AFSCME puts $100K into campaign guaranteeing $2,100 property tax hike
AFSCME puts $100K into campaign guaranteeing $2,100 property tax hike
Illinois’ largest state worker union has a long history of demanding higher taxes. Now AFSCME is funding a state constitutional amendment campaign that will hike property taxes statewide.
By Mailee Smith
Illinois teachers unions back measure promising $2,149 property tax hike
Illinois teachers unions back measure promising $2,149 property tax hike
Teachers unions tout support for a constitutional amendment that threatens to raise property taxes over $2,149. Illinoisans already pay the nation’s second-highest property taxes.
By Hannah Schmid
Chicago Teachers Union school closures, strikes hold back K-12 chess champs
Chicago Teachers Union school closures, strikes hold back K-12 chess champs
Students on Joe Ocol’s chess teams already face life challenges, but the Chicago Teachers Union adds to them by repeatedly threatening their historic successes. Voters face a choice Nov. 8 to either strengthen union militancy or put students first.
Unions spend nearly $5M to push property tax hikes through Amendment 1
Unions spend nearly $5M to push property tax hikes through Amendment 1
The majority of the support for a constitutional amendment that would raise taxes on Illinoisans comes from union coffers, with nearly $5 million donated so far. Unions also funded the failed progressive tax push in 2020.
By Hannah Schmid
Ifeoma Nkemdi
Ifeoma Nkemdi
"I gladly signed on as a plaintiff against Amendment 1 to stop this union power grab before things get any worse.”
Amendment 1 sponsor sentenced to prison for union ghost payroll scheme
Amendment 1 sponsor sentenced to prison for union ghost payroll scheme
Former state Sen. Thomas Cullerton was sentenced to one year in federal prison for embezzlement from a no-work union job. He sponsored the Amendment 1 proposal to make government unions nearly untouchable in Illinois.
By Dylan Sharkey
What Illinois businesses need to know about Amendment 1
What Illinois businesses need to know about Amendment 1
Amendment 1 would enshrine permanent power for public unions in the state constitution which could mean higher taxes, higher costs, and potentially costly litigation for business owners.
By Dylan Sharkey
Unintended consequences: Amendment 1 could allow prisoners to unionize
Unintended consequences: Amendment 1 could allow prisoners to unionize
There’s been a 50-year national push to unionize inmate workers in prisons – including a 2020 article published by Northwestern Pritzker School of Law. The rights granted in Amendment 1 to all “employees” could result in Illinois prison unions.
By Amy Korte
Unions backed doubling gas tax, now push disguised tax hike amendment
Unions backed doubling gas tax, now push disguised tax hike amendment
The same unions that supported doubling the gas tax in 2019 donated $15 million to politicians who voted for Amendment 1, a proposed tax hike sold as a “workers’ rights” amendment.
By Hannah Schmid
Joe Ocol
Joe Ocol
“The Chicago’s Teachers Union has become too powerful and it is becoming even more powerful. I fear that if Amendment 1 passes, the union will have limitless power."
How Amendment 1 could give Illinois more arsonists as fire chiefs
How Amendment 1 could give Illinois more arsonists as fire chiefs
An admitted arsonist was able to become a fire chief and part-time police officer thanks to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s pardon. A proposed constitutional amendment could make it easier for violent felons to work in public safety – even without a pardon.
By Perry Zhao
How Chicago Teachers Union sold $50M high-rise, hid cash from oversight
How Chicago Teachers Union sold $50M high-rise, hid cash from oversight
Chicago Teachers Union leaders made nearly $50 million selling property paid for with union member dues, only to shuffle the proceeds to a charity with less oversight. Members are voting May 20 for transparency from new leaders.
By Patrick Andriesen
Amendment 1 will make bad Illinois business climate worse
Amendment 1 will make bad Illinois business climate worse
A Rockford family and their trucking business are being driven out of Illinois by high taxes and bad public policies. If voters agree Nov. 8 to enshrining public union power in the Illinois Constitution, expect more businesses and workers to leave.
Chicago Teachers Union election May 20 could affect frequency of strikes
Chicago Teachers Union election May 20 could affect frequency of strikes
CTU has walked out on students three times in three school years. The outcome of its upcoming leadership election pits the status quo against potential change – and could alter the political trajectory of the nation’s most militant teachers union.
By Mailee Smith