Adam Schuster, Illinois Policy Institute News
Illinois lawmakers pass pension sweeteners without knowing the cost
Illinois has nation’s worst pension debt. Maybe that’s because state lawmakers take a problem they aren’t sure exists, apply a solution they don’t know will work and never determine the cost.
With another lawmaker under arrest, Madigan's words are worthless on corruption
Don’t despair. Be part of the story where Illinoisans break the mold.
Plan for over 640 police, fire pensions barely touches Illinois' $200 billion problem
Consolidating downstate and suburban police and fire pension systems is a start, but both fixes and Illinois’ pension problems go much deeper.
Illinois property tax relief begins by culling nearly 7,000 local government units
Illinois’ overabundance of local government layers provides ample room to consolidate and save property taxes.
Illinois public services being cut to pay unsustainable pension cost
Public pensions are already eating away Illinois government services, increasing by more than 500% during the past 20 years as spending on core services including child protection, state police and college money for poor students has dropped by nearly one-third since 2000.
Nearly 40% of education spending consumed by pension costs
Growing pension costs for retired educators are quickly crowding the classroom out of Illinois budgets.
651 new Illinois public pensioners average $1.3M in estimated retirement benefits
Newly retired government workers’ lifetime pension benefits will far exceed what they contributed toward their own retirements
Doubling Illinois' gas tax, other tax hikes will go to fund more than $1.4 billion of waste and pork
Lawmakers sold 21 new taxes and fees as necessary to rebuild crumbling roads and bridges and balance the budget. Instead, taxpayers will be funding dog parks, swimming pools, snowmobile paths, a vacant theater and pickleball courts.
Pritzker’s 19 different tax and fee hikes total $6.9 billion
Between the push for a graduated income tax, his budget address and newly released capital plan, Gov. J.B. Pritzker has proposed an onslaught of backdoor tax hikes on all Illinoisans.
Illinois House unanimously passes education efficiency bill
By reducing administrative bloat in Illinois school districts, the bill would enable property tax relief while ensuring education dollars reach students and classrooms first, rather than bureaucrats.
Pritzker gives $100 million in pay raises to some of the nation’s highest paid state workers
On his first full day in office, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced he will grant costly automatic pay raises to Illinois’ state workers despite a current budget deficit of more than $1 billion.
Illinois Supreme Court defends inflated pensions for Chicago union leaders
Once again proving why the state must amend the Illinois Constitution’s pension clause, the court unanimously ruled in favor of a special perk that inflated union leader pensions to nearly three times the pension of the average worker.
Illinois residents will pay additional online sales tax starting Oct. 1
As a result of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair Inc., most online purchases in Illinois will now be subject to automatic collection of the state’s 6.25 percent use tax.
Moody’s: Illinois pension debt-to-revenue ratio hits all-time high for any state
According to a new report by Moody’s Investors Service, Illinois’ unfunded pension liabilities equaled 601 percent of state revenues in 2017, a U.S. record.