Twenty leading U.S. banks collectively paid their top five executives $2 billion in tax-deductible bonuses between 2012 and 2015, according to a recent report examining Wall Street CEO pay.
That $2 billion figure works out to be a tax break valued at $725 million, or $1.7 million per executive per year, the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS), a progressive think tank, found.
"Taxpayers should not have to subsidize excessive CEO bonuses at any corporation," report co-author and IPS Global Economy Project Director Sarah Anderson said in a statement. "But such subsidies are particularly troubling when they prop up a pay system that encourages the reckless behavior which caused one devastating national crisis -- and could cause more in the future."
Workforce training is a cheaper, more cost-effective economic development option for states and cities than corporate "megadeals," a new report from Good Jobs First has found.
Controversy over former Illinois congressman Joe Walsh's incendiary tweets posted last Thursday after the deadly sniper attack on Dallas police officers has spilled over into the state's 66th House District race.
The Democrat in the race, Nancy Zettler, is calling on her Republican opponent, Allen Skillicorn, to disavow Walsh's "hate-filled statements."
Walsh has faced backlash for a now-deleted tweet that threatened "war" on President Barack Obama and the Black Lives Matter movement.
Minimum wage earners in Illinois must work 97 hours a week, year round to afford a modest, two-bedroom apartment in the state, according to the annual "Out of Reach" report for 2016.
The Fair Market Rent (FMR) price for a two-bedroom unit in Illinois is $1,039, up from $977 last year. That means Illinois renters must now earn $19.98 per hour, or at least $41,567 annually, to afford a two-bedroom apartment without paying more than 30 percent of their income on housing.
Overall, Illinois has the nation's 16th most expensive two-bedroom housing wage. Nationally, the average wage necessary to afford a modest, two-bedroom rental is $20.30.
Activists pushing for the "Cook County Responsible Business Act" stepped up their campaign Monday morning by protesting in support of the proposal at a Walmart in Bedford Park.
About 50 members of IIRON, National People's Action and other grassroots groups briefly demonstrated inside the Walmart, at 7050 S. Cicero Ave. They held signs that read, "Poverty pay? No way! We need the RBA," and chanted call-and-response style, "What do we want? Fair wages! When do we want them? Now!"
Protesters carried a large poster of a fake $33 million invoice, symbolizing the cost of Walmart's "poverty wages" to Cook County taxpayers. Organizers claim local taxpayers are left with a $33 million tab each year to cover public benefits for employees at Walmart's 25 Cook County stores. The group's calculation is based on a May 2013 congressional report prepared by the Democratic staff of the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce, which found that one 300-person Walmart Supercenter store in Wisconsin likely costs taxpayers more than $900,000 annually in government assistance for its workers.
Large corporations in Cook County would have to provide their workers with a "living wage" or pay a fee to help fund public services under proposed legislation to be unveiled before the Wednesday morning county board meeting.
Government reporting on tax-based economic development subsidies will become more transparent under a new policy from the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB).
That's the organization that sets accounting and financial reporting standards for U.S. states and localities.
Under GASB's "tax abatement disclosures" rule released in mid-August, state and local governments will have to disclose how much revenue they lose as part of income, property and sales tax breaks, including those designed for economic development purposes.
GASB said its new rule, the first of its kind, will make it easier to determine the impacts of tax abatement programs on a government's fiscal condition and ability to raise revenue.
"This new guidance will result in people who use governmental financial statements having access to essential information about the tax abatements governments enter into," said GASB Chair David Vaudt. "Not only will this mean that they'll have access to information that will allow them to better assess a government's financial health, but it will also make the impact of these agreements much more apparent."
Twenty leading U.S. banks collectively paid their top five executives $2 billion in tax-deductible bonuses between 2012 and 2015, according to a 
Controversy over former Illinois congressman Joe Walsh's 
Minimum wage earners in Illinois must work 97 hours a week, year round to afford a modest, two-bedroom apartment in the state, according to the annual "
Activists pushing for the "
Government reporting on tax-based economic development subsidies will become more transparent under a new policy from the