Jim Durkin

Obama presidential library: Madigan and Rahm caught red-handed

By Jane McEnaney
04/24/2014
Last week, House Speaker Michael Madigan and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel tried to pull the wool over the eyes of every Illinoisan by dedicating $100 million of taxpayer dollars to the construction of Barack Obama’s presidential library, which the city of Chicago is vying for. Fortunately, they were caught red-handed. According to the Rules of...

Illinois legislators try to repeal the First Amendment

03/22/2014
Incumbent politicians hate to be criticized, and in Illinois some of them have decided to do something about it – not by correcting the behavior for which people criticize them, but by trying to repeal the First Amendment. That may sound outrageous, but it’s true. On Thursday, the Illinois Senate’s Executive Committee passed a resolution...

Illinois lawmakers who have signed anti-progressive tax resolution

By Jane McEnaney
10/18/2013
As the Illinois General Assembly heads back to Springfield for veto session next week, here is a quick look at what elected officials have signed on to the Illinois Policy Institute’s legislative efforts to prevent lawmakers from amending the state’s constitution to permit a progressive income tax hike, which would increase taxes on 85 percent...

TAGS: fair tax, flat tax, graduated income tax, ILGA: Illinois General Assembly, progressive income tax

Copper-plated doors tip of iceberg in wasteful spending

By Brian Costin
09/14/2013
With unpaid bills exceeding $8 billion, long-term debt surpassing $200 billion and the worst credit rating in the nation, revelations that the “broke” state of Illinois spent $670,000 on copper-plated doors and another$500,000 for chandeliers and sculptures for the Capitol in Springfield is an embarrassment for the entire state. Earning bad press and the scorn of angry taxpayers still reeling from the 2011 income...

PRESS RELEASE: Illinois Policy Institute applauds House Resolution opposing graduated income tax

03/31/2013
PRESS RELEASE from the ILLINOIS POLICY INSTITUTE MEDIA CONTACT: Diana Rickert diana@IllinoisPolicy.org or (312) 607-4977 Illinois Policy Institute applauds House Resolution opposing graduated income tax Implementing a “graduated” or “progressive” tax structure in Illinois would mean tax hikes for middle class Illinoisans SPRINGFIELD (April 15, 2013) – Across the state, tax hike advocates are laying...

TAGS: progressive income tax

Illinois House votes to raise taxes

By Jonathan Ingram
05/25/2012
The Illinois House just passed SB 2194, which imposes new taxes on tobacco products and hospitals. We’ve previously explained why cigarette taxes can’t fix the structural problems in the Medicaid program. A total of eighteen Republicans signed on to the tax hike, including Mike Bost, Dan Brady, Franco Coladipietro, Jim Durkin, Kent Gaffney, Renée Kosel, David Leitch, Donald Moffitt, Rosemary Mulligan,Chris Nybo, JoAnn Osmond, Robert Pritchard, Dennis Reboletti, Chapin Rose, Jim Sacia, Darlene...

UPDATE: House concurs with early implementation of ObamaCare

By Jonathan Ingram
05/24/2012
Earlier today, we reported that the Illinois Senate passed HB 5007, which will implement key portions of ObamaCare nearly two years early in Cook County. Moments ago, the House concurred, sending the bill to the Governor’s desk. Much like the Senate vote earlier today, it was clear that the outcome was certain before the bill ever came...

Chicago Forward 2026: A pro-growth plan to end city budget deficits

Chicago’s $1.15 billion projected budget gap is the latest in a decades-long string of structural deficits. Making Chicago’s high taxes worse is not the solution.

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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