The state's largest public employee union is calling for Gov. Bruce Rauner to continue negotiating after talks were declared to be at an impasse earlier this month, but further talks with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) would be pointless, an attorney for a Chicago-based think tank said recently.
Already struggling under a multi-tiered fiscal burden, Illinois taxpayers are now confronting incontrovertible evidence of serious fiscal setbacks in their state as a new report revealed staggering amounts of pension debt and escalating red ink.
With Illinois' state pension liability 17 percent more than it was last year, the vice president of a Chicago-based think tank recently said that 401(k)-style plans for public employees would go a long way toward easing the pension crisis.
Citing worrisome data that indicates millennials are fleeing the state and taking their families with them, a Chicago-based think tank is urging state lawmakers to pass pro-growth reforms.
This year’s holiday wish list for Illinois state lawmakers ought to include a new House speaker, an Illinois Policy Institute writer says, as constituents brace themselves for the speaker vote set for Jan. 11 in Springfield.
Over 110,000 more people left Illinois in a year than arrived here from other states, leading to the highest overall drop in population in the nation, new figures reveal.
Perhaps one of the most prominent stories in 2016 was Gov. Bruce Rauner’s ongoing battle with Illinois’ largest government-employee union, but how Rauner proceeds in the months to come will be critical, a political analyst said.
A U.S. Census Bureau report released this week reveals that between July 2015 and July 2016, Illinois lost 114,144 residents -- a net loss of 37,508 when arrivals are factored in -- a record high for the state.
Invoking an old wives’ tale referring to ambivalent, “average" amphibians, the Chicago Tribune recently created an analogy between disinterested Illinois taxpayers and a hypothetical pot of frog stew to illustrate the state’s simmering fiscal status.
The Illinois Policy Institute has announced an upcoming rally opposing Rep. Mike Madigan's (D-Chicago) re-election as speaker of the House.
While online mega-retailer Amazon.com’s recently disclosed plan to open two facilities in Aurora appears to signal better business for Illinois, with 1,000 new jobs announced, some analysts said the giant retailer actually will be receiving more than it gives.
Getting Illinois back on its feet has been a top priority for Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner since he took office two years ago.
After Illinois’ personal income tax was hiked just 2 points — from 3 to 5 percent — in early 2011, a record number of residents packed their bags, revealing what the Illinois Policy Institute termed “wealth flight.”
The president of a company that moved from Illinois to Indiana said recently on a Chicago radio talk show that he looks back on Illinois and hopes one day the state will get its act together.
There's a certain hypocrisy to House Speaker Mike Madigan (D-Chicago) accusing Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner of holding the budget process hostage for his wealthy friends and big business in general, a radio talk show's co-hosts said recently.