The pension problem was created and has been fueled by weak politicians – men and women who decided their next elections were more important than the next generation.
Instead of talking about the necessary, structural reforms to help the state, a collection of Illinois lawmakers want to ask taxpayers to give more to continue irresponsible policies.
Donna Arduin is an Illinois Policy Institute senior fellow and a partner at Arduin, Laffer & Moore Econometrics, a group that advises federal, state and municipal leaders, as well as political candidates and private-sector clients, on economic, fiscal and state policies.
While the state moves to impose costly new requirements on private businesses in the name of privacy, the state is itself violating the privacy of thousands of Illinoisans.
October saw a former Chicago Public Schools CEO plead guilty to wire fraud and several other instances of criminal charges and civil lawsuits against public officials, as well as crony deals between businesses and government.
Illinois’ costs for the ObamaCare Medicaid expansion could be nearly $1.5 billion higher than originally expected as the state has added 633,671 able-bodied adults to the rolls.