by Brian Costin One of my biggest pet peeves of all times is how some politicians have an insatiable need to put their name on things at the expense of the taxpayers. The open road tolling signs with former Governor Blagojevich’s name and the Richard M. Daley signs at O’Hare Airport come to mind. However, a...
By Kate Campaigne Piercy
02/16/2010
In January 1979, a severe winter storm blasted Chicago. The city government failed to clear the roads of snow, which virtually shut down the metropolis for a week. The snow closed O’Hare International Airport for a record 42 hours. Drifts, many of them 12 feet high, blocked more than 1,400 of the city’s streets. An...
Residents of Illinois demand clear and safe roads. State and local agencies must budget and prepare for the winter season, and then perform up to certain standards when the snow comes. Otherwise, we risk losing money, time and lives.
Dennis Byrne applauds the Institute's Pension Funding and Fairness Act as an innovative solution to the problem of funding the state's pensions.
By Kate Campaigne Piercy
08/26/2009
Problem Illinois needs more cost-efficient, quality-driven spending activity at the local and state levels of government. Illinois’s state budget has exploded from $24.7 billion in 2004 to $32.2 billion in 2009, increasing nearly 30 percent over just five years. The state needs better spending practices, more transparency in the procurement process, and a tool to...