Hilary Gowins

Chicago

Contributor at City Journal

i heard everyone's really nice here.

Articles

Editorial: Illinois’ spending plan is divorced from its fiscal reality

Jun 3, 2024 | illinoispolicy.org | Hilary Gowins

The state has enormous debts, and state leaders must pay it down or legally restructure obligations. Until they do, the painful reality is we can’t afford new spending. Fact: Illinois is sitting on $140 billion in pension debt, and that’s the conservative estimate. Despite spending $11.6 billion on pensions in this year’s budget, we are failing to keep the systems afloat.
Op-Ed: Illinois public schools lose 127,000 students since pandemic

May 29, 2024 | thecentersquare.com | Hilary Gowins

Recent NBC News analysis found 87% of American children were enrolled in public school in 2022, compared to 90.7% in 2012. That trend holds true closer to home, too. Here in Illinois, enrollment in our public schools has dropped from 1.98 million in 2019 to 1.85 million in the 2022-2023 school year, the latest data available. It’s clear the number of kids enrolled in public schools in Illinois continues to decline.
Editorial: Illinois public schools lose 127,000 students since pandemic

May 27, 2024 | illinoispolicy.org | Hilary Gowins

As public school enrollment continues to drop, Illinois faces the prospect of a smaller future workforce. Recent NBC News analysis found 87% of children were enrolled in public school in 2022, compared to 90.7% in 2012. That trend holds true closer to home, too. Here in Illinois, enrollment in our public schools has dropped from 1.98 million in 2019 to 1.85 million in the 2022-2023 school year, the latest data available.
Editorial: Illinois’ very slow COVID-19 recovery painted as a win by state leaders

May 19, 2024 | illinoispolicy.org | Hilary Gowins

State leaders issued a report touting Illinois’ abandonment of representational government in favor of executive fiat during the pandemic as effective. They failed to take responsibility for job recovery lagging the nation by a year and seeing public schools suffer. Illinois was one of the last states in the country to end COVID-19 executive orders.
Editorial: State lawmakers in Springfield pass bill to cut off competition in 78 races

May 5, 2024 | illinoispolicy.org | Hilary Gowins

Why did SB 2412 need to pass on May 2, in the middle of the election cycle, weeks after the primary election but still well ahead of the November general election? Many candidates had already started the complicated process of petition gathering and paperwork under the old rules. What justifies changing those rules in the middle of the game? Who’s afraid of a little competition? In Illinois politics, the answer seems to be: Incumbent state lawmakers.
Editorial: Chicago Teachers Union leaders flip-flop on taxpayer-funded stadiums

Apr 30, 2024 | illinoispolicy.org | Hilary Gowins

Chicago Teachers Union leadership opposed publicly funded stadiums in 2013. That’s changed: Chicago’s mayor is pushing a Bears football stadium deal needing billions in tax subsidies. And his pals in CTU leadership have yet to speak out about it. Plans to create a completely modern megacampus for the Chicago Bears look fantastic. There’s one hiccup, and it’s a big one: The deal likely requires billions of dollars from taxpayers.
Editorial: Chicago Public Schools’ chronic absenteeism worst of 5 largest districts

Apr 18, 2024 | illinoispolicy.org | Hilary Gowins

Chronic absenteeism has been bad across the nation since the pandemic, but in Chicago it’s worse. That hurts students’ futures and the city’s wellbeing. Chicago Public Schools’ chronic absenteeism problem improved from 2022 to 2023, but only slightly. CPS’s chronic absenteeism is the worst among the country’s largest districts. In Chicago, 40% of students missed at least 18 days of school last school year – unexcused.
Chicago crime: Assaults up 7% for year, as women targeted

Apr 11, 2024 | illinoispolicy.org | Jon Josko |Hilary Gowins

Assaults were up 7% for the year ended in March. Black Chicagoans were 5 times more likely to be assaulted, with Black women assaulted nearly as often as Black men – a much higher rate than women of other races. There’s a disturbing trend of targeted violence. Chicago’s total assaults during the past year through March increased from the previous 12 months, from 21,416 to 22,948 – a 7.15% increase.
Editorial: Data can build understanding, help solve Chicago’s crime problem

Mar 26, 2024 | illinoispolicy.org | Hilary Gowins

Violent crime in Chicago increased by 11.5% in 2023, but the city’s arrest rate dropped compared with 2022. Crime is Chicago’s biggest problem now, but city leaders have become seemingly tolerant of crime. You get what you tolerate. Officials cheer at headlines telling us shootings and homicides were down in 2023 compared with 2022, but we forget murders and shootings were still way up compared with where we were a decade ago or compared to other big cities.
Editorial: Voters send loud message to Mayor Johnson, his Chicago Teachers Union allies

Mar 19, 2024 | illinoispolicy.org | Hilary Gowins

In 2020, 70% of Chicago voters approved the failed statewide progressive income tax. But on March 19, they rejected Mayor Brandon Johnson’s real estate transfer tax hike. This is a resounding defeat for Johnson and his allies in the Chicago Teachers Union. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s “Bring Chicago Home” tax hike failed on March 19.

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Hilary

Hilary @hilarygowins

17 Apr 22

RT @CityJournal: In 2022, Chicago’s pension costs occupy more than $2.3 billion of the city’s budget, or 21.4 percent of the city’s own sou…

Hilary

Hilary @hilarygowins

15 Feb 22

Tax credit scholarships help lift kids out of poverty. They should stick around for good. - me in @Suntimes @illinoispolicy https://t.co/gZa5cwQBSv #SchoolChoice

Hilary

Hilary @hilarygowins

11 Feb 22

Working on a new #linkedin post stay tuned https://t.co/Se8mrSrTNZ