Explainer Breaking Down Gov. Rauner's Dispute With Illinois' Largest Public Labor Union Illinois has continued to grapple over the costs of pay and benefits for members of the state’s largest public employee union. Gov. Bruce Rauner is trying to squeeze major contract concessions from AFSCME, while both sides accuse the other of bargaining in bad faith. Jun 29, 2017 6:00 AM
Explainer Illinois Governor's Race On Pace To Be Most Expensive in U.S. History In what may seem a paradox, the worse off Illinois government gets the more the wealthy are willing to spend to gain control. It is part of a national trend that has seen ever escalating spending battles for even down the ballot offices. Jun 6, 2017 6:00 AM
Explainer Rauner Gropes For Silver Lining As State Flounders Amid Gridlock “How’s that working out for you?” Rauner the 2014 Republican candidate often asked in questioning why voters kept returning Democrats to run Springfield. Now he’s governor of a very troubled state and the same question may loom large over his reelection bid next year. May 30, 2017 6:00 AM
Explainer Lots Of People Think They Can Solve Illinois' Budget Mess—But It's Not That Easy Compared to other states, Illinois has fewer state workers, spends less on Medicaid per patient and owns a worst in the nation record for supporting local schools. So budget-balancing without tax hikes will mean cutting into muscle. May 18, 2017 6:00 AM
Explainer Why The Online Threat To Big Retail Means Bigger Holes In Illinois Budgets The take from sales and property taxes, key revenue sources for local governments, often takes a hit as brick and mortar stores reel under Internet competition. That puts a strain on paying for municipal services. May 10, 2017 5:00 AM
Explainer Why The Chicago Area's Powerhouse Economy Can't Jumpstart Stalled Illinois With the Chicago region robust and Downstate in a prolonged economic funk, fixing Illinois may be harder than the political talking points suggest. Apr 25, 2017 5:00 AM
Explainer Rauner Tax Freeze: Balm Or Timebomb For Local Taxpayers? The governor seeks a permanent property tax freeze as a price for a budget deal, but experts say such a plan goes beyond anti-tax moves in other states and could handcuff operations of schools and local governments. Apr 5, 2017 6:00 AM
Explainer Understanding The Most Poorly Funded School System in America: Illinois By design, Illinois places an outsized reliance on revenue from local property taxes to fund schools. That has led to dramatic increases in property taxes across the state while also creating a worst in the nation gap in funding between rich and poor districts. Mar 30, 2017 6:00 AM
Explainer Poor In Chicago And Illinois Targeted In Trump Budget Cuts The president’s new budget proposes to do away with several popular aid programs, with the brunt of the pain focused on programs that serve low income residents. Mar 16, 2017 6:00 PM
Explainer Experts: No Evidence Term Limits Cure Political Dysfunction Illinois’ governor demands term limits as part of the price for any budget deal, but experts say capping lawmaker tenure emboldens special interests and is no magic bullet to cure what ails the state. Feb 22, 2017 6:00 AM
