By Chris Andriesen
11/30/2010
by Kate Piercy Free rides aren’t so free: According to a report from the University of Illinois, the free-rides program initiated and sent through the legislature by former Gov. Rod Blagojevich costs the CTA, Metra and Pace between $38 million and $116 million last year. On top of this, “Thousands of fraudulent free rides have been...
By Chris Andriesen
11/04/2010
by Amanda Griffin-Johnson Between September 2008 and August 2010, the Northfield Township High School District 225 received a $107,126 grant “to install a solar thermal energy system at Glenbrook High School at the new diving pool and athletic facility.” The grant (#09-022004) was part of the state’s Solar and Wind Energy Rebate Program, which is meant “to encourage utilization...
By Chris Andriesen
10/28/2010
by Lee Williams Download a formatted version of this report, complete with a table of the Pittman-Robertson Act contracts awarded by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, here. SPRINGFIELD, IL.—The Illinois Department of Natural Resources is misappropriating millions of dollars that should have been earmarked for the state’s sportsmen. The Pittman-Robertson Act, an 11-percent federal tax on...
by Collin Hitt Bill Ayers – state employee and university professor in Illinois for 25 years – is retiring. He’ll get the normal pension perks due to state university professors, but he won’t get the ornamental emeritus title. When the decision was considered by the board of trustees last month, University of Illinois chairman Chris...
by Kristina Rasmussen Yesterday Will blogged about the “Summertime Blues” list of 100 silly stimulus projects (compiled by friend-of-the-taxpayer Senator Tom Coburn). Will didn’t mention it, but there was an Illinois project on that list, coming in at number 72: 72. Studying Whether a Soda Tax Will Stimulate Health (Chicago, IL) – $521,005 The current administration has previously...
by Kristin Nisbet Robby Stoave referred to the following quote from an op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal by Columbia University President Lee Bollinger recently in a post on reason.com. There are examples of other institutions in the U.S. where state support does not translate into official control. The most compelling are our public universities and our...
By Chris Andriesen
06/23/2010
The Problem Illinois’s wealth of energy resources should be utilized to provide Illinois’s families and businesses with reliable sources of power. However, Illinois state government is unnecessarily picking winners and losers, distorting energy prices, and driving up overall government spending by awarding tax dollars to certain energy sectors via special government programs. For example, the...
The media has been uncovering some interesting spending from Cook County
By Kate Campaigne Piercy
03/10/2010
Testimony of Kate Piercy, Director of Government Reform, Illinois Policy InstituteSubmitted to the Illinois House of Representatives State Government Administration CommitteeAi?? Combivent online pharmacy HB 5483 Open Meetings Minutes March 10, 2010 Generic topamax and hair loss Chairperson Franks, thank you for the opportunity to testify today. My name is Kate Piercy, and I am...
On March 10 Kate Piercy testified before the Illinois House of Representatives State Government Administration Committee in regards to improvements in the Open Meetings Act. Read her testimony.
