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Illinois has the second-worst jobless rate in the nation

By Michael Lucci
03/18/2014
Illinois’ loss of 27,600 payroll jobs in January was second-worst nationally, according to today’s release from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Only California, which shed 31,500 payroll positions, fared worse. Texas and Ohio led the nation in adding payroll jobs.   Illinois is one of six states with an unemployment rate significantly above the...

TAGS: jobs, unemployment

Illinois vs. Texas – the scorecard

By Michael Lucci
02/26/2014
CNN’s Crossfire hosted a Texas vs. Illinois debate on Friday. The debate ranged from health care and fracking to the minimum wage and job creation. A new ad was unveiled that will roll out in Illinois to entice businesses and workers to move down to Texas. This would be nothing new, as Illinoisans have been...

Illinois unraveling

02/20/2014
Until the mid-1900s, people from across the world stampeded into Illinois in search of opportunity. Workers from rural America came to build Pullman cars, erect skyscrapers and fill factories. Immigrants from Eastern Europe arrived in search of economic freedom. And laborers left the agrarian South to participate in America’s industrialization. Illinois’ population doubled from 1900...

Texas surpasses Illinois in median household income

By Michael Lucci
02/10/2014
The common refrain made against Texas by those who defend the status quo in Illinois is that the jobs being created in the Lone Star State are lower-paying and less-rewarding opportunities. But not anymore. Texas is now unquestionably besting Illinois in providing for the middle class. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2012 the inflation-adjusted...

Illinois lost payroll jobs and employment declined between 2009 and 2012

By Michael Lucci
02/03/2014
The office of Governor Pat Quinn is claiming victory off a study released Thursday by CareerBuilder and Economic Modeling Specialists International. The study shows that Illinois ranked third-highest nationally in the creation of net new business establishments from 2009-2012. An establishment is defined as a single location that produces some form of economic activity, and...

TAGS: jobs, unemployment

Illinois’ ‘obesity epidemic’

By Brian Costin
02/01/2014
In a recent editorial, Better Government Association, or BGA, President Andy Shaw debates examines Illinois’ “obesity epidemic.” But bulging waistlines are not the target of Shaw’s ire. Instead, he complains about Illinois’ abundance of taxing bodies. “This is about a state that’s morbidly obese when it comes to government: Illinois has nearly 7,000 separate taxing...

TAGS: local government

Illinoisans flee the state for neighboring Indiana, Missouri and Wisconsin

By Michael Lucci
01/24/2014
The story of Illinois’ steady out-migration problem is well known, but just where are Illinoisans moving to? Is the outflow driven entirely by retirees and beach-goers moving to Florida? Not according to the U.S. Census Bureau, which just released its 2012 American Community Survey of state-to-state migration flow data. These data use census surveys to...

TAGS: population

Illinois’ sputtering population growth

01/09/2014
The U.S. Census Bureau announced that Illinois had the sixth-lowest population growth in the nation in 2013. The state’s population growth was just 0.11 percent, adding only 14,000 people to its population of nearly 13 million people. Other large states such as Georgia, North Carolina, Florida and Texas grew seven to 13 times faster than...

TAGS: population

Enacting Right to Work would help halt business exodus from Illinois

By Paul Kersey
01/01/2014
There is a virtual caravan of businesses leaving Illinois. Office Depot, which announced that it would be setting up its headquarters in Boca Raton, Fla., rather than Naperville, Ill., is only the latest. A string of smaller companies, mainly manufacturers such as Modern Drop Forge or Food Warning Equipment Company have been relocating – sometimes...

Cutting property taxes begins with cutting government

By illinoispolicy
11/17/2013
A lot of local governments are looking at increasing their property tax rates this time of year. Although many of the individual government increases appear relatively small, when added up they could represent a significant increase in cost to local property owners. The root of the problem — explored once again in a new study...
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4 ways to break out of Illinois’ pension trap

Causes, costs, how to set the state free

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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