If anyone in Chicago or Springfield still denies that this state's sorry record of corruption and taxpayer debt is costing Illinois excellent jobs, take it from billionaire Nassef Sawiris.
The University of Chicago grad heads a global firm, Orascom Construction Industries, the biggest company in Egypt. He has set out to build a giant new plant to make fertilizer from natural gas in America's agricultural heartland.
Illinois and Iowa competed aggressively for the $1.4 billion project, which will create hundreds of precious, stable, good-paying jobs. Both states offered lavish incentives.
In the end, Illinois came up with the better package, according to Sawiris. Its tax code, tax rebates and the other breaks it offered were "financially superior" to the package proposed by Iowa, he said. Besides, Sawiris confided, he feels a sentimental attachment to Illinois, thanks to the education he received at Chicago.
Nevertheless, he chose Iowa for his investment, at a site just four miles from the Illinois border.
Why? Regular readers of this page already know the answer. Illinois is broke, with some $200 billion in debts and unfunded obligations. Any employer who locates here essentially volunteers to help pay for yesterday's excessive spending and reckless promises. What's more, many public officials have besmirched Illinois' reputation with their criminal activity. So convincing a shrewd and sophisticated multinational firm to invest long term in Illinois is a tough sell.
Go read the entire article. Iowa has a lot of fun at the expense of Illinois, including pointing out that just about all of their ex-governors aren't in prison. But what isn't fun is the sheer numbers of companies relocating just outside of Illinois borders in Wisconsin and Indiana or even the long distance campaigns of places like New Jersey and other states to lure away Illinois employers.
“I wouldn’t hold your breath on getting that bill signed,” the governor told reporters Monday morning during an appearance in Northbrook.
The measure that passed before a legislative deadline last Thursday would authorize a Chicago casino, along with four others in Lake County, the south suburbs and Downstate.
It also would permit slot machines at racetracks and expand the number of gambling positions at existing casinos.
The vote represented a key moment for a bill aimed at fixing a state law deemed so unfair that Chicago announced it would not be enforced during the summit, a move made as the city ramped up for NATO and for the protesters who would hit the streets.
Chicago police Superintendent Garry McCarthy previously has said he supports letting people record the police and vice versa. Pressure for change also comes from multiple court rulings that the eavesdropping law violates the First Amendment...This is what happens when you keep electing morons to the legislative branches of government - bad law and backtracking, not to mention the cost of defending, and then losing, numerous lawsuits.
Gov. Pat Quinn announced Sunday a proposed amendment that would allow Illinois voters to enact ethics laws through ballot referendums.
The proposed amendment, sponsored by Sen. Annazette Collins (D-Chicago), would allow voters to propose ethics reforms for all state-held offices in the three branches, as well as in local governments and school districts.
Cook County lost more than a quarter of its manufacturing jobs between 2000 and 2010, according to a new analysis.
Cook lost some 89,100 jobs, more than any other county in the United States except for Los Angeles County, which saw 113,000 jobs disappear. Detroit’s Wayne County lost 84,000 manufacturing jobs, according to a Scripps Howard News Service tally.
Every county in the Chicago area lost manufacturing jobs in that time span — more than 125,500.
Statewide, Illinois in 2010 had 742,089 manufacturing jobs, a 20 percent decline from 2000, according to U.S. Census figures.
Now tie that into this report:
A state Republican legislator has introduced a bill to the Illinois General Assembly to separate the Chicago's county from the state--effectively making the midwestern city the 51st state in the union.
The bill, filed by State Rep. Bill Mitchell of Decatur Tuesday, would "enact legislation dividing Illinois and Cook County into separate states" because county residents "hold different and firmly seated views" on "politics, society, and economics" from people in the rest of the state. The bill's supporters point to higher tax rates and strict gun laws in the Chicago area and contend that the northern county is out of step with its Illinois neighbors.
"These liberal policies are an insult to the traditional values of downstate families," Mitchell told the Decatur Tribune. "When I talk to constituents, one of the biggest things I hear is 'Chicago should be its own state . . . .Our voters' voices were drowned out by Chicago."
Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn today defended a major toll increase on the eve of the tollway board's vote on the issue.
"The tollway has to do what's necessary to protect safety, lessen congestion, make sure that we have roads that are efficient," Quinn said at an unrelated news conference. "Clearly there is public support for making sure that we do this and do it right."
Chicago School Board members Wednesday unanimously approved a budget packing a $150 million property tax increase as school officials offered elementary teachers raises totaling $15 million to work a longer day.
Meanwhile, parents, clergy and others turned up the heat on all parties involved to find a way to achieve a longer school day and year.
“Businesses and taxpayers have already been looking at leaving Illinois,” Brady said. “The only thing worse than a temporary tax hike would be a permanent one.”
Brady said, “The way to bring jobs back to Illinois is through lower taxes – not higher taxes. The Governor apparently hasn’t noticed that the states that are creating the most jobs these days are the ones who are lowering taxes.”
Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn on Wednesday gave a highly paid position to the daughter of the Illinois Supreme Court justice who swore him into office and a powerful Chicago alderman who was a major campaign donor.
Attorney Jennifer Burke, 41, was named to the Illinois Pollution Control Board, a post that pays $117,043, Quinn’s office said.
She is the daughter of Justice Anne Burke and 14th Ward Ald. Ed Burke, chairman of the City Council’s Finance Committee. Jennifer Burke works for the city as an assistant corporation counsel supervisor. As of last month, her annual salary was $99,948.At a time when pay raises are a distant memory and unpaid leave a reality for many area government workers, Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White has handed out pay hikes exceeding 6% to his entire executive staff.
According to payroll data obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the Better Government Assn., Mr. White in the 12-month period ended May 31 gave 4% and then 2% raises to roughly 250 non-union administrative personnel, almost all of them policymakers, supervisors or their clerical assistants.
The hikes collectively are costing taxpayers an extra $78,000 a month.
Kelly Ann Krapf, a former broadcast reporter who uses the name Kelly Kraft, received a salary boost from about $71,000 to more than $105,000.