Illinois

More than 216,000 Illinois Medicaid enrollees found ineligible

By Jonathan Ingram
11/14/2013
In January, the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, or HFS, began a new project verifying eligibility for Illinois’ Medicaid enrollees. For years, state workers had failed to take adequate steps to ensure the people receiving Medicaid benefits were actually eligible for the program. As an Auditor General report noted, state workers failed to verify basic...

TAGS: fraud, Medicaid

ObamaCare: Illinois enrollment numbers

By Naomi Lopez Bauman
11/13/2013
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services just released the much-anticipated enrollment numbers for the ObamaCare health insurance exchanges. But instead of reporting on actual enrollments, the administration is, instead, reporting on the number of people who have put a health plan in their checkout cart, but haven’t actually checked out. The distinction is...

TAGS: ACA: Affordable Care Act, Get Covered Illinois

Illinois has fourth-largest portion of tax revenues coming from corporate income taxes in the nation

By Benjamin VanMetre
11/13/2013
Illinois’ corporate income tax rate is already the fourth-highest in the industrialized world. Yet some lawmakers want to push rates even higher. State Rep. Naomi Jakobsson, D-Champaign, wants swap out Illinois’ constitutionally protected flat rate income tax on corporations with a progressive income tax hike. And that would be on top of the fact that...

TAGS: corporate income tax, fair tax, flat tax, graduated income tax, Naomi Jakobsson, progressive income tax

Illinois General Assembly passes bill to help Teamsters who picketed funerals

11/12/2013
Since July, Illinois Teamsters have been on strike against funeral home operator Service Corporation International, or SCI, because SCI didn’t offer a contract that the union found satisfactory. At first, the Teamsters fought their battle by aggressively picketing funeral homes SCI owns in Illinois. Among other things, strikers at Illinois funeral homes reportedly blocked mourners...

TAGS: Service Corporation International, Teamsters, Tony Munoz

Will County AFSCME workers file strike notice against county

By Paul Kersey
11/10/2013
The Herald-News is reporting that American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 1028 have filed a strike notice against Will County. About 1,000 county employees could go on strike as early as Wednesday, Nov. 13. The union wants a larger cost-of-living pay raise than the county is offering, and the union is also...

TAGS: AFSCME: American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees, strike

Half of Illinois Medicaid enrollees reviewed found ineligible

By Jonathan Ingram
11/08/2013
In January, the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, or HFS, began a new project verifying eligibility for Illinois’ 2.7 million Medicaid enrollees. For years, state workers had failed to take adequate steps to ensure the people receiving Medicaid benefits were actually eligible for the program. As an Auditor General report noted, state workers failed to...

TAGS: AFSCME: American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees, fraud, Medicaid, Pat Quinn

Chicago Tribune calls for honesty in college-readiness standards

11/08/2013
The Chicago Tribune is calling on the state to be honest about how well its students are performing academically: “Illinois has a track record of massaging its school performance numbers to mask reality and make everybody feel good. Last year, 849 schools could boast that 90 percent or more of their students passed statewide reading...

TAGS: college readiness, ISBE: Illinois State Board of Education, No Child Left Behind

It’s time to stop misleading parents about the quality of Illinois schools

11/06/2013
State government officials, district administrators and union bosses have been actively misleading parents about the quality of Illinois’ elementary schools for years. New Illinois Standard Achievement Test, or ISAT, scores released last week by the Illinois State Board of Education, or ISBE, prove as much. In fact, most schools across the state experienced significant drops...

TAGS: Common Core, CPS: Chicago Public Schools, Illinois Standard Achievement Test, ISAT: Illinois Standards Achievement Test, ISBE: Illinois State Board of Education

Colorado voters defeat a progressive income tax hike

By Benjamin VanMetre
11/06/2013
On Nov. 5, Colorado voters defeated a progressive income tax increase by a two-to-one margin — more than 66 percent of the voters said no to higher taxes. Colorado’s Amendment 66 was a ballot initiative to swap out the state’s competitive flat rate income tax for a progressive income tax increase. Specifically, lawmakers wanted to...

TAGS: fair tax, flat tax, graduated income tax, income tax, progressive income tax

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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