City Council violates procedural rules and plays political games to put popular, but toothless, measures on the ballot and protect the mayor and bureaucrats from any real challenges to their power.
In a July 11 resolution, Chicago City Council’s Committee on Public Safety urged the General Assembly to pass “meaningful sealing reform” to help ex-offenders re-enter the job market and their communities more successfully.
The Illinois comptroller warns Illinois' backlog of unpaid bills will reach $10 billion by December.
An increasing number of younger adults are making up the exodus of taxpayers from the state.
The city of Chicago paid over $146 million in police misconduct and public safety claims in 2013 and 2014, according to the city inspector general’s report.
The state of Illinois has one of the oldest workers’ compensation systems in America, dating to 1911.
Due to changes in investment and demographic assumptions, the State Employees’ Retirement System’s debt is even worse than previously realized; this will require an extra $320 million each year from Illinois taxpayers by 2018.
By linking unemployment payments with the requirement to submit a résumé, the Illinois Department of Employment Security is trying to connect unemployed people with employers faster, helping job seekers find employment, and saving taxpayers money.
A referendum allowing Madison County taxpayers to decide if they want to limit their tax burden is a choice all Illinoisans should have.
BLS data show that Illinois had a net loss of 354,000 adults over the last decade from its prime working-age adult population (ages 25 to 54), with 290,000 of that loss attributable to migration rather than mortality. This is a troubling sign that indicates a weak economy – and the loss of adult taxpayers and their children.
A new Chicago financial report shows the city’s total unfunded liabilities have jumped by over $17 billion, growing to nearly $24 billion in 2015 from $6.5 billion in 2014.
In joining the Chicago Bulls, former Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade is trading Florida’s 0 percent personal income tax for Illinois’ 3.75 percent rate, a choice many out-migrating, middle-class Illinoisans cannot afford to make.