Illinois

Capitol Updates: May 31

By Jane McEnaney
05/31/2013
Health care  On Memorial Day, the Illinois General Assembly passed Senate Bill 26, which drastically expands the state’s Medicaid program and is one of the key provisions of implementing ObamaCare. During yesterday’s Senate floor debate, state Sen. Heather Steans, D-Chicago, presented the bill that appropriates the funds for fiscal year 2014’s human services budget. Steans admitted that the...

Moody’s warns Illinois credit rating could fall without pension reform

05/31/2013
In what’s become a habit for Moody’s Investors Service, the credit rating agency warned today that Illinois faces more credit downgrades if it fails once again to reform its state-run pension systems. The state already has the lowest credit rating in the nation. This means Illinois pays more to borrow money than any other state. But what’s...

The SB 1687 cost shift doesn’t go far enough

By Benjamin VanMetre
05/30/2013
A “cost shift” pension plan was introduced today, Senate Bill 1687 Amendment #2, for the State Universities Retirement System, or SURS. Here are the ins and outs of the plan: What the cost shift does: A significant driver of Illinois’ $97 billion pension crisis is the fact that the state makes pension contributions to SURS...

ObamaCare: if it’s not good enough for Congress, it’s not good enough for Illinois

05/30/2013
by Diane Cohen Under a 2010 amendment to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, or PPACA, authored by U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, congressional leaders and their staffers are required to purchase health insurance from an ObamaCare exchange. Turns out Congress is having second thoughts. With the individual mandate set to take effect on...

Where there’s a government union, there’s bound to be big government debt

05/30/2013
by Paul Kersey So what exactly do government worker unions do? Along with negotiating contracts and lobbying politicians, they help create loads of debt. The Massachusetts-based Beacon Hill Institute has done some sophisticated analysis of state-level economic performance, and the results indicate that government unions tend to go hand in hand with high government debt....

Clock is ticking in Springfield

By Matt Paprocki
05/28/2013
There are four days of legislative session remaining, during which time state lawmakers will debate many important issues that affect taxpayers in the state of Illinois. Here is what you need to know going into the last week of session. No budget … yet At this point in session, a state budget proposal is usually...

Illinois had a lower veteran unemployment rate than the nation last year

05/27/2013
by Paul Schumacher The Illinois Department of Employment Security issues a monthly report on unemployment for veterans. In April 2013, the unemployment rate for all veterans older than 18 was 6.2 percent, down from 7.1 percent in April 2012. Monthly numbers for veteran unemployment are not available, but for 2012 Illinois had a lower veteran unemployment rate...

Illinois’ economic outlook will worsen under a progressive tax

05/26/2013
by Ben VanMetre The American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC, released its sixth annual Rich States, Poor Statespublication earlier this week. This report showed that Illinois maintained its near dead-last ranking – with the third-worst state economic outlook in the nation. This news is further confirmation that state lawmakers’ poor policy decisions continue to sap economic activity and...

Chicago — the future hub of ed-tech

05/26/2013
by Josh Dwyer In an article on EdReach – a website that provides a platform for education innovators – Christopher Nyren, founder of Educated Ventures, listed a number of reasons why Chicago should be one of the “most prolific ed-tech hotspots on the planet.” Here are some of the facts Nyren shared: The Midwest boasts two of the...
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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.

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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