Indiana

D.C. court to rehear Halbig ObamaCare decision

09/04/2014
Good news for the Obama administration: the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has granted the administration’s request to rehear the court’s July 22 decision in Halbig v. Burwell. That decision struck down an Internal Revenue Service rule that made ObamaCare insurance subsidies available in all 50 states, even though the...

Illinois a terrible hostess: Twinkies leave the state

By Austin Berg
08/22/2014
Hostess Brands LLC announced on Aug. 20 that the Illinois bakery where Twinkies were first invented will close this fall. More than 400 workers will be affected by the shuttering of the company’s Schiller Park location in October. Sadly, this isn’t surprising. In 2012, Hostess closed three bakeries nationwide after a massive union strike, high...

TAGS: jobs, Twinkies

National Employee Freedom Week tells workers about their options

By Paul Kersey
08/10/2014
Aug. 11 marks the start of National Employee Freedom Week, when nonprofit organizations in 44 states reach out to workers across the country to let them know they have choices when it comes to union membership. Even in states that do not have a Right-to-Work law, such as Illinois, workers don’t have to join a...

TAGS: labor, nonprofits, unions

Analysis of GOP gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner’s ‘Bring Back Blueprint’

By Michael Lucci, Benjamin VanMetre
07/18/2014
Illinois GOP gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner released yesterday another portion of his “Bring Back Blueprint,” acknowledging Illinois’ jobs crisis and identifying many of the pain points that make Illinois the lowest performing state in the Midwest, economically. The Illinois Policy Institute has reviewed Rauner’s proposal, and while the plan is not perfect, it addresses many...

Two more Illinois companies turn Hoosier

By Michael Lucci
07/10/2014
Two Illinois businesses have announced they will leave for Indiana since the start of July. One of them, ironically, is named after the state of Illinois. Illini Hi-Reach is a rental provider of industrial equipment. Illini announced on July 2 that it will move its corporate headquarters from Lemont, Ill. to Crown Point, Ind. Less...

Illinois corruption watch, June 2014

By Brian Costin, Anthony Trania
07/09/2014
Unfortunately for taxpayers, June was a groundbreaking month for corruption in Illinois. In June alone, there were reports of 85 corruption-related stories in the state. Some of the record-breaking highlights include the following: For the first time in 33 years, the Illinois Legislative Audit Commission exercised its subpoena powers in the issuance of a subpoena...

Illinois’ jobs report card

By Michael Lucci
06/30/2014
It’s report-card season in Illinois, as the journey and efforts that began last August have come to fruition for students across the state. State governments can be graded too, in particular on the subject of jobs. How Illinois fares on job creation is critically important for local high school and college seniors, who have just...

Hoosier playbook: How Indiana lures Illinoisans with opportunity

By Michael Lucci
06/23/2014
Illinoisans cross the border to become Hoosiers at a stunning rate. Illinois had a net loss of 4,100 people and $76 million of annual income to Indiana in 2010 alone, the most recent year of Internal Revenue Service data. That’s because for every three people who left Indiana for Illinois, four left Illinois for Indiana. Illinois’ losses to Indiana are...

Illinois private-sector payrolls fall by 5,400 as workers leave workforce

By Michael Lucci
06/20/2014
Illinois’ unemployment rate fell to 7.5 percent from 7.9 percent month-over-month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ most recent household survey. But there’s no reason to celebrate. Payroll jobs shrank by 2,600, with a loss of 5,400 private-sector jobs and an increase of 2,800 government jobs. The decline in the unemployment rate was driven...

TAGS: BLS: Bureau of Labor Statistics, unemployment

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Pathway to a Profession: How Apprenticeships Could Reshape Illinois’ Beauty Service Industry

Occupational licensing requirements present one of the steepest barriers to low-income Illinoisans starting careers in beauty services. Illinois requires anyone seeking to become a barber, cosmetologist, nail technician or hair braider to obtain a state license, essentially a permission slip to work. Unlike 45 other states, Illinois offers only one pathway to licensure for each...

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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