Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced he will follow President Biden and end Illinois’ disaster declarations on May 11. Most states long ago quit using emergency powers, leaving Illinois as 1 of 7 states still claiming COVID-19 is a public health emergency.
Just like Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel did late in his term, Mayor Lori Lightfoot is calling for public pension reforms. Pensions are damaging cities, she said.
Chronic absenteeism rates are higher in Chicago than statewide, with 49% of low-income Chicago students missing at least 10% of their days in school. That rate has nearly doubled since the pandemic.
Chicago Teachers Union lobbyist and mayoral candidate Brandon Johnson unveiled his ‘tax-the-rich’ revenue plan, including $800 million in new taxes on suburbanites and those who come to the city to work or play.
The Chicago Teachers Union has funneled more than $17 million to Illinois political committees since 2010, when the militant Caucus of Rank and File Educators took over leadership. Now, one of their employees is running for Chicago mayor.
Thousands of parents, educators and organizations across the country renewed calls this week to expand school choice and give more options for students’ educations. But in Illinois, the state’s only school choice program is nearing its end.
Low-tax states attract the majority of movers, while high-tax states push them away. Illinois takes nearly 13% of all money made in the state as taxes, and lost 141,656 residents in 2022.
This week’s Policy Shop is by Joe Tabor, director of research at the Illinois Policy Institute As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded, many states’ governors turned to their emergency powers for logistical, funding and economic relief. Now, 38 emergency orders and nearly three years later, Illinois is still operating under emergency powers. Illinois is one of...
Gov. J.B. Pritzker is making free college a priority in his second term. Tuition is driven up by pension costs, which Pritzker routinely ignores.
The drop in union membership for Illinois workers follows a 33-year downward trend, moving from more than 1-in-5 workers being in a union, to nearly 1-in-8.
“I’m preparing to retire now. I own newspapers. I’ve spent about 57 years in media. I started with the Centralia Sentinel, which was a daily local newspaper. I spent seven or eight years with the Sentinel and learned a lot from the past ownership.” “I was one of the first females to walk into the...
Here's what the progressive tax looked like nearly five years ago when state lawmakers were pushing a plan to tax Illinoisans $3.6 billion more, starting with those making $17,300.