From Our President Greising: Behind the Race to Fight COVID-19, Can Illinois Keep Its Finances in Order? As Pritzker reworks his budget, the state has precious little flexibility. With $7.4 billion in unpaid bills, a credit rating that’s just one notch above junk and a pension system that eats up more than 20% of the state’s operating budget, it faces a trifecta of trouble. Apr 3, 2020 9:00 AM
From Our President Greising: Gov. Pritzker Steps up in Face of Coronavirus Crisis. Similarly Bold Leadership Would Help Solve Illinois’ Other Problems. Pritzker’s stand on elections was an act of leadership. Some disagreed, others agreed. And that’s when leaders step up and make a judgment call. Mar 20, 2020 9:00 AM
From Our President Greising: In Illinois, It's Easy to Forget What a Fair Election Looks Like In states where gerrymandering has been stamped out, competitive elections are the norm. But not in Illinois. Mar 12, 2020 2:00 PM
From Our President Greising: Flawed Weed and Gambling Laws Allow Industries to Hide Investors The tax haul for the state would have been larger, and weed investors would have grown even richer, had supply not run short. Mar 6, 2020 9:00 AM
From Our President Greising: Blago Reminds Us: Illinois Needs to Be Freed From Corruption On the same day Gov. Pritzker unveiled his latest spending plan and our ex-con former governor brought his circus back to town, it becomes clear: For the good of the state, fiscal renewal and ethics reform must go hand in hand. Feb 28, 2020 10:00 AM
From Our President Greising: If Pritzker Wants Real Pension Reform, He May Need to Amend His ‘Fantasy’ Swipe Pritzker’s plan would replace Illinois’ flat tax with a graduated income tax projected to increase revenue by $3.6 billion a year, chiefly by hiking tax rates on the top 3% of all earners. Feb 21, 2020 9:00 AM
From Our President Greising: Can TIFs Promote Equity? Lightfoot Aims to Find Out. The mayor has a lot of work to do before the city can plausibly claim its tax-increment financing investments are advancing the cause of racial justice in any meaningful way. Feb 7, 2020 4:00 PM
From Our President Greising: CPD’s Charlie Beck May Be ‘Interim’ Top Cop, But His Impact Will Be Lasting Lightfoot wanted a change-maker. She got one. And the changes Beck is making will set the Chicago Police Department in a new direction that is long overdue. Feb 7, 2020 8:00 AM
From Our President Greising: Pritzker Must Step Into Leading Role in Reforming Illinois Government. The Moment Demands It. After federal investigators raided the offices of Sen. Martin Sandoval, D-Chicago, Pritzker lamented that the alleged wrongdoers were “throwing obstacles in the way of us accomplishing pension consolidation and lowering taxes, property taxes and other things in the state." Jan 24, 2020 9:45 AM
From Our President Greising: How Do You Undo a System That Rewards ‘Loyalty' Over Public Service? The latest of a series of Springfield ethics reform commissions seems predisposed to focus on lobbying, but that's only one of the roots of Illinois' corrupt politics. Jan 10, 2020 3:30 PM
