Pat Quinn

Illinois’ economic turnaround depends on entrepreneurship

By Chris Andriesen
08/07/2012
by Lawrence J. McQuillan, PhD Chief Economist As the graphic shows, the rate of entrepreneurship in Illinois has been below the national average every year since 1996 except for 2001. The Kauffman Foundation entrepreneurship index measures the percentage of adults ages 20 to 64 that start a new business each month and work 15 or more hours...

Illinois has highest cost of government in Midwest

By Lawrence McQuillan
07/26/2012
The average Illinoisan works 208 days to pay the cost of government   July 26 is Illinois’ Cost of Government Day, the date of the calendar year on which the average Illinois worker has earned enough gross income to pay off his or her share of the spending and regulatory burden imposed by government at the federal,...

Rescuing Medicaid: How Illinois can reform Medicaid without rate cuts and tax hikes

By Jonathan Ingram
05/17/2012
In February, Gov. Pat Quinn told lawmakers that to rescue Illinois’ Medicaid program, the state would need to “reduce expenditures in the program by $2.7 billion” for fiscal year 2013. But so far, neither Quinn nor lawmakers have proposed a plan that does so. The Illinois Policy Institute has proposed reforming Medicaid into a premium assistance program,...

A Victory for Liberty: Judge strikes down Illinois online affiliate marketing tax

By Lawrence McQuillan
04/25/2012
This morning, Cook County Circuit Judge Robert Lopez Cepero struck down the online affiliate tax (Public Act 096-1544). The law required out-of-state online retailers such as Amazon.com to collect and remit sales taxes on purchases made by Illinois residents if the online retailer maintained a physical presence in Illinois. The law was signed by Gov....

Wrong way, Illinois: Unemployment rate increased most in the nation in 2011

By Ted Dabrowski
01/26/2012
As Gov. Pat Quinn prepares for the State of the State address on Feb. 1, he will find it difficult to defend the state’s economic policies that have resulted in more unemployed Illinoisans in 2011. Almost a year after Illinois’ record income tax increase, the state’s unemployment woes contrast starkly with the slow but positive...

The verdict is in: The tax hike failed – 3 reasons why

01/12/2012
One year after Illinois’ Democratic leaders pushed through a record tax hike, the grades are in. The tax hike flunked. It failed to put Illinois on sound fiscal footing. It failed at restoring confidence in government’s ability to meet serious challenges head on. It failed to strengthen the state’s economy. It failed to create opportunity...

Durbin can’t have it both ways

12/21/2011
by Kristina Rasmussen U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D) is hitting the media circuit raising concerns about stalled efforts to extend a temporary payroll tax holiday, warning that without action Illinois families will see their paychecks shrink: “A hundred and sixty million workers across America, 12 days from now, will see their payroll tax go up,” said Senator...
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FAQ: How the federal scholarship program would help Illinois students

Illinois students could soon benefit from scholarship money to help them find a tutor, attend ACT or SAT prep sessions, pay tuition, get special education services or assist with other academic needs. That will happen in Illinois only if Gov. J.B. Pritzker lets the state’s schoolchildren benefit from the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit program, established...

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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