Report Exposes How Taxpayers Bear Cost of Corporate Settlements
A report released today spotlights a common practice where corporations that commit wrongdoing and agree to financial settlements with the federal government, go on to claim such settlement payments as...
View ArticleTestimony before the Illinois Campaign Finance Reform Task Force
Testimony by Anu Dathan at a hearing by the Campaign Finance Reform Task Force on January 17, 2013. The hearing was part of the Task Force's study of the role of SuperPACs in Illinois elections. The...
View ArticleChicago Receives a Grade of “A” for Spending Transparency
Chicago received a grade of “A” for conventional budgetary transparency, according to a new report released today by Illinois PIRG, but more work remains to be done to make TIF and privatization...
View ArticleOffshore Tax Dodging Blows a $2.5 Billion Hole in Illinois’ Budget
With Illinois in the midst of a budget crisis, the Illinois PIRG Education Fund, joined by the Small Business Advocacy Council; Gail Glasser, a small business owner; and the Chicago Political Economy...
View ArticleNew Report: Illinois Receives an “A-” in Annual Report on Transparency of...
Illinois received an “A-” when it comes to government spending transparency, according to “Following the Money 2013: How the States Rank on Providing Online Access to Government Spending Data,” the...
View ArticleOffshore Tax Havens Cost Average Illinois Taxpayer $1,058 a Year, Illinois...
With Tax Day approaching, it’s a good time to be reminded of where our tax dollars are going. Illinois PIRG released a new study that revealed the average Illinois taxpayer in 2012 would have to...
View ArticleReduction in Driving Likely to Continue
As the average number of miles driven by Americans heads into its eighth year of decline, a new report from the Illinois PIRG Education Fund finds that the slowdown in driving is likely to continue.
View ArticleNew Report Documents a Decade of Safety Violations by Compounding Pharmacies
The contaminated drug that caused last fall’s fungal meningitis outbreak and killed 55 people is just the tip of the iceberg of an industry-wide problem, according to a new report released today by...
View ArticleSenate Farm Bill Continues Giant Giveaways to Big Agribusiness
Illinois PIRG opposes The Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2013 (S. 954). The farm bill, just passed by the Senate, would keep the gravy train flowing for big agribusiness, locking in their...
View ArticleBig Pharma’s Pay-for-Delay Deals Take a Hit
Big Pharma’s controversial “pay-for-delay” agreements took a hit today. In FTC v. Actavis, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the FTC’s case against the payoff keeping generic AndroGel from the market...
View ArticleTwenty Top Generic Drugs Delayed by Industry Payoffs
Illinoisans with cancer, heart disease, epilepsy and other conditions have been forced to pay an average of 10 times more than necessary for at least 20 blockbuster drugs, according to a report...
View ArticleAg Subsidies Pay for 20 Twinkies per Taxpayer, But Only Half of an Apple Apiece
Federal subsidies for commodity crops are subsidizing junk food additives like high-fructose corn syrup at a rate that would buy 20 Twinkies for each taxpayer every year, according to a new report by...
View ArticleNew Report Shows Illinoisans are Driving Less
Illinoisans have cut their per-person driving miles by 6.6 percent since 2005, while the nation’s long term driving boom appears to have ended, according to a new report from the Illinois PIRG...
View ArticleJPMorgan Shouldn’t Receive Tax Windfall for London Whale Penalty
Unless regulators forbid JPMorgan Chase from writing off an $800 million settlement as a tax deduction, taxpayers could end up shouldering 35 percent of the cost of the settlement.
View ArticleStudy Finds Technology Enabling Americans to Drive Less
In a first-of-its-kind study, Illinois PIRG compiled nation-wide evidence on transportation apps and vehicle sharing programs – like Divy Bike and Zip Car – and found that these advanced new tools have...
View ArticleIllinois PIRG Education Fund Helps Illinois Students Navigate New Health...
At an event launching the project at University of Illinois in Chicago, Illinois PIRG Education Fund released the new guide, So You Need Health Insurance. Now What? Illinois Health Insurance 101.
View ArticleStatement: JPMorgan Shouldn’t Get Tax Break for “London Whale” Settlement
JPMorgan could get a $35 million tax deduction from its $100 million settlement with Commodity Futures Trading Commission unless the regulator explicitly forbids it.
View ArticleNew Report Identifies Most Troublesome Private Lenders to Students
Thousands of American students are using the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) public Consumer Complaints Database to settle disputes about private student loans, according to a new report...
View ArticleReport: In Illinois, Experian Gets Big Complaints
A new report by Illinois PIRG Education Fund found that the most complained-about credit reporting agency in Illinois is Experian, and that Illinois ranks 27th nationally in credit report complaints...
View ArticleRecord-breaking JPMorgan Settlement Contains Protections for Taxpayers
The Department of Justice Specifically Disallows Tax Deductibility of JPMorgan’s $2 Billion Fine, Allows Deduction for Remainder of Settlement.
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