United States Senate

Why Repealing the Tax Hikes Is Important

12/31/2010
In one of my first media appearances following the tax increases, I noted that the Institute would immediately begin to work on repealing them. Some have wondered if this makes any sense ... Here are some reasons why it does.

Would New Legislature Repeal the Tax Hike?

By Brian Costin
12/31/2010
If the vote been delayed for the new legislature to be sworn in Illinois there is a good chance the income tax hike vote wouldn’t have been passed.

Tax Hike Reaction

12/31/2010
On the same day the General Assembly abolished the death penalty, lawmakers also implemented the death penalty on Illinois’s economy and taxpayers by passing a 67 percent income tax hike in the face of overwhelming public opposition.

Transparency in Jeopardy

By Chris Andriesen
11/16/2010
by Kate Piercy Back in July, Gov. Quinn made an amendatory veto to HB5154, which called for the exemption of all public employee performance evaluations under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The Illinois Policy Institute argued against this bill, saying it would threaten transparency in government by prohibiting the release of public employee performance reviews...

The Wisconsin/Illinois Jobs Spat

By Chris Andriesen
11/15/2010
Illinois Governor Pat Quinn is engaged in a jobs spat with Wisconsin Governor-Elect Scott Walker. Walker had questioned the wisdom of committing Wisconsin to additional “high speed rail” boondoogle spending (read why he’s right on the policy merits); Governor Quinn responded by trying to woo a Wisconsin-based rail firm to Illinois. Beyond targeted campaigns to win over one company or another...

What It Means – Elections

By John Tillman
11/03/2010
All across the country, from federal races to local races, the national mood and resulting election wave dominated and largely prevailed.  In Illinois, that same wave only flowed for the federal races, not the General Assembly or governor’s race. Mark Kirk won President Obama’s Senate seat, and there were four GOP pickups in the House...

High Cost for Mandated College Polling Stations

10/29/2010
by Amanda Griffin-Johnson Earlier this year, SB 3012 was signed into law and created a pilot project mandating that election authorities provide early voting sites on public university campuses in their jurisdiction. The project is only for the 2010 general election, but some county clerks have voiced their opposition to the mandate citing the high costs for small...