tax increases he’s got planned to fund the pensions of teachers,...

Looming AFSCME negotiations means big battle for Illinois’ next governor

By Justin Hegy
05/01/2014
With everyone arguing about the minimum wage, taxes and pension reforms, many people may not realize the most important battle Illinois’ next governor will face: negotiating the state’s largest government union contract. Whoever is elected governor will be stuck with a partisan and bitter legislature, making his ability to push through bold legislative reforms extremely...

Harvard study: Trust in government plummets amongst America’s youth

By Justin Hegy
05/01/2014
According to newly released Harvard study, Americans ages 18-29 are losing trust in government. Since just 2010, trust in major government institutions declined by 8 percent among Americans ages 18-29. Not one major government institution in the poll achieved a level of trust of 50 percent or above. The poll revealed more than just a...

ObamaCare enrollments in Illinois: at best, halfway to goal

By Naomi Lopez Bauman
05/01/2014
Media outlets across Illinois are trumpeting the “surge” in ObamaCare enrollments during March, as well as the “extended” enrollment period during the first half of April. But to see the reality behind the ObamaCare enrollments, one needs to dig deeper than the Obama administration’s press release. Instead of counting people who have actually paid for...

Half of Illinois ObamaCare ‘enrollees’ haven’t paid their premium

By Hilary Gowins
05/01/2014
You’re not signed up unless you pay. And in Illinois, half of ObamaCare “enrollees” haven’t paid for their premium. That puts the Land of Lincoln well below the national average. Nationwide, just 67 percent of those the Obama administration counted as “enrolled” in the Affordable Care Act had paid their premiums as of April 15,...

TAGS: enrollment

Gallup: Half of Illinoisans would leave the state if they could

By Michael Lucci
04/30/2014
Gallup released a stunning poll that shows 50 percent of Illinoisans want to leave the state, the highest percentage of any state nationally. This comes a week after Illinois’ worst-in-the nation performance in a Gallup poll that showed one in four Illinoisans consider Illinois to be the worst possible place to live. If Illinois government...
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FAQ: How the federal scholarship program would help Illinois students

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...

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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