All Press Items

CTBA experts are available to provide insight, analysis, and data to the press on a wide range of public policy issues. In addition, CTBA disseminates new research and timely updates on policy developments to the media.

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July 18, 2016Chicago Sun-Times

Chicago Public Schools local school councils better put some budget money aside because some promised state aid — that doesn’t cover a $300 million gap — comes with strings attached. That was the advice coming from experts at a budget forum Monday night.

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July 15, 2016Digital Journal

A group of Chicago experts have written short articles outlining ways to save and generate MAJOR revenues for Chicago.The organizer and editor is Tom Tresser (www.tresser.com) and the book is based on this Huffington Post Chicago from September 2015: 

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July 15, 2016Daily Herald

This week, Gov. Bruce Rauner announced a new, bipartisan commission charged with, drum roll please, creating a new school funding formula. This being Illinois, much of the immediate response ranged from sarcastic -- as in "Be still my heart, the umpteenth kagillion state task force on education

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June 23, 2016Debtwire

Metropolitan Pier & Exposition Authority’s (MPEA) debt service payments may take a backs at to other budget issues in the absence of a FY17 budget for Illinois, said Ralph Martire of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability.

The prolonged gridlock between Democrats and Republicans

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June 22, 2016State Journal Register

Recently, Governor Bruce Rauner and many of his strongest Republican supporters in the General Assembly have made it a point to urge voters who live in central and southern Illinois, and the legislators who represent them, to "stand up against the Chicago political machine" and refuse to allow

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June 22, 2016State Journal Register

Recently, Governor Bruce Rauner and many of his strongest Republican supporters in the General Assembly have made it a point to urge voters who live in central and southern Illinois, and the legislators who represent them, to "stand up against the Chicago political machine" and refuse to allow their tax dollars to be used "to bailout the City of Chicago." Superficially, this message most likely resonates with many who live in the communities where it gets delivered.

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April 22, 2016Daily Herald

CTBA Executive Director Ralph Martire makes the case that the most fertile area for a budget compromise is education funding reform. Any permanent fix to the state's structural deficit requires bipartisan cooperation as a practical matter. What's necessary to get to bipartisan cooperation are

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April 21, 2016State Journal Register

CTBA Executive Director Ralph Martire makes the case that the most fertile area for a budget compromise is education funding reform. Any permanent fix to the state's structural deficit requires bipartisan cooperation as a practical matter. What's necessary to get to bipartisan cooperation are

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April 20, 2016Reboot Illinois

One of the hottest topics in play when Reboot Illinois was founded in 2012 was debate over a possible Illinois progressive tax system.

The progressive tax debate on April 15 roared back into action as Democratic lawmakers proposed two pieces of legislation that, in tandem, would both

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April 20, 2016Ottawa Times

Last week, state Rep. Lou Lang, D-Skokie, presented a progressive tax plan that he said would bring in nearly $2 billion more to help pay for social services. The lawmaker said his plan would mean a cut for 99 percent of taxpayers.

Most Republicans oppose such proposals, saying they

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