Illinois

Quinn’s crystal ball

By Ted Dabrowski
07/02/2013
After several months of saying that pension reform inaction by the Illinois General Assembly costs taxpayers $17 million a day, Gov. Pat Quinn lowered that number to $5 million per day for fiscal year 2014. That’s surprising, since no pension reform bill was passed in the recent legislative session and the unfunded liability is still almost...

Taxpayer contributions to SURS increased 333 percent since 1998

By John Klingner
07/01/2013
Employee contributions to the State University Retirement System, or SURS, have gone up by 16 percent since 1998. During the same time period, taxpayer contributions to university worker retirements increased by 333 percent. In 2012 alone, Illinois taxpayers contributed $730 million more to SURS than university employees did. And the disparity between taxpayer and employee...

U.S. Supreme Court should scrutinize Quinn’s plan to unionize Illinois moms and dads

By Paul Kersey
07/01/2013
Illinois resident Pam Harris has a son, Josh, who is 24 years old and suffers from Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome, a rare genetic malady that leaves him moderately handicapped mentally and at the same time affects his joints so that he is prone to dislocations. Josh can move around the house and do simple chores. He’s also...

TAGS: Pam Harris, SEIU: Service Employees International Union

Gov. Quinn’s projected pension debt growth “slowdown” nothing to celebrate

By Chris Andriesen
06/30/2013
by Jonathan Ingram The Quinn administration recently released a new projection of how quickly the state’s massive pension debt is growing. As a result, some are celebrating the fact that the governor is predicting that Illinois’ pension debt will only grow by $5 million per day during fiscal year 2014, as opposed to his projection of $17...

Little movement during Illinois’ first pension committee meeting

By Chris Andriesen
06/29/2013
by Jane McEnaney On June 27, the Illinois General Assembly’s conference committee on pension reform met for the first time in Chicago. All 10 members of the bipartisan, bicameral committee were present. The committee met for five straight hours, hearing testimony from: Ty Fahner, President, Civic Committee of The Commercial Club of Chicago Jerry Stermer, Acting Director...

Moody’s: Illinois 2011 unfunded liability jumps by 65 percent

By Chris Andriesen
06/28/2013
by Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner Moody’s Investors Service reported that Illinois’ true unfunded pension liability in fiscal year 2011 was nearly 65% higher than the state’s official estimate. In its report titled “Adjusted Pension Liability Medians for U.S. States,” Moody’s calculated the unfunded liabilities for Illinois’ three largest state-run pension plans at $133 billion, compared...

Illinois’ seemingly endless appetite: another $1.3 billion borrowing

06/27/2013
by Ted Dabrowski As if Illinois didn’t have enough debt to deal with, the state borrowed another $1.3 billion. The state says it needs the money for infrastructure projects. Illinois tapped the bond markets despite the current fallout from the state’s failure to reform pensions and the recent bond market instability, which drove states like...

Illinois’ 102 county online transparency audit

By Brian Costin
06/27/2013
One of the best protections against corruption is transparency, and in today’s digital age one of the easiest ways for government to be open and accountable is through posting public documents on the Internet. Unfortunately, most Illinois counties need to dramatically improve when it comes to online transparency. The Illinois Policy Institute recently audited all...

Beck rights and abstention: The ways around a toxic union

By Paul Kersey
06/26/2013
A recent Google Consumer Surveys poll shows that a third of union household members would quit their union if it weren’t for the fact that doing so would cost them their jobs. Because Illinois lacks a Right-to-Work law, thousands of workers are forced to pay dues or fees to a union that they don’t believe...

TAGS: Civil Rights Act, unions

Comptroller seeks investigation into Washington Park’s missing $300K

06/26/2013
by Andrew Wyatt This year, Washington Park lost $300,000 of taxpayer money meant to cover village workers’ paychecks. The village also has not filed any financial reports, audits or tax statements to the comptroller’s office for the last seven years. The village of Washington Park, which is near East St. Louis, is no stranger to...
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Taxed out: 10 reforms to stop Illinois from losing people and jobs

Illinois’ tax code stands in the way of the state’s economic competitiveness. The combination of high tax burdens and a poor tax structure contributes to the loss of jobs and investment to other states. From a place of former economic dominance, Illinois now ranks 45th in gross state product (GSP) growth over the past decade...

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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