The driving goal of the Illinois Policy Institute is to transform liberty principles into marketable policies that become law. The ultimate sign of success is when free market ideas are enacted into laws that change Illinoisans’ lives for the better. Illinois Policy Action’s 2014 legislative agenda emphasized the importance of a financially responsible and limited...
A key portion of the Institute’s 10-Point Transparency Checklist, the posting of audits online, has made its way through the Illinois General Assembly. House Bill 5503 passed both Illinois House and Senate unanimously, and now awaits the governor’s signature. If signed into law by the governor, HB 5503, introduced by state Rep. Tom Demmer, R-Dixon,...
The Tax Foundation—a nonpartisan, D.C.-based think tank—hosted a press conference in Chicago this afternoon on the effects of a proposed tax increase in Illinois. The Tax Foundation’s analysis of the proposed progressive tax legislation found that: Illinois’ “State Business Tax Climate Index” ranking could fall to 44th from its current 31st ranking if the proposed progressive income...
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...
In early June, Gov. Pat Quinn called lawmakers to return to Springfield on June 19 for a one-day special session on pension reform. This came in the wake of yet another downgrade of Illinois’ credit as a result of inaction on pension reform when the legislative session adjourned on May 31. Our most recent knocks from Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings mark Illinois’ 12th...
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.