Quinn outlines priorities for pension reform

By Rich Miller

Gov. Pat Quinn outlined a plan last week to reform the state’s troubled pension systems. In doing so, Quinn appeared to outright reject some pension ideas offered up by House Republican Leader T

Politics - Rich Miller | Thursday, February 9,2012

Quinn made a good speech, despite the grumbling

By Rich Miller

After more than a decade of extreme scandal and gross government mismanagement, far too many Illinoisans seem to be wallowing or even perversely reveling in our state’s embarrassing failures. Ju

Politics - Rich Miller | Thursday, February 2,2012

Madigan: Let school districts pay for teacher pensions

By Rich Miller

Last week, powerful Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan appeared to all but endorse an idea to force downstate and suburban school districts to pay a significant share of their state pension contri

Politics - Rich Miller | Thursday, January 26,2012

Contribution caps aren’t slowing political cash

By Rich Miller

Back when the reformers demanded that state campaign contributions be capped, they said it would limit the dollars flowing into Illinois political funds. But, overall, contributions have only bar

Politics - Rich Miller | Thursday, January 19,2012

Illinois pushes back credit ratings gloom and doom

By Rich Miller

As you probably know already, Moody’s slapped Illinois with its worst credit rating of any state in the nation earlier this month.But while Moody’s report was damaging, S&P’s rat

Politics - Rich Miller | Thursday, January 12,2012

Quinn’s plan shows state can’t afford to let tax hike expire

By Rich Miller

He didn’t come out and say it, but Gov. Pat Quinn has apparently abandoned his promise to allow the “temporary” income tax hikes to expire three years from now. The governor submitte

Politics - Rich Miller | Thursday, December 29,2011

Cook County helps pay downstate’s way

By Rich Miller

I talked with former state senator Howie Carroll last week about state Rep. Bill Mitchell’s (R-Forsyth) proposal to kick Chicago and suburban Cook County out of Illinois. Mitchell’s resolu

Politics - Rich Miller | Thursday, December 22,2011

After corporate tax break, other companies ask, ‘Where’s mine?’

By Rich Miller

A massive turnaround in the Illinois House may have whetted political appetites for even more corporate tax relief. But don’t count on it just yetAs you may recall, a tax cut plan for corporatio

Politics - Rich Miller | Thursday, December 15,2011

What to tell the Blagojevich daughters?

By Rich Miller

“I... I... I... I... I couldn’t fathom what I would say to those two girls,” U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald stammered last week when asked what he would say to Rod Blagojevich&rsqu

Politics - Rich Miller | Thursday, December 8,2011

Why the business tax cut failed

By Rich Miller

It’s a fairly common Statehouse phenomenon that bills will zoom out of the Senate or the House and then flame out in the other chamber. People in the other chamber just don’t always care a