Institute Vice President of Policy Ted Dabrowski and Tribune reporter Ray Long joined Politics Tonight on Jan. 2 to discuss pension reform in Illinois.
Legislation to temporarily avoid the fiscal cliff was supposed to be a move toward comprehensive tax reform. It was the opposite. The deal included dozens of corporate tax breaks that will cost taxpayers billions.
Not only is it optional for states to establish an exchange, but states that defer to a federal exchange will also save upward of $100 million annually in exchange costs.
Paul Kersey Director of Labor Reform A state with $9 billion in unpaid bills and at least $96 billion in unfunded pension obligations cannot afford to overpay for anything, even wages for child protection workers. So while some lawmakers may want to grant the Department of Children and Family Services, or DCFS, with a supplemental...
Billboard on I-55 urges state lawmakers on their drive to Springfield: "Read my lipstick: No new taxes"
Illinois' five public pension systems are broke. The systems are expected to pay out more than $600 billion between now and 2045, but have just $62 billion in the bank.
After four years in office, you have yet to provide a detailed proposal for how to reform the pension system. Oh, sure, there have been press releases and bullet-point presentations but nothing detailed enough to present to the Legislature as your solutio
It is a fairly standard piece of Alinskyite strategy: make the argument about personalities rather than principles or results. Find an enemy and make the whole fight about him or her or it. As progressive icon and “Rules for Radicals” author Saul Alinsky himself put it, “pick the target, freeze it, personalize it and polarize...
Despite higher taxes, union strikes and apocalyptic predictions, we
It is a fairly standard piece of Alinskyite strategy: make the argument about personalities rather than principles or results. Find an enemy and make the whole fight about him or her or it.
Dixon: Years in the making, city woes won’t end in months Taxpayers in the city of Dixon fell victim to former Comptroller Rita Crundwell’s theft of $53 million since 1990. But until last year no one noticed the money was missing. With Crundwell pleading guilty to the federal embezzlement charges, the city of Dixon stands...
Wouldn’t it be nice to earn 7 to 8 percent interest on money you don’t have in the bank? That’s exactly what caretakers of the state’s public pension systems assume. Illinois’ five pension systems are expected to pay out more than $600 billion between now and 2045. In order to pay for these benefits, the...
Imagine an Illinois economy so vibrant that companies felt they had to be in Illinois to reach their fullest potential. Imagine a tax environment so competitive that companies across the country battled to get a piece of Illinois real estate. Keep imagining, because this certainly isn’t a reality. The fact is, Illinois ranks 48th in economic...