Indiana lawmakers are bracing for another high-profile fight over a right-to-work bill when the legislative session opens Wednesday. Last year Democrats fled the state in protest, preventing the legislature from conducting business for five weeks. The right-to-work bill would end forced unionization for private-sector workers in Indiana. Its supporters say the bill would increase jobs and choices in the Midwestern state with a 9 percent unemployment rate. Unions complain it threatens their existence. Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) is speaking out in favor of the bill, even recording a 60-second …
No such thing as a free lunch? Not if you’re a union lobbyist in Illinois. As the Chicago Tribune reported: Two lobbyists with no prior teaching experience were allowed to count their years as union employees toward a state teacher pension once they served a single day of subbing in 2007…. Steven Preckwinkle, the political director for the Illinois Federation of Teachers, and fellow union lobbyist David Piccioli…took advantage of a small window opened by lawmakers…. [which allowed the two men] to get into the state teachers pension fund and …
In January 2011, newly elected Illinois governor Pat Quinn imposed a 67% income tax increase on citizens and a sharp increase in the corporate tax rate to satisfy missed and unpaid bills. A month later, the state issued $3.7 billion in bonds just to make payments to unfunded state pensions. Unfortunately, these measures do not seem to have inspired Moody’s confidence. The agency rated Illinois as the worst credit risk of any state in the union in August. Senator Mark Kirk (R-Ill) produced a report on Tuesday that makes some startling …
A new poll from the Manhattan Institute reveals 77 percent of Hoosiers rate Indiana’s government as “efficient.” That’s the highest percentage of any state surveyed and a stark contrast to neighboring Illinois’ 23 percent. Gov. Mitch Daniels (R-IN), now serving in his seventh year as the state’s CEO, has clearly left his mark on Indiana. This year, with Republicans in control of the state legislature, he’s continued to reform government, enacting landmark education reforms. Daniels shared stories of his policy accomplishments in a wide-ranging speech last week at Heritage. He’s …
Correlation doesn’t necessarily equal causation, but some disturbing correlations are evident in the nation’s economic woes. Take Illinois. If you take a look at the chart below, you can see a startling picture. In Illinois, employment numbers increased steadily until January 2011, at which point they took a sharp dip downward—the same time that state’s governor announced plans to increase the personal income tax rate by 67 percent and the corporate rates by 46 percent. And things keep getting worse. The Illinois Policy Institute reports: Illinois lost more jobs during the month of July …
It’s not every day that a company with roots as deep as the CME Group, Inc.—the parent company of the famous Chicago Mercantile Exchange and Board of Trade—would consider fleeing its home state, seeking better a better economic climate a thousand miles away. But that’s just what’s happening, and taxes are the reason the company is looking for a new home after founding the Chicago Board of Trade in 1848. The Chicago Tribune reports: CME Group Inc. is evaluating whether to move some operations to other states from Chicago to …
States are desperate for ways to make their budgets more cost-effective. Illinois found a way—but the federal government won’t let the state implement a requirement that would help repair its faulty Medicaid system. Federal government health care laws are preventing a new Medicaid ID requirement—passed by bipartisan majorities in the state—from going into effect. The legislation gained the support of Republican and Democratic caucuses in the state with Rep. Patti Bellock (R-Westmont) and Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie (D-Chicago) moving the bill forth. Gov. Pat Quinn (D) signed it into law. …
Education reform is taking shape across the nation, and for many states, the next wave of change is coming as state leaders push for teacher tenure reform. Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Nevada, and New Jersey have proposed to eliminate or dramatically restructure the current form of teacher tenure. Additionally, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg “has campaigned aggressively for the state to end ‘last in, first out’ protections for teachers.” At present, public school teachers receive tenure after a few years of teaching, at which point they can be fired only …
While it’s being reported that every state (except Florida) had snow on the ground this week, 46 states are digging out of another kind of mess — a combined deficit of at least $127 billion. Democratic and Republican state leaders alike are grappling with structural budget deficits, many of whom are proposing budget cuts to tackle the problem. But then there’s Illinois. President Barack Obama’s home state is beleaguered by a $15 billion budget deficit that is said to be the worst in the nation. And apparently the last thing …
It’s the beginning of a new year, and Illinois isn’t wasting any time getting education reform off to a good start. Teacher tenure reform is currently on the hotplate of Illinois lawmakers, with the House being set to vote on a measure January 12. The proposed legislation would “link teacher tenure to student test scores,” reports The Wall Street Journal. Under Illinois’s current system, “new teachers are offered tenure after three years on the job unless there are serious concerns about their work. After that, districts face a certain, protracted …
