Decades of institutionalized financial mismanagement left Illinois with the nation’s worst fiscal health. Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan has been at the center of nearly every bad decision along the way.

The years 2010 through 2019 will go down in Illinois history as a decade of public policy failure and economic decline. High fixed costs for pensions and government worker health care have prevented the state from balancing its budget in any year since 2001. Since the Great Recession in 2008, the state’s fiscal imbalance has...

Financial stress testing shows Illinois and New Jersey are the most unprepared for the next recession. Both states lack sufficient rainy day funds and struggle with large pension debt.

Illinois can do it the old way and raise taxes to deliver pork projects. Or Illinois can be smart and make each tax dollar work hard to deliver projects that help residents and the economy.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker inherited a $2.8 billion budget deficit the moment he stepped into office. Next year, that deficit is projected to be $3.4 billion1. It’s the same story every budget season. But Illinois’ budget crises could be a thing of the past if the state would adopt pension reform, right-size its union contracts and...

A new university study ranks Illinois last of all 50 states for fiscal health. Pension reform and spending caps are essential for recovery.