Since the beginning of 2015, Illinois has lost 14,100 manufacturing jobs.
New Airbnb regulations pose a serious problem for Chicagoans.
Fiscal mismanagement by Illinois politicians has resulted in mounting deficits that are hurting the state’s economy, leading to ever-higher taxes, and driving people and their income out of the state.
A repeal of the federal estate tax would make it imperative that Illinois get rid of its own state death tax to avoid losing even more residents and income to other states.
Illinois may soon be surrounded by Right-to-Work states.
With AFSCME and the state at impasse for a new contract, the governor can implement his last offer to the union. That offer includes overtime pay after employees work the market norm of 40 hours in a week – as opposed to the 37.5 hour workweeks AFSCME demanded. Adjustments to overtime pay will save the state $111 million over the term of the contract.
New IDES data show that Illinois’ overall jobs growth was weak for October. While the greater Chicago area had tepid jobs growth over the year, the rest of the state lost jobs.
Metropolitan jobs data show that from September 2015 – September 2016 the greater Chicago area is up approximately 49,000 jobs, while the rest of the state is down 6,000 jobs.
Since the end of the recession, only 5 out of Illinois’ 13 metro areas – Carbondale-Marion, Chicago, Kankakee, Lake County-Kenosha County and Springfield – have recovered all the private-sector jobs lost from the Great Recession.
The time is ripe to offer private insurance options to needy Illinoisans through premium-assistance programs and Medicaid savings accounts.
Despite the heavy burden Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s 2017 budget imposes on Chicago taxpayers, not a single alderman voted against it.
Every dollar Madigan earns back for his corporate clients makes someone else’s property-tax bill go up.