Indiana

Gauging Illinois’s Performance on a Critical Core Service

01/31/2010
Residents of Illinois demand clear and safe roads. State and local agencies must budget and prepare for the winter season, and then perform up to certain standards when the snow comes. Otherwise, we risk losing money, time and lives.

Tribune Letter to the Editor: ‘Dreadful’ Condition

01/13/2010
The Institute's Kristina Rasmussen has a letter to the editor featured in the Chicago Tribune. She points out how, despite being nearly bankrupt, our state government continues to grow, adding over 2 thousand employees.

This Bid’s for You! How online reverse auction saves taxpayers millions

By Kate Campaigne Piercy
08/26/2009
Problem Illinois needs more cost-efficient, quality-driven spending activity at the local and state levels of government. Illinois’s state budget has exploded from $24.7 billion in 2004 to $32.2 billion in 2009, increasing nearly 30 percent over just five years. The state needs better spending practices, more transparency in the procurement process, and a tool to...

Putting the “Laboratory of the States” to Work in Illinois

By Chris Andriesen
07/20/2009
“The way to get good ideas is to get lots of ideas, and throw the bad ones away.” So said Linus Pauling, the two-time Nobel Prize winner for chemistry. A lot of ideas have been suggested to solve Illinois’s budget shortfall, and it’s time to separate the good from the bad. According to the National...

Opening the Door to Better Schools

By Collin Hitt
06/23/2009
The Problem Hundreds of communities and neighborhoods throughout Illinois are badly in need of better schools. In those communities it should be a realistic option for innovative educators to create new school choices for students and their families. The past fifteen years have witnessed the creation and spread of a new kind of public school:...

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...

Should Affordable Health Care Stop at the State Border?

By Chris Andriesen
03/27/2008
Many Illinois citizens, facing unaffordable insurance costs within state borders, are forced to cross their fingers when it comes to their family’s health.  It doesn’t have to be this way.   Illinois families and children can live healthier, happier and safer lives. Every day, Americans purchase products from around the country—vegetables from California, fruit from Florida,...

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