Illinois

Doing Well By Doing Good: Cost-cutting reforms for Illinois

By Kate Campaigne Piercy
05/26/2009
The Problem Budgeting and ethics problems continue to compound in Illinois. The state’s budget deficit tops $9 billion, spending continues to surge, and there is little to no transparency as to where—and to whom—tax dollars are going. This must be checked and stopped. Our Solution Implementing statewide transparency and creating a Council on Efficient Government...

Government Goes On A Diet: Designing a sensible expenditure limit for Illinois

By Chris Andriesen
05/26/2009
Government has become a glutton. In Illinois, a voracious appetite for more spending has led the state budget to balloon from $24.7 billion in 2004 to $32.2 billion in 2009 – an increase of nearly 30 percent over just five years. It’s time to put government on a diet. A sensible expenditure limit would ensure...

Unsung Heroes: Charter Schools

By Collin Hitt
05/25/2009
The Issue Throughout Illinois, a new kind of public school has emerged: charter schools. The “charter school movement,” as it has been called, has been a success in Illinois.  Studies have consistently shown that charter schools routinely perform above the norm at comparable district schools.  To date, however, most of these studies of school performance...

Illinois’s Economic Health: The Prognosis Isn’t Good

By Kate Campaigne Piercy
03/26/2009
How economically healthy is Illinois compared to its neighboring states? The American Legislative Council has updated its eye-opening annual report, Rich States/Poor States, for 2009.  The report evaluates the fiscal and economic policies of each of the 50 states- and in Illinois, things aren’t looking good.

An Economic Reform Agenda for Illinois

03/10/2009
The Problem Illinois desperately needs economic reform.  We have a $9 billion budget hole, families are fleeing the state, and our job and income growth has stagnated.  Meanwhile, spending is skyrocketing — up approximately 39% since 1998.  In the same time period, population has grown only 6.8%. We don’t have a revenue problem.  We have...

Private Sector Educators, Public School Students

By Collin Hitt
02/27/2009
There are more than two million students enrolled in Illinois’ public schools.  Private providers — firms and individual contractors — play a pivotal role in helping schools to educate those children. No district can perfectly predict the future needs of their students.  Nor can every district maintain a permanent staff capable of meeting the specific...

Making Patients Wait for Cancer Treatment: The Certificate of Need Program

By Chris Andriesen
09/17/2008
The Problem Imagine for a moment that your father, brother or husband had prostate cancer.  That is bad enough, of course, but now imagine that they had to unnecessarily wait in long lines to get the most advanced and least invasive treatment possible, or perhaps, not receive this better treatment at all.  Or imagine it...

A Liberty Agenda for Illinois

08/21/2008
Executive Summary Every day, the state of Illinois is in a competition with 49 other states and the rest of the world.  The rewards for succeeding?  More businesses, more jobs, more resources, and a better place to live for all citizens.  Unfortunately, the Illinois economy is lagging behind—and unless we turn away from the government-centered...
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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