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U.S. News and World Report last week issued its first Best States ratings using the vast databases of the McKinsey and Co. Leading States Index to evaluate the 50 states across 68 different metrics. Illinois ranked 47th.
By: Mark Glennon* Step back from the trees and see the forest as you go through the “grand bargain” legislative package Springfield is considering. The details matter less than one overarching question about breaking the death spiral Illinois is in: Will the grand bargain slow the flight of people and employers from Illinois or accelerate that exodus? I hope you already know why that question is paramount. Nothing matters unless the exodus is stopped. State revenue is declining. The tax base is shrinking. Debt is growing. The deficit is accelerating. Employers are leaving. If the result is more
A new proposal from state Sen. Toi Hutchinson, D-Chicago Heights, would tax internet streaming services in Illinois, much like the potentially illegal internet streaming tax implemented in Chicago.
AFSCME Executive Director Roberta Lynch announced Feb. 23 that union members voted to authorize a state worker strike. But state workers have another option. By becoming a fair share payer, state workers can report to work during a strike without facing union punishment. Here’s what state workers need to know about fair share status.
Music impresario Chance the Rapper’s summit Friday with Gov. Bruce Rauner apparently did not go well. Comment: State Rep. Jeanne Ives summed it up well with this Tweet: “If Gov. Rauner is going to let foul mouthed Rapper help make state education decisions, we are all doomed.”
Chicago taxpayers have now spent more than $1.6 million as a result of a fight between a clout-heavy firefighter and a cop at a rescue scene five years ago, records show.
CTA bus drivers racked up more than 400 red-light-camera and speeding-camera tickets the past two years while on the job, records obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times show — and taxpayers were stuck having to pay.
The federal government’s extraordinary decision to seek and execute search warrants at the Caterpillar Inc. global headquarters this week indicates company officials have not been as forthcoming as previously claimed.
Comment: The article doesn’t mention Illinois, but financial illiteracy has everything to do with Illinois.
The once-great college basketball program that debuted at Allstate Arena with a roar 37 years ago is saying goodbye with a whimper. And the timing is bad for Illinois taxpayers. Wintrust Arena on the McCormick Place campus will be the new home of DePaul men’s and women’s basketball this fall.
The day after federal prosecutors said Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown received what they described as bribe money from an employee, Brown was collecting money in a different way – by selling political advice for nearly $200 a head. Comment: The scary part is that she probably really does know how to get votes in Chicago.
A state appeals court in Springfield has affirmed cities and other local governments have the right to modify workers’ employment and compensation agreements to prevent “pension spiking” without running afoul of the state constitution’s public worker pension protections.
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