Free beer: How Illinois could become the country’s craft capital
Free beer: How Illinois could become the country’s craft capital
State lawmakers should seize the momentum in Illinois. Let your people brew. And transport. And sell.
Taxpayer victory: Rauner signs bill axing ‘golden parachute’ payouts for public officials
Taxpayer victory: Rauner signs bill axing ‘golden parachute’ payouts for public officials
The Government Severance Pay Act places a cap on – and attaches strings to – golden parachute severance payouts for outgoing government employees.
Play money: Former Park District of Highland Park employees taking home 6-figure pensions
Play money: Former Park District of Highland Park employees taking home 6-figure pensions
More than a dozen city and park district retirees in Highland Park have received more than $1 million in pension benefits each.
20 municipal retirees in Peoria County are pension millionaires
20 municipal retirees in Peoria County are pension millionaires
The average lifetime pension benefit among the county’s 20 highest-earning municipal retirees is more than $1.2 million, while their average total retirement contribution is less than $75,000.
Chicago Ald. Willie Cochran to plead guilty to corruption charges
Chicago Ald. Willie Cochran to plead guilty to corruption charges
The South Side alderman had been charged with stealing charity donations to finance his daughter’s college tuition payments and casino getaways in Indiana, among other offences.
Chicago stopping more than 2,400 Airbnb hosts from listing their rooms
Chicago stopping more than 2,400 Airbnb hosts from listing their rooms
City bureaucracy – not consumer complaints – has left thousands of Chicago hosts barred from the Airbnb platform.
New Jersey school district stops deducting unconstitutional union fees from all employees
New Jersey school district stops deducting unconstitutional union fees from all employees
One school district in New Jersey has stopped deducting union dues and fees until it has new authorizations from employees to do so – a step in line with what the U.S. Supreme Court demanded of state and local government employers and government unions in Janus v. AFSCME. Illinois governments should follow suit.
Rauner signs bill lifting restrictions on craft breweries
Rauner signs bill lifting restrictions on craft breweries
Laws barring taprooms from serving hard cider – and craft beer produced by other breweries – are among the regulations bounced by House Bill 4897.
Retiring as early as age 50, Springfield municipal pensioners bank over $1M
Retiring as early as age 50, Springfield municipal pensioners bank over $1M
Among the 23 former city of Springfield employees who retired at age 50, five have accumulated more than $1 million in pension benefits.
Study: Red-light cameras fail to reduce traffic accidents
Study: Red-light cameras fail to reduce traffic accidents
A recent analysis confirms what many Illinoisans already know: While red-light cameras serve as reliable sources of revenue, they do not improve public safety.
Illinois property taxes heating up
Illinois property taxes heating up
Chicago police caught using ‘bait truck’ in South Side neighborhood
Chicago police caught using ‘bait truck’ in South Side neighborhood
In what critics have decried as an inappropriate use of scarce public safety resources, Chicago police officials parked a “bait truck” reportedly filled with boxes of Nike sneakers in the city’s Englewood neighborhood.
Missouri’s right-to-work vote: Boon or boondoggle?
Missouri’s right-to-work vote: Boon or boondoggle?
Without right-to-work protections currently offered in 27 states, you pay the union or lose your job. It’s very simple.
Shell game: Chicago considers plan to borrow $10B to pay off pension debt
Shell game: Chicago considers plan to borrow $10B to pay off pension debt
Previous pension obligation bonds in Illinois have increased costs to taxpayers and done nothing to solve the fiscal challenges created by the pension system.