United States Senate

Fixed Race To The Top?

08/27/2010
by Collin Hitt Illinois lost a very-high-stakes federal grant competition. The “Race To The Top” program has gathered headlines across the country for the better part of a year.  It wrapped up earlier this week, with 12 states and the District of Columbia splitting $4B in stimulus largesse to fund public education. Ostensibly, the grant...

Spotlight on Spending #8: Illinois Legislators Among Highest Paid in Nation

By Kate Campaigne Piercy
07/22/2010
The Problem Although facing a serious budget deficit, Illinois legislators remain among the best compensated in the nation. Today, Illinois state representatives and senators earn a base salary of $67,836—the fifth-highest legislator salary in the country. Only California, Michigan, New York and Pennsylvania pay their legislators more. Illinois state representatives and senators earn around 47...

Another Term Befuddled: Financial Reform

07/07/2010
by Ashley Muchow Considering the current financial woes affecting Illinois’s economy, coming to you with more bleak news isn’t fun.  Onward.  Congress has before it the Financial Reform Bill; a reform bill intended to overhaul the financial system as we know it.  But before you begin thanking Washington for coming to the rescue; for protecting...

Keeping up with the Borrowing Fad

06/23/2010
by Ashley Muchow Eastern Illinois University will borrow up to $7 million to cover university expenses up to August as it eagerly anticipates $19 million in overdue state appropriations.  Early this month Governor Quinn signed into law an amendment to Senate Bill 0642 allowing Illinois’s nine public universities to take out loans to cover three quarters of what the...

Hey, Big Spender!

06/16/2010
BillTally provides a window into the cumulative costs or savings present in bills sponsored by Members of Congress.

2,300 Pages

05/07/2010
Can you read 2,300 pages in just a few hours? There is no way Illinois state legislators are reading the entire budget before they go to vote on it.
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Chicago Forward 2026: A pro-growth plan to end city budget deficits

Chicago’s $1.15 billion projected budget gap is the latest in a decades-long string of structural deficits. Making Chicago’s high taxes worse is not the solution.

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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