Illinois

Illinoisans must work longer than others to pay their tax bills

04/17/2012
In 2012, Illinoisans will have to work 114 days to earn enough to pay their combined federal, state and local tax bill – seven days longer than the average of all the states. The Tax Foundation released their annual “Tax Freedom Day” report, which determines how long residents must work to pay off all tax...

Cigarette taxes can’t fix Medicaid

By Jonathan Ingram
04/16/2012
It looks like Gov. Quinn may be pinning his hopes of finding Medicaid savings by raising cigarette taxes. This isn’t the first time Gov. Quinn has floated his $1-per-pack tax hike on cigarettes. So I was glad to see that Sen. Dale Righter and Rep. Patti Bellock, members of the Medicaid reform working group, have voiced their opposition to...

2011 Illinois state representative salaries

By Chris Andriesen
04/16/2012
In March, Illinois state senators voted to freeze their salaries and forfeit twelve days of pay. The bill is awaiting concurrence in the House. According to the NCSL, Illinois state legislators will earn a base salary of $67,836 in 2012, along with a $111 per diem for each session day. Members of the Illinois legislature are among the highest-paid in...

10 Peoria-area municipalities fail government transparency audit

By Brian Costin
04/11/2012
Peoria, Ill. (April 11, 2012) – Ten out of eleven government agencies in the Peoria-area received failing grades in an online transparency audit conducted by local citizen activists and the Illinois Policy Institute. Members of the Peoria 9/12 group worked with the Institute to grade local government websites on how much public data is readily...

Food entrepreneurs need real freedom

04/05/2012
A story in the Pekin Daily Times reports that farm-market shoppers in Illinois will have more choices this year, thanks to a law Governor Quinn signed last August, the Local Food Entrepreneur and Cottage Food Operation Act. But the law might not be as beneficial as the its backers suggest — and Illinois and other governments can and should do...
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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