Illinois

Illinois a Higher Default Risk than Iceland, Approaching Iraq

07/16/2010
by Brian Costin On Wednesday, the State of Illinois resorted to more borrowing and sold $900 Million in Build America Bonds to support public works projects. Unfortunately, due to Illinois rapidly deteriorating credit rating taxpayers are paying a premium. On face, the bonds will pay investors an average interest rate of 6.96 percent. Bad enough but...

“Education As We Know It Is Finished”

07/15/2010
by Collin Hitt That’s the title of a new Forbes piece by Clayton Christiansen and Michael Horn. School is out, and for most students enjoying their midsummer pleasures, class time is a distant memory. Changes are underway that make it likely to stay that way. Christiansen and Horn have written a book on the topic of “disruptive innovation” in...

Budget Woes Were Foreseen

By Chris Andriesen
07/15/2010
Illinois is facing a budget crisis. The state’s revenue collections are low, and dropping. Yet we’ve continued to spend more than we’ve taken in from taxes – in 2006, in 2007, in 2008, in 2009, in 2010, and yes, in 2011. Some of the revenue shortfall can be blamed on falling collections due to a...

State of Illinois Spends $650K of Stimulus Funds on Signs

07/15/2010
by Amanda Griffin-Johnson The U.S. Department of Transportation estimates that the states have spent a total of around $5 million of stimulus funds on signs “touting ‘The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act’ and reminding passers-by that the program is ‘Putting America Back to Work.’” ABC News reports that “the state of Illinois has spent $650,000 on about 950...

Constitutional Challenge to Illinois’s Campaign Finance Laws

07/15/2010
by Kristina Rasmussen The Center for Individual Freedom (CFIF) is challenging Illinois’s new campaign finance laws. From CFIF’s press release: Center for Individual Freedom Files Federal Lawsuit Challenging Constitutionality of Illinois’ Campaign Finance Law Vagueness of Illinois law and its discriminatory exemption for labor unions violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments ALEXANDRIA, VA — The Center for...

How’d You Like a 7.25% Pay Bump?

07/15/2010
by Kristina Rasmussen If you were amazed that the State of Illinois is handing out pay bumps to tends of thousands of state workers in the midst of a multi-billion dollar budget deficit, get ready for this. Between June 2011 and January 2012, unionized state workers are scheduled to receive a total of 7.25 percent in cost of...

Soda Tax Talk Bubbling Up Again

07/14/2010
by Kristina Rasmussen Talk of a soda tax is bubbling up again: CHICAGO (CBS) ― Feel like you’re taxed enough already? More could be coming. There’s an early push to explore taxing soft drinks that are sweetened with sugars – all to get you to stop buying them. CBS 2’s Kristyn Hartman reports it’s all about...

Spotlight on Spending #7: One Out of Four – Public employee compensation

By Chris Andriesen
07/14/2010
The Problem Illinois’s state budget is billions of dollars in the hole, but that didn’t stop Illinois government from handing out pay increases to 46,000 state workers on July 1, 2010. Indeed, Governor Pat Quinn has handed out 43 raises (averaging 11.4 percent to his staff) since he took the oath of office. All areas of government...

State Housekeepers Take Home $28K Salaries

07/12/2010
by Will Compernolle The State of Illinois hired two housekeepers in fiscal year 2008 for $56,309.31 in combined total wages. The average housekeeper salary was $28,154.66 with the highest being $31,488. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics website reports that the mean salary for a housekeeper in Illinois is $20,290. To find this information on our IllinoisOpenGov.org website, go...

75% Say Lack of Spending Cuts to Blame for State Budget Woes

07/09/2010
by Amanda Griffin-Johnson A recent Rasmussen survey reveals that “most Americans report their state currently has a budget crisis, and they continue to blame politicians more than taxpayers for the problem.” How did the numbers break down? The article continues: The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Adults shows 75% say the unwillingness of politicians to reduce...
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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