Chicago’s pension systems for city workers have $51 billion in debt, so much that they are in worse shape than 43 states. Fixing them requires Chicago’s mayor to push for a change in the Illinois Constitution.
Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates had words for state lawmakers, the governor, corporations and financial institutions at a public bargaining session over a new union contract. She said union demands are not a money discussion, but rather about culture.
Real-world outcomes for Illinoisans have dropped since Gov. J.B. Pritzker took office. The nation’s Democrats need to see where he’s taken Illinois before following his lead.
Nearly 100,000 Chicago-area residents are out of work, and at 6.2% the Chicago metro area has the highest unemployment rate of the nation’s 50 largest metro areas. Illinois as a whole isn’t doing much better, with a 6.1% unemployment rate.
Rent is unaffordable for half of Chicagoans, averaging $2,200 a month. The key to affordable housing is to build more housing, but that won’t happen until city government reduces its role.
Barrington Township will be the first local government in Illinois to give taxpayers a vote on reforming the single-largest property tax driver in the state: public pensions. The advisory referendum will be on the ballot Nov. 5.
Nearly 31% of public school teachers in Chicago send at least one of their kids to private school. What does that say about the quality of a public-school education in Chicago?
This episode of The Policy Shop is by Bryce Hill, director of fiscal and economic research. When Democrats come to Chicago Aug. 19-22, they will find plenty of elbow room: people are leaving, and not because of the potential for protests to turn ugly near the United Center. Chicago has lost nearly 130,000 residents since 2014, marking...
Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s record $53.1 billion state budget imposes $1.1 billion in new taxes on Illinoisans and still manages to underfund public pensions. He’s boosted state spending by $15 billion in six years. Housing, jobs and population are all suffering.
The Democratic National Convention is coming to Chicago to highlight the party’s platform. Delegates are likely to see moving vans that highlight what those policies have done to the Windy City and the rest of Illinois.
Illinois law now forbids employers from discussing ‘religious or political matters’ with employees. The Illinois Policy Institute is suing because that restriction on its free speech threatens its ability to operate.
At the 1920 Census, Chicago’s population was 2.7 million, up over 516,000 in a decade. More than 100 years later, Chicago’s population is 2.66 million, a loss of 128,034 from nine straight years of decline.
Nearly 2 million Illinoisans – or more than 1-in-7 state residents – received Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits in March 2024. Alexander and Pulaski counties led the state with 34% of residents receiving SNAP benefits.