Budget and tax year-end review: a recap of the best and worst of 2012
Budget and tax year-end review: a recap of the best and worst of 2012
Illinois unemployment: politicians living in an alternate reality
Illinois unemployment: politicians living in an alternate reality
Illinois’ unemployment fell to 8.7 percent in November from 8.8 percent in October, adding 16,400 new payroll jobs. Despite this small decrease in the unemployment rate, Illinois is still a full percentage point above the national unemployment average of 7.7 percent, and 1.6 percentage points higher than the average of its neighboring states. That fact –...
Illinois unemployment: politicians living in an alternate reality
Illinois unemployment: politicians living in an alternate reality
Illinois
Springfield Sliders bobbleheads cost Illinois taxpayers $10,000
Springfield Sliders bobbleheads cost Illinois taxpayers $10,000
The 2012 Illinois Piglet Book highlights nearly 200 examples of wasteful government spending totaling more than $354 million. The Springfield Park District, for example, spent $9,941 on bobbleheads. Many of these bobbling toys were modeled after Speedy the Turtle, the Springfield Sliders mascot. Some businesses are struggling to make payroll. Some families are working multiple jobs...
Rock Island County spent $1,100 on lipstick tubes
Rock Island County spent $1,100 on lipstick tubes
The 2012 Illinois Piglet Book highlights nearly 200 examples of wasteful government spending totaling more than $354 million. Rock Island County, for example, spent $1,101 on lipstick tubes. The county also spent $6,250 on elephant consulting and $20,489 paid to Swine-time Pig Racing.
Illinois’ high-tax problem
Illinois’ high-tax problem
THE PROBLEM In 2010, the Illinois Policy Institute reported that Illinois is a high-tax state with a tax burden in the top third of all states. The Institute cautioned that any tax increase would damage the state’s economic competitiveness. Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn and the Illinois General Assembly ignored numerous warnings and used a lame...
Illinois’ high-tax problem
Illinois’ high-tax problem
In 2010, the Illinois Policy Institute reported that Illinois is a high-tax state with a tax burden in the top third of all states.
Institute in Decatur Herald & Review: State must focus on growing jobs
Institute in Decatur Herald & Review: State must focus on growing jobs
Springfield Sliders bobbleheads cost Illinois taxpayers $10,000
Springfield Sliders bobbleheads cost Illinois taxpayers $10,000
The 2012 Illinois Piglet Book highlights nearly 200 examples of wasteful government spending totaling more than $354 million.
Rock Island County spent $1,100 on lipstick tubes
Rock Island County spent $1,100 on lipstick tubes
The 2012 Illinois Piglet Book highlights nearly 200 examples of wasteful government spending totaling more than $354 million.
Illinois pensions: a dangerous game of guesswork
Illinois pensions: a dangerous game of guesswork
In the mid-1990s, Illinois lawmakers were facing a serious problem: the unfunded liability of the state’s five public pension systems. By 1996, the state’s unfunded pension liability stood at $20 billion. As a way to combat this growing problem, the state created a repayment schedule, often called the “pension ramp.” The pension ramp promised to...
Suburban governments in Lake County fail transparency audit
Suburban governments in Lake County fail transparency audit
PRESS RELEASE from the ILLINOIS POLICY INSTITUTE MEDIA CONTACT: Diana Rickert Diana@IllinoisPolicy.org or (312) 607-4977 Vernon Hills only bright spot in suburban government transparency audit 19 out of 22 local governments in Lake County receive failing grades CHICAGO (Dec. 19, 2012) – Lake County residents pay some of the highest property tax rates in the...
PRESS RELEASE: Suburban governments in Lake County fail transparency audit
PRESS RELEASE: Suburban governments in Lake County fail transparency audit
Illinois pensions: a dangerous game of guesswork
Illinois pensions: a dangerous game of guesswork
In the mid-1990s, Illinois lawmakers were facing a serious problem: the unfunded liability of the state