Illinois

Students Take Education Reform Into Their Own Hands

07/23/2010
by Kristin Nisbet The Chicago Tribune reports that 13 high school students from the Chicago area are a part of the Youth Empowerment Program (YEP) sponsored by World Vision.  These students confer, do research, and pick a public policy issue they wish to address–this year they choose education. These forward thinking students pitched their ideas to Chicago...

Spotlight on Spending #8: Illinois Legislators Among Highest Paid in Nation

By Kate Campaigne Piercy
07/22/2010
The Problem Although facing a serious budget deficit, Illinois legislators remain among the best compensated in the nation. Today, Illinois state representatives and senators earn a base salary of $67,836—the fifth-highest legislator salary in the country. Only California, Michigan, New York and Pennsylvania pay their legislators more. Illinois state representatives and senators earn around 47...

Don’t Roll Your Eyes in Elmhurst

07/21/2010
by Brian Costin The City of Elmhurst is considering a new ordinance to combat eye-rolling and sighing at public meetings. At a June 14th committee meeting resident Darlene Heslop was asked to leave after rolling her eyes and sighing during a discussion about the city hiring a state lobbyist. Heslop opposes the hiring. The new law being considered...

Indiana: The right way to cope with declining tax revenue

07/21/2010
by Kristina Rasmussen Budget & Tax News (one of my go-to publications for state fiscal policy news) features a great interview with Indiana Budget Director Christopher Ruhl. It’s refreshing and encouraging, and Illinois state leaders could learn a thing or two from it: Gov. Mitch Daniels (R), who took office in 2005, insists on fiscal discipline. One of his...

Oregon Raises Taxes, But Budget Situation Worsens

07/21/2010
by Kristina Rasmussen “Oregon Raises Taxes, But Budget Situation Worsens.” There’s a lesson here for tax hikers in Illinois. Amber Gunn has the story in the August edition of Budget & Tax News: Oregon voters in January approved significant personal and corporate income tax hikes. The predicted increases in revenue have failed to materialize, however, and now the state...

What Is Texas Doing that We’re Not?

07/20/2010
by Ashley Muchow CNBC recently came out with their 2010 ranking of America’s Top States for Business.  This year, the Lone Star State earned its title as America’s foremost state for business.  Illinois managed to remain in the bottom half, dropping from #25 last year to #30.   CBNC calculates the rankings based on ten categories reflective of the strain or...

Thousands Spent on Printing of Pens

07/20/2010
by Will Compernolle The State of Illinois spent $6,795 on the “printing of pens” in fiscal year 2009 by Global Printing and Graphics. Between fiscal years 2008 and 2009, the State spent $9,294 on products and services from Global Printing and Graphics, including printing letterhead and printing of business cards. As we have blogged about before, the...

$677K to Dental Assistants

07/19/2010
by Will Compernolle The State of Illinois hired 18 dental assistants in fiscal year 2008 for a total of $677,595 in combined total wages. The highest salary was $46,707 while the average salary was $37,644.17. According to The Bureau of Labor Statistics website, the mean salary for a dental assistant in Illinois was $33,170. Nine of...

Cincinnati Vendors Get $11 Million in Illinois

07/16/2010
by Will Compernolle Over $11 million from the State of Illinois went to vendors located in Cincinnati, Ohio in fiscal years 2007 and 2008. Included in the $11,737,442 were $8,897,052 to First Transit Inc. for “Prof and Artistic Services,” $34,055 to Crowe Horwath LLP for “Expert Testimony,” and $29,479 to a Cincinnati Office Depot for...

Padded Pensions Despite Pension Deficit Problems

07/16/2010
by Kate Piercy Despite Illinois’s dire pension system, which includes police, fire and public-sector employees, boosting public employee salaries shortly before retirement in order to put them on a path to a bigger and better retirement package has turned into common practice among government in Illinois. Illinois has the most underfunded pension system in the nation,...
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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