Lou Lang

Little movement during Illinois’ first pension committee meeting

By Chris Andriesen
06/29/2013
by Jane McEnaney On June 27, the Illinois General Assembly’s conference committee on pension reform met for the first time in Chicago. All 10 members of the bipartisan, bicameral committee were present. The committee met for five straight hours, hearing testimony from: Ty Fahner, President, Civic Committee of The Commercial Club of Chicago Jerry Stermer, Acting Director...

Laying the groundwork for a true economic turnaround in Illinois

By Benjamin VanMetre
03/01/2013
Illinois lawmakers passed a 67% income tax hike in 2011. They said that the tax hike would be temporary, making a promise to taxpayers that it would sunset on Jan. 1st, 2015. But there have been absolutely no reform efforts to date that would reduce spending enough for lawmakers to keep their promise. And with...

No such thing as a temporary tax hike in Illinois

By Chris Andriesen
02/25/2013
Illinois state Rep. Lou Lang, D-Skokie, has proposed legislation to try to address the state’s pension crisis by permanently locking in the “temporary” 2011 67% income tax increase, raising employee contributions and stretching out state pension payments. “We have close to a $100 billion unfunded liability in our pension system,” Lang said. “This unfunded liability...

The truth comes out: new pension proposal includes making 2011 tax hike permanent

By Benjamin VanMetre
02/22/2013
Illinois House Deputy Majority Leader Lou Lang, D-Skokie, wants to hike taxes to avoid meaningful pension reform. Lang’s solution is to keep income taxes up statewide as a “reform” for Illinois’ pension systems, which are underfunded by $209 billion. He introduced legislation Wednesday, Feb. 20, that would make the record 67 percent income tax hike...

Illinois unemployment: politicians living in an alternate reality

By Ted Dabrowski, John Klingner
12/21/2012
Illinois’ unemployment fell to 8.7 percent in November from 8.8 percent in October, adding 16,400 new payroll jobs. Despite this small decrease in the unemployment rate, Illinois is still a full percentage point above the national unemployment average of 7.7 percent, and 1.6 percentage points higher than the average of its neighboring states. That fact –...

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