The Board of IFI just finished a Webinar with State Rep. Jeanne Ives, of the 42nd district, along with Senator Kyle McCarter, of the 51st District. The purpose of the meeting was to seek their advice on how IFI can...

In preparation for the recording of an IFA Spotlight weekly podcast, executive director Dave Smith asked me to do some research about the Illinois government’s employee pension problem. For me, it is not a fun topic to delve into because...

We recently alerted you to two pending pieces of legislation that Governor Bruce Rauner will soon have to grapple with. If you have not yet responded to this call-to-action, or even if you have, it is imperative that his office hears from us emphatically and frequently. The top priority during the summer is HB 1785 -- it MUST be vetoed!

By using their majority in Springfield, Illinois Democrats may try to use their passage of House Bill 40 as a wedge issue in the 2018 elections. However, a pro-life lawmaker is suggesting that the anti-baby legislation could backfire on them.

The Illinois State House was back in session during the afternoon of July 6th to override Gov. Bruce Rauner’s veto of a 32 percent permanent tax hike on Illinois families (SB 9). This tax grab also raises the corporate income...

Late Sunday afternoon (July 2nd), the Illinois House passed a massive tax hike for families and businesses. What does that mean for taxpayers? Well, if this proposal isn't vetoed by Gov. Bruce Rauner, the personal income tax rate would increase by 32 percent, surging from 3.75 percent to 4.95 percent, and the corporate rate would jump from 5.25 percent to 7 percent. This would enable and fund business as usual. ("Enable" is the key word here...)

State government summer re-run season is underway at the Illinois capitol building where both political parties are cooperating to send our state further into the fiscal abyss. Midnight came and went as we closed out the month of June without a budget being signed into law, so Illinois has begun its third straight year without one.

Majorities in both houses of the Illinois General Assembly recently flunked the kind of science test that used to be given to grammar school students. The question, which just a few years ago was not controversial, was “can a man...

It’s a sad tale of two cities. The news out of Washington, D.C. this spring is that President Donald Trump and the Republican majorities in Congress plan on cutting taxes. The unsurprising news out of Springfield, Illinois is that General...

The General Assembly may have adjourned for the summer, but the legislative process is far from finished.  HB 40, which forces taxpayers to pay for Medicaid abortions, must be stopped at the governor’s desk. So, once again, we call your...

HB 1785 passed last week in the House by a vote of 63-32 and late Wednesday it passed in the Illinois Senate by a vote of 32-22. HB 1785 will allow gender-dysphoric persons to falsify their birth certificates, which are both legal and historical documents...

Two years after the “temporary” income tax expired, rapacious Springfield lawmakers are once again working toward raising our taxes, supposedly in order to solve the state’s fiscal problems. This time they want to raise the state’s income tax from 3.75...

The Equal Rights Amendment is once again before Illinois lawmakers, and if enacted is sure to launch a real war on women.

This afternoon, HB 40 passed in the Illinois State Senate by a vote of 33-22. Thirty votes are needed for passage in the Illinois Senate. This bill was passed with a party-line vote by the Democratic majority without one Republican vote, and four Democrats not voting on this controversial proposal.

Editor’s note: Since the op ed below was first drafted, the authors have introduced their proposal in a series of bills to be considered by the state senate. By State Sens. Kyle McCarter (R-Lebanon) and Dan McConchie (R-Hawthorn Woods) For...