Stories by Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner, Wirepoints on Cook County Record

Illinois' continued outmigration over the past two decades has cost the state at least $25 billion in lost income and sales taxes, an analysis from Wirepoints has found

An honest assessment would tell Illinoisans the state needs massive reforms to begin fixing the structural problems temporarily bandaged by unprecedented, massive COVID-related federal financial aid, says an analysis from Wirepoints.

Illinois just reached an alarming milestone: each Illinois household is now on the hook for, on average, $110,000 in government-worker retirement debts. That figure is the result of dividing Illinois’ $530 billion in state and local retirement shortfalls among the state’s 4.9 million households. In 2019, the burden was $90,000 per household.

The Illinois legislature’s biggest failure during the pandemic has been its complete abdication of responsibility over the management of the pandemic itself, Wirepoints argues in a new opinion piece.