Pat Quinn

Too fast too spurious: Quinn vetoes speed limit increase

By Austin Berg
08/29/2014
When it comes to Illinoisans and their cars, Gov. Pat Quinn can’t seem to make up his mind. This time last year, Quinn signed legislation upping the speed limit on rural interstates to 70 mph from 65 mph. He cited a fear that if Illinois didn’t keep up with higher speed limits in other states,...

TAGS: Pat Quinn, speed limit

Illinois’ backlog of unpaid bills totals $4.4 billion

By Benjamin VanMetre
08/26/2014
Illinois began August with a $4.4 billion dollar backlog of unpaid bills. If lawmakers would have kept the promises they made in 2011, the backlog would be zero today – or close to it. In January 2011, Illinois lawmakers pushed through a record tax hike that raised the income tax rate on individuals to 5...

TAGS: debt, taxes, unpaid bills

Quinn vetoes Uber legislation that would have stifled innovation, jobs growth and competition

By Matt Paprocki
08/25/2014
Nearly three months after the Illinois General Assembly passed devastating restrictions on innovative ridesharing services such as Uber and Lyft, Gov. Pat Quinn issued a surprising blow to the taxicab lobby by vetoing the job-killing legislation in its entirety. This March, in response to the recent success and popularity of ridesharing programs such as Uber...

TAGS: Chicago, Uber, veto

Gov. Quinn vetoes Uber bill

08/25/2014
On Aug. 25 Gov. Pat Quinn vetoed a bill pushed by the taxi lobby that would have restricted ridesharing services such as UberX and Lyft in Chicago. The veto is good news for ridesharing consumers and drivers. Uber will now move forward with its plan to bring 425 new jobs to Illinois. The bill’s champion...

TAGS: Chicago, rideshare, taxis, Uber

Contract with top union yields big payouts for state workers

By Justin Hegy
08/19/2014
Introduction It pays to work for state government. Compensation costs for state workers make up roughly one third of Illinois’ state budget. How much state workers are paid is largely decided by contracts with government employee unions, specifically Council 31 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. Since 2003, two consecutive Illinois governors – now disgraced former...

Illinois: Turning around or running in place?

By Naomi Lopez Bauman
08/10/2014
Gov. Pat Quinn is claiming that Illinois is making a comeback. But the evidence, supported by public opinion, belies that fact. Illinois remains an economic basket case: The state has the fastest-shrinking workforce in the nation Illinois has the second-highest property taxes in the country, as well as a high tax burden on individual and business incomes Illinois is the third-most corrupt state in the country Illinois loses one resident...

Illinois corruption watch, July 2014

By Brian Costin
08/09/2014
The bad news keeps piling up for Illinoisans. Illinois Policy’s “corruption watch” blog series hit a new high in the month of July with nearly 100 corruption-related stories. Chicago and Springfield are the two cities most synonymous with the state’s corruption woes. Unsurprisingly, both cities dominated headlines with the top two corruption stories of the...

The sad but true history of Illinois’ credit rating

By Benjamin VanMetre
08/04/2014
Illinois has the lowest credit rating in the nation. The sad truth is Illinois hasn’t been a AAA-rated state since February 1979 – when a gallon of gas cost less than a dollar and the Dow Jones Industrial Average hovered in the low 800s. The state’s credit rating has been in a downward spiral ever...

Quinn passes the buck on cell-phone tax hike, Chicago cashes in

By Austin Berg
07/31/2014
Back on June 6, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn signed legislation authorizing Chicago city officials to enact a 56 percent per-line 911 fee hike. This measure gave the city of Chicago the authority to raise the city’s per-line 911 fee to $3.90 from the old fee of $2.50. It didn’t take long for Chicago City Council...

TAGS: cell phone tax, taxes