Wisconsin

Even before record 67 percent tax hike, Illinois has 11th-highest tax burden nationwide

By Ted Dabrowski, John Klingner
10/23/2012
The Tax Foundation has reaffirmed Illinois’ status as a high-tax state in its newly released 2012 Annual State-Local Tax Burden Ranking. Based on the Census Bureau’s 2010 data, the report found that Illinois’ overall tax burden per resident is the 11th highest in the nation. Some highlights from the report include: At 10.2 percent, Illinois has...

Unemployment increases, but underemployment is even higher

By Ted Dabrowski, John Klingner
10/02/2012
The nation’s unemployment rate increased to 7.9 percent in October from 7.8 percent in September, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. If that number is a reflection of the country’s anemic recovery, consider the implications of Illinois’ 8.8 percent unemployment rate in September. There are more than 580,000 Illinoisans formally out of work. And these...

Why the No Pension Bailout project matters

09/27/2012
The goal of No Pension Bailout is to prevent the federal government from bailing out Illinois or any other states that have mismanaged their funds. We oppose a bailout because not only would it destroy state sovereignty and the concept of fiscal federalism once and for all, it would also transfer trillions of dollars from...

CNN: To unions, Chicago is the next Wisconsin

By Collin Hitt
09/15/2012
This post originally appeared at CNN.com Shortly after President Obama took his historic oath of office, a small group of people back in his home state of Illinois gathered to negotiate a key issue of school reform. Before substantive discussions even began, a representative from the Chicago Teachers Union interjected: “For us,” she said, “this is...

Scenes from Chicago Teachers Union rally in Daley Plaza

By Paul Kersey
09/06/2012
On Labor Day, the Chicago Teachers Union held its protest in preparation for a strike that is set to begin on Sept. 10, unless negotiations with Chicago Public Schools result in a contract.The protest served two functions: first, as a sort of threat display designed to demonstrate to CPS officials and Mayor Rahm Emanuel that...

The truth about those union boos

08/16/2012
The spectacle of government union members booing the best friend they ever had off the stage Wednesday at the Illinois State Fair made for entertaining video. Gov. Quinn may not have liked the boos, but he certainly understands his starring role in this fiction of a drama. Here’s the truth: the pension proposals under consideration in Springfield...
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FAQ: How the federal scholarship program would help Illinois students

Illinois students could soon benefit from scholarship money to help them find a tutor, attend ACT or SAT prep sessions, pay tuition, get special education services or assist with other academic needs. That will happen in Illinois only if Gov. J.B. Pritzker lets the state’s schoolchildren benefit from the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit program, established...

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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