Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has a lot of plans to change the social order, but what he doesn’t have is a plan for how to stanch the city’s literal or figurative bleeding. Without law and order, people and businesses will continue to flee: 32,990 people in 2022, plus major businesses over crime and taxes. Chicago’s...
This edition of The Policy Shop is by policy analyst Hannah Schmid. On Tuesday the Illinois General Assembly will begin the fall veto session, when they have a chance to override the vetoes issued by Gov. J.B. Pritzker plus put other bills in motion. The best use of their time this fall is to save...
This edition of The Policy Shop is by Director of Fiscal and Economic Research Bryce Hill. America has lost the War on Poverty. After nearly 60 years, the poverty rate remains stuck between 11% and 15%. It focused on making poverty less painful rather than helping people escape a trap that lasts for generations. The free...
This edition of The Policy Shop is by Director of Policy Research Joseph Tabor. Geraldine Tyler is a 94-year-old Minnesota grandmother who in 2010 fell behind in the property taxes on her one-bedroom condo after moving into a senior living apartment. Hennepin County took the condo, sold it for $40,000 to cover a tax debt...
This edition of The Policy Shop comes to you from policy analyst Hannah Schmid. Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates believes in school choice – for herself. Now that she’s admitted her child attends a private high school, she is attempting to spin the hypocrisy of trying to stop low-income families from making that same choice into...
This edition of The Policy Shop comes to you from policy analyst Hannah Schmid. Almost everyone in Illinois is back to school at this point – even Chicago Public Schools’ first day was earlier than their typical post-Labor Day start. Speaking of CPS, many students will return to Chicago school buildings with mostly empty seats...
This edition of The Policy Shop comes to you from policy adviser Paul Vallas and writer Patrick Andriesen. Happy Wednesday. Today we’ll be looking at gun violence in Chicago and the spike in youth crime, trying to understand what’s really going on. Chicago’s gun problem. Shootings in Chicago in 2022 were up by nearly one-third compared...
This edition of The Policy Shop was written by Bryce Hill, director of fiscal and economic research. It’s a good month to be a state worker in Illinois. Gov. J.B. Pritzker has awarded the largest ever American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) contract, which includes 19% pay raises and a $1,200 signing bonus for...
This edition of The Policy Shop is brought to you by Josh Bandoch, head of policy. Politicians love to make promises. Here’s one: Your property taxes won’t go up! Mayor Brandon Johnson has made that vow. Many of his predecessors had, too. That won’t help anyone who owes Cook County property taxes for the remainder...
This edition of The Policy Shop is brought to you by Policy Analyst Hannah Schmid. Chicago Public Schools math and reading scores are some of the worst in the country. But there’s a little-known subset of schools that are suffering more than others. Empty, failing, forgotten. It’s hard to believe, but Chicago Public Schools is home...
This edition of The Policy Shop is by Mailee Smith, staff attorney and director of labor policy. People who go to the Illinois Statehouse almost always want something. One way to tell what they want is by looking at the legislation they support or oppose. That’s one way we’ve learned so much about just how...
This week’s The Policy Shop is from Mailee Smith, senior director of labor policy and staff attorney at the Illinois Policy Institute The start of spring reminds us two things are ending: the school year and the spring legislative session. That means time is running out to save Invest in Kids – the tax credit...
This edition of The Policy Shop is by Amy Korte, executive vice president of the Illinois Policy Institute. Happy Election Day, Chicagoans. (And happy Tuesday to everyone else.) We’re bumping up our send date by a day because by tomorrow we’ll likely know who made the Chicago mayoral runoff, and we want to give you...
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker intends to extend his COVID-19 emergency powers until May 11. Illinois is 1 of only 7 states still claiming disaster status as a result of COVID-19.