Since January 2013, the Illinois General Assembly has filed 6,305 bills in the House and 3,667 bills in the Senate. These figures don’t account for the myriad amendments that are tacked on to many bills before the full legislature votes on them. With that many pieces of legislation, the average concerned citizen needs a mechanism...
State politicians are in Springfield right now voting on budget bills that call for spending $3 billion more than the state will take in from income tax revenues. These budget bills are fraught with wasteful spending. Here are some examples: House Bill 6149 would appropriate a total of $1.8 billion from the General Revenue Fund...
According to the most recent Rasmussen survey, one-third of Americans believe that the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as ObamaCare, has negatively affected them personally. But that is only part of the story. A scant 14 percent believe that the law has helped them. Sold as reducing the number of the insured and lowering health-care...
In December 2013, a pension reform bill passed out of the Illinois General Assembly. Sponsors of the bill estimated $160 billion in savings over the next 30 years, and supporters touted that the pension problem in Illinois was finally fixed. In fact, most of the dialogue throughout the Capitol was that the state-funded pension systems...
Five million Americans and counting across the country have already received notices that their health insurance plans in the individual and small group markets are being canceled as a result of ObamaCare. So far, Andrew Boron, Illinois’ insurance commissioner, has not yet revealed how many Illinoisans are facing the same situation, despite calls from both...
While rallying public support for the Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as ObamaCare, then-House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi famously said that Congress “[has] to pass the bill so you can find out what’s in it, away from the fog of controversy.” It appears that Illinois state officials are taking a page from the Pelosi playbook when...
Today, Gov. Pat Quinn signed two pieces of legislation that result in greater budget transparency. The bills – House Bill 2947 and House Bill 2955 – which have both passed out of the Illinois General Assembly, mandate that the governor’s office posts the Illinois state budget online, and specifically identifies if there a budget surplus or a deficit within...
Illinois’ tax code stands in the way of the state’s economic competitiveness. The combination of high tax burdens and a poor tax structure contributes to the loss of jobs and investment to other states. From a place of former economic dominance, Illinois now ranks 45th in gross state product (GSP) growth over the past decade...