Ted Dabrowski, Wirepoints News
Gov. Pritzker shuns warnings from Biden Administration and top democrats about Chinese espionage
Gov. J.B. Pritzker said critics of his decision to provide taxpayer financing to Gotion, Inc., a Chinese electric vehicle battery maker with CCP ties, are “xenophobes” and “MAGA Republicans.” That’s ironic given that some of the most urgent warnings about China on spying, intelligence and supply chain risks come from the top of his very own Democratic party.
Educational freedom for Illinois children could look like this: Iowa’s Students First Act
Educational freedom. That’s what the Iowa legislature is set to give families in the Hawkeye State later this year with the passage of the Students First Act signed into law by Gov. Kim Reynolds in January.
Illinois economy, jobs suffer under potential presidential candidate J.B. Pritzker
With rumors heating up about Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s potential run for president and the federal governments’ recent release of GDP numbers for the first quarter of 2022, it’s a good moment to review the governor’s economic performance since he took office in 2019. Polls today consistently show economic issues as the biggest concern for Americans.
Poor student achievement and near-zero accountability
When Wirepoints first dug into the pre-pandemic scores of Decatur 3rd-graders, we thought they’d been misreported. The State Report Card said just 2% of Decatur’s black 3rd-graders could read at grade level. Just 2%?
Nine truths about Illinois’ 2023 budget
Are Illinoisans better off with the new 2023 budget?
Pritzker keeps schoolchildren masked, ends mandate for adults
Gov. J.B. Pritzker recently warned that an Illinois judge's ruling that struck down his school mask mandate for some districts was "out of step" with vast majority of legal analysis in Illinois and the nation.
39 states don't mandate masks. Why do we?
Illinois is out of step with a majority of the nation when it comes to masking. It’s just one of 11 states with a statewide mask mandate covering either all residents or just the unvaccinated. Thirty-nine states have no statewide mandate at all.
Left out of lawmakers' green energy package? Ordinary Illinoisans
The Illinois Senate adjourned last week without calling for a vote on the state’s controversial green energy proposal.
Illinois 2022 budget: The state’s financial cliff will be waiting after the federal largesse runs out
Illinois lawmakers this week passed a $42 billion budget for fiscal year 2022 that does nothing to improve the fiscal and economic trajectory of this state. Missing were the many spending reforms Illinois needs to bring down its pension debts and high property tax rates.
Amending Illinois' Constitution: 50 words that can save the state
Fifty words, added to the Illinois Constitution as an amendment, could be what helps save the state from an inevitable financial collapse in years to come.
Illinois legislature should strip Gov. Pritzker's emergency powers
The Illinois legislature’s biggest failure during the pandemic has been its complete abdication of responsibility over the management of the pandemic itself – Gov. Pritzker has been running the state’s response via executive fiat for over a year.
Illinois Speaker Welch admits ‘folks don’t trust us,’ yet calls for redo of progressive income tax hike
Illinoisans who thought new House Speaker Chris Welch might change the direction Illinois is headed in just got a dose of reality.
Strong 2020 revenues, reserves and previous stimulus show states don’t need additional federal aid
Recent state financial data shows actual calendar year 2020 revenues came in far stronger than expected for most states.
A New Year's resolution for lawmakers
It’s a new year, and just like many of us, Illinois lawmakers in the General Assembly still need a New Year’s resolution.
Will COVID-19 lead to 'pension intercepts' and cuts to core city services across Illinois?
Financial damage may drive local pension funds closer to insolvency, forcing funds to utilize the state’s “pension intercept” law. That could force struggling Illinois cities to fund local pensions at the expense of vital public services.
Illinois COVID-19 cases triple since June, but hospitalizations, deaths remain flat. What gives?
Illinois will never get back to any sense of normalcy as long as the media and Gov. J.B. Pritzker continue to push cases as the key measure of the virus’ danger to the general public. As we wrote last month, it’s not cases that matter, but hospitalizations and deaths.
Overgenerous pensions: the elephant in the room
Illinois politicians have Illinoisans arguing over tax hikes and tax schemes instead of what’s really needed to fix our state – spending reforms. Skyrocketing pension costs are the elephant in the room and yet no one is talking about them.It’s pension reform that should be on the Nov. 3rd ballot.
Illinoisans need pension reform, not tax hikes
The pandemic, lockdowns, protests and violence have all drawn attention away from Illinois' biggest fiscal problem: its worst-in-the-nation pension crisis.
Illinois’ extreme outlier status on debts, taxes and out-migration highlights the need for pension reform, new study finds
Wirepoints’ 50-state survey shows pension costs contribute to making Illinois the nation’s extreme outlier.
Madigan out? But what about the machine?
House Speaker Mike Madigan’s iron grip on Illinois could be nearing an end.