Illinois

Illinois businesses face another tax hike

By Benjamin VanMetre
03/13/2014
Lawmakers in Indiana are pushing to cut the state’s corporate income tax rate to 4.9 percent in 2019 from 6.5 percent in 2015. If successful, the legislation would give Indiana one of the most competitive corporate income tax rates in the Midwest. Corporations in Illinois currently pay 9.5 percent of their income to the state...

TAGS: fair tax, income tax, progressive income tax

Springfield’s property tax levy swallowed by local pension costs

03/13/2014
The Illinois Policy Institute recently published a study titled “The crisis hits home: Illinois’ local pension problem.” The audit measured 10 different metrics related to pensions to arrive at a holistic picture of how rising local pension costs are hurting each city’s fiscal health. The city of Springfield performed dismally in the audit. It scored...

TAGS: pensions

The assault on school choice in Illinois

03/13/2014
Thousands of Illinois students are trapped in failing schools. These schools fail at their most basic task: providing students with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in the future. Take a look at some statistics from a forthcoming Illinois Policy Institute special report on the state’s lowest-performing schools: 72 percent of students at...

TAGS: charter schools, school choice, vouchers

Springfield’s pension crisis

03/12/2014
The city of Springfield’s local pensions are in crisis. But instead of facing this problem head on, Springfield Mayor Mike Houston is quibbling over what he calls “flaws” in a comprehensive report by the Illinois Policy Institute that measures the fiscal health of Illinois’ 114 largest cities. Our report found that Springfield scored worst among...

TAGS: municipal pensions

Why Illinois’ Medicaid 1115 waiver is cause for concern

By Naomi Lopez Bauman
03/12/2014
This week, the governor’s office is scheduled to submit “The Path to Transformation: Illinois 1115 Waiver Proposal” to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. If approved by the federal government, this proposal would overhaul the Illinois Medicaid program. The state would not only consolidate multiple health-care programs aimed at providing home and community-based...

TAGS: Medicaid, Pat Quinn

Three-year anniversary of Gov. Walker signing Act 10

By Paul Kersey
03/11/2014
Three years ago today, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker overhauled the state’s labor law by signing Act 10. Act 10 changed the balance of power in Wisconsin, shifting it from government union officials back to taxpayers. Government unions were limited to bargaining over salaries. Complicated work rules and lavish benefits – often on terms that were...

TAGS: labor

Clock is running out on ObamaCare enrollments: Illinois update

By Naomi Lopez Bauman
03/11/2014
Only one month remains in the ObamaCare open enrollment period for this year. Even though the Obama administration is pulling out all the stops, Illinois is less than half-way to its goal of nearly 237,000 enrollees for 2014. March 31 is the deadline to obtain qualified health-insurance coverage or face a penalty under ObamaCare. Despite...

Clock is running out on ObamaCare enrollments: Illinois update

By Naomi Lopez Bauman
03/11/2014
Only one month remains in the ObamaCare open enrollment period for this year. Even though the Obama administration is pulling out all the stops, Illinois is less than half-way to its goal of nearly 237,000 enrollees for 2014. March 31 is the deadline to obtain qualified health-insurance coverage or face a penalty under ObamaCare. Despite...

TAGS: enrollment

Springfield’s police and firefighter pension shortfalls

03/11/2014
The city of Springfield owes $216 million in police and firefighter pension debt alone. This 2012 figure is 6.5 times larger than the $33.5 annual payroll for police and firefighters. Just 10 years earlier, the shortfall was two times larger. (A fully funded pension should have no shortfall.) Pension debts are dwarfing the payrolls that...
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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