Michigan

Right to Work In Michigan?

By Paul Kersey
12/10/2010
Michigan is poised to pass a Right-to-Work law in the next couple of days. Union protesters are staked out at the Capitol building making their anti-Right-to-Work opinions known. This is a key point in a huge political battle that will have repercussions that go well beyond the state of Michigan. Your friendly neighborhood labor expert...

While Illinois Considers Raising Taxes, Neighbors Plan to Cut

By Chris Andriesen
11/23/2010
by Wesley Fox While several of Illinois’s neighbors are moving towards cutting taxes to help promote economic growth and job creation, Governor Quinn is pushing hard for an increase in the individual income tax rate to help “solve” Illinois’s budget problems.  If he is successful, Illinois may be the only state in the region that will...

Spotlight on Spending #17: Nationwide Executive Officer Salary Comparison

By Chris Andriesen
11/17/2010
The Problem Previous Institute reports have shown how officials within Illinois’s legislative and judicial branches are paid significantly higher than national averages. Illinois state representatives and senators earn a base salary of $67,836—the fifth-highest legislator salary in the country. Only California, Michigan, New York and Pennsylvania pay their legislators more. Judges serving on the state’s...

Key Facts about Illinois

By Chris Andriesen
11/01/2010
The Problem With its resources, location, expansive farmland, and first-class towns and cities, Illinois should be a leading economic powerhouse in the United States. Unfortunately, thanks to an unfriendly business and regulatory climate, Illinois has been underperforming for years. “Rich States, Poor States,” a comprehensive economic performance index authored by Steve Moore, Art Laffer, and...

Detroit’s Train to Nowhere?

10/15/2010
by Amanda Griffin-Johnson According the 2010 ALEC-Laffer State Economic Competitiveness Index, Michigan ranks 50th for economic performance, 50th for personal income growth per capital, and 50th for job growth. Detroit has lost half of it’s population since 1950 and was the 2009 “murder capital.” Is this the time or place for new light rail construction? From Reason.tv: The Motor City...

Individual Mandate Constitutional?

10/08/2010
by Amanda Griffin-Johnson Yesterday in Michigan, U.S. District Judge George Caram Steeh ruled that the individual mandate in the new health care legislation is constitutional because it does not constitute “an improperly apportioned direct tax.” While the legal battle is far from over, portions of his ruling are quite telling. The Hill reports: Steeh also notes that, without...

The Cost of Income Taxes

10/05/2010
by Ashley Muchow Arthur Laffer addressed a core issue regarding the economic impact of state income taxes in the WSJ today. Laffer addressed the often ignored negative impact income taxes have on state economies. Illinois’s personal income per capita decreased from 133 percent of the U.S. prior to its 1969 income tax levy,  to just 106 percent...

Illinois Poverty Level Up 24% Since 1999

09/28/2010
by Brian Costin According to the 2009 American Community Survey, “The poverty level in Illinois increased 24 percent over the past decade — to 13.3 percent in 2009, according to new data released by the U.S. Census Bureau this morning.” How could this be? While the overall economy is bad, are our policies contributing to increased poverty...

Charting the Illinois Exodus

09/16/2010
by Ashley Muchow Check it out!  The Tax Foundation released a nifty interactive tool showing state-to-state migration data for a range of years between 1993 and 2008. The tool tracks the flow of both people and their income based on IRS tax return data. You can select any state and track the net inflows and outflows to and from...
Load More

Illinois Forward 2027: How to fix Illinois’ state finances

Pro-growth policies and fiscal responsibility can ensure Illinois’ long-term budget health. Here’s how state leaders can do it.

View Report

Report Archive

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