Illinois

Quinn’s “Cuts”

07/01/2011
by Amanda Griffin-Johnson On Thursday, Gov. Quinn signed the budget for fiscal year 2012, which begins today. As governor, he has the power to make line item vetoes and reductions to the budget passed by the General Assembly. In his budget announcement, Gov. Quinn claims to have made $376.4 million in budget cuts, but looking deeper...

Pain at the Pump: How Illinois Taxes Drive Up the Cost of Gas

06/28/2011
The Problem As families make their Fourth of July travel plans, motorists in Illinois are feeling the pinch especially hard. National surveys continually find that Chicago tops the list of highest average gas prices in the country. Latest numbers show that as of June 27, the average gasoline price in Chicago is $3.98, compared to...

Quinn’s Corporate Handouts Hold No Promises

06/24/2011
by Alex Miller Representative Jack Franks, D-Woodstock, took the House floor on Wednesday, fervently criticizing the lofty tax exemptions that Governor Quinn has granted to large corporations who have threatened to leave the state due to Illinois’s poor economic outlook.  Franks insisted that he could not, in good conscience, watch so many millions fly into the hands of...

New Study Highlights Significant Cost of Pension Crisis

06/24/2011
by Amanda Griffin-Johnson A new study by Robert Novy-Marx of the University of Rochester and Joshua Rauh of the Kellogg School of Management calculated the contribution increases that would be necessary to fully fund state and local pension systems across the U.S. over the next 30 years. The study found that in Illinois, annual government contributions would have to increase...

One Day in Springfield

06/23/2011
by Mark Cavers Legislators came and went from Springfield yesterday without making significant changes to the budget. We were told that the budget they passed is actually a pretty good one. But, as the Institute’s CEO John Tillman argued on FOX this morning, we are in fact spending more than we did last year. Still, legislators...

Tiny Taxing District Transparency

06/22/2011
by Mark Cavers On Monday, the Chicago Tribune ran a story on the thousands of taxing districts and government bodies that are scattered across Illinois: “Illinois has the most units of government in the nation, and the Tribune acquired and combed through a list of each one — nearly 8,500 by the state comptroller’s count, from well-known...

Budget FAIL: Plan Awaiting Gov. Quinn’s Signature Grows Spending, Debt

By Collin Hitt
06/21/2011
State spending will increase in 2012. That is, unless additional cuts and policy changes are added to the general fund budget currently awaiting Gov. Quinn’s signature. Following the close of the spring session, many news outlets reported that the House and Senate had passed a 2012 general fund budget of $33.2 billion that cut overall...

Illinois Gets a ‘C’ in Factory Ranking

06/21/2011
by Sameer Warraich Last week, Crain’s Chicago Business reported the results of recent research on the manufacturing performance of all 50 states. The study, by Ball State’s Center for Business and Economic Research, gave each state a grade based on criteria including manufacturing and logistics health, human capital, cost of benefits, global position and diversification of industries,...

Illinois Unemployment Rate Increases

06/17/2011
by Amanda Griffin-Johnson This morning, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released May unemployment figures showing Illinois’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is up .1 percent to 8.9 percent in May as compared to 8.8 percent in April. The Chicago metropolitan area experienced a .4 percent increase in the same time frame to 8.9 percent in May, up from 8.5...

Graduate Early and Receive $4,000

06/17/2011
by Mark Cavers During their latest session Indiana’s legislature passed and Governor Mitch Daniels signed into law a bill that will reward students who graduate from high school a year early. Under the program, Indiana high school students who graduate in three years will receive a $4,000 scholarship to attend any Indiana university or trade school. Providing a cash...
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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
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CBS Chicago: Illinois’ highest-paid superintendent receives $400K per year to oversee 1,200 students

By Ted Dabrowski
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