Illinois

CBO estimates minimum wage hike to cost 500,000 jobs

By Michael Lucci
02/19/2014
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, or CBO, released an estimate Tuesday afternoon saying that the Obama administration’s proposed minimum wage hike would result in 500,000 fewer Americans being employed. The proposal, supported by Democrats in Washington, D.C., and Springfield alike, is to hike the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour. Low-wage workers would see a...

Three things the Illinois media aren’t telling you about ObamaCare enrollments

By Naomi Lopez Bauman
02/19/2014
Media outlets across Illinois have been reporting that the Obama administration is hitting its enrollment targets for the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as ObamaCare. But to see the reality of ObamaCare enrollments, one needs to dig deeper than the Obama administration’s press release. Illinois has only met 40 percent of its enrollment target so...

TAGS: ACA: Affordable Care Act, enrollment, Get Covered Illinois

Illinois’ economic policies disproportionately hurt youth and minorities

By Michael Lucci
02/17/2014
Gov. Pat Quinn noted in his State of the State address that “economic growth always starts with more jobs,” and that “we’ve seen progress on this front.” But it’s unclear who is experiencing progress in Illinois. Unemployment rates for youths are at crisis levels and rising, while minority rates are barely better. The Illinois Department...

TAGS: jobs, unemployment

How much are Chicago’s public servants really paid?

By Brian Costin
02/16/2014
The city of Chicago spent a shocking $197 million in overtime pay over the last year. Some public servants were paid more in overtime pay than their regular salary. One city employee, Police Communications Operator Lisa Jamison, earned $122,088 in overtime pay, on top of her $80,136 annual salary. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, “107...

The high graduation rates of Illinois’ lowest-performing schools

02/15/2014
Here’s a startling statistic: despite having only 11 percent of students performing at grade level in math and reading, Illinois’ lowest-performing high schools graduate more than 60 percent of their students within four years. And only 6 percent of these students are college-ready according to the ACT. All of this indicates that the state’s lowest-performing...

Illinois Policy Action’s legislative agenda focuses on education, pensions, health care and more

By Jane McEnaney
02/15/2014
Yesterday marked Illinois lawmakers’ deadline to introduce bills for this spring’s legislative session. Our government affairs team was down in Springfield, finalizing Illinois Policy Action’s 2014 legislative agenda. Here’s a sneak peek at some of the major legislative initiatives we’ll be pushing this session: Pension reform State Rep. Ron Sandack has introduced a bill that...

Wisconsin’s turnaround: How labor reform under Act 10 gave power back to taxpayers and created a multimillion-dollar surplus

By Paul Kersey
02/13/2014
Three years ago, in the midst of a financial crisis, the state of Wisconsin enacted a landmark labor reform package, now known as Public Act 10. Through this legislation, the Legislature made fundamental changes to its government collective-bargaining law. Wisconsin started with a public-sector labor law that paralleled Illinois’ in most respects, but PA 10...

TAGS: labor, unions

Wisconsin’s labor reforms reach three-year mark: Should Illinois have followed Walker’s lead?

By Paul Kersey
02/13/2014
The Statehouse was packed. Protestors crammed the building, chanting, pounding drums and marching around with signs. The historic Wisconsin state Capitol had become overrun with sleeping bags and activists. In some cases, lawmakers were harassed. Doctors diagnosed fake illnesses so protestors could be excused from work. The Senate Democratic caucus fled the state. Within days,...

TAGS: labor, unions

Doubling down on job loss

By Naomi Lopez Bauman
02/12/2014
The president continues to promote the recent Congressional Budget Office report that predicts that the U.S. labor force will lose the equivalent of 2.5 million more jobs as the result of the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as ObamaCare. While he extols the benefits of having more flexibility in one’s job decisions as a result...

TAGS: ACA: Affordable Care Act, jobs

ObamaCare enrollment approaches 89,000 in Illinois

By Naomi Lopez Bauman
02/12/2014
The president’s public relations machine is at it again. With six weeks remaining until the March 31 deadline to obtain qualified health insurance coverage or face a penalty, the Obama administration is trumpeting the success of the Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as ObamaCare, despite a mountain of evidence to the contrary. Enrollments have...

TAGS: ACA: Affordable Care Act, enrollment, Get Covered Illinois

Load More

Fighting poverty with employment: Chicago block clubs

Leaders of these organizations on the South and West sides connect residents to jobs and engage youth to build safer neighborhoods.

View Report

Report Archive

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