Illinois

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,...

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...
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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