Illinois’ employment recovery continued in March, but the state is still missing one in five jobs lost during the COVID-19 pandemic’s economic downturn and state restrictions.
Pension deficits are causing communities to consider more borrowing – and gambling with the proceeds – as pensions continue to consume bigger shares of budgets.
Membership in teachers unions has decreased nearly 10% since 2017, when public educators gained the right to stop handing their pay to unions.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and lawmakers passed modest tax relief that expires after the 2022 election. But 24 tax and fee hikes during Pritzker’s term will leave the average family $2,165 poorer thanks to higher taxes.
Illinois lawmakers pulled an all nighter to adjourn spring legislative session and pass a $46.5 billion budget by 6 a.m. on April 9. What did lawmakers accomplish? Adam Schuster joins the Policy Shop to talk through the line items. From stimulus checks for residents to mandatory signs touting gas tax relief, Illinois saw an election...
The unions’ own federal reports show 9% of workers have chosen to break away from unions since the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Janus v. AFSCME.
The Illinois House approved a law calling for the installation of license plate reading cameras. Big Brother just wants to solve crime.
The 2023 budget forces grocers to display Gov. J.B Pritzker’s temporary suspension of the 1% grocery tax. Illinois is one of the few states to tax groceries.
Four of the past 10 former Illinois governors are among the public officials who have been convicted of offenses in Illinois. The state needs stricter ethics reforms to change its culture of corruption.
The effective state and local tax burden in Illinois has risen from 11.2% in 2019 to 12.9% in 2022. It is now the nation’s seventh highest.
Politicians use a loophole to bypass the Illinois Constitution’s requirement that bills be read on three separate days before they are passed. Instead, they often gut minor bills and put significant legislation in the bills within a day of the vote.
Firefighters in a Chicago suburb won their appeal to remove the Service Employees International Union from their workplace. False claims by SEIU bosses complicated the process.
“I’ve made it a priority that my children could access good educational options, so they wouldn’t turn to the streets."
“Year after year, I had asked the state to stop deducting the dues. I don’t understand why they were still taking my money. I want my money back.”