In the Chicago metropolitan area, like many other cities, transportation is a key issue. But will large tax increases fix what's wrong? The Illinois Policy Institute successfully argued against a plan offered up in the Land of Lincoln. Greg Blankenship, president of the Institute, tells this story:

Sometimes the difference between a good think tank and a successful think tank comes down to taking action. Over the past month, the Illinois Policy Institute has been heavily engaged in fighting a Chicago Transit Authority bailout that included a sales tax increase in six Chicago suburban communities.

As a non-profit think tank, our job is to educate activists, policymakers, the press and the general public. Over the course of this tax fight, we did just that:

• The Institute targeted state representatives who were being pressured to vote for the tax increase and called more than 30,000 voters in their districts to urge them to contact their legislators.
• We spread the word to leaders of Americans for Tax Reform, who contacted key members of the Transportation Committee to oppose the tax hike.
• We also notified our friends at the National Taxpayers Union, who subsequently sent out 16,000 emails to their Illinois membership urging their members to oppose this tax increase.
• Our team drafted and placed two op-eds explaining the impending tax hike and its implications.
• We informed both the State Republican Party and House Minority Leader Tom Cross on our strategies to educate policymakers, the public and the press on the threat this tax posed.

Finally, we hit the airwaves on one of Chicago's most popular talk radio stations, WLS. Both CEO John Tillman (you can hear his interview here) and President Greg Blankenship went on the air to flesh out the real issues behind the tax hike and to expose its inconsistencies and flaws.

In the end, our efforts prevailed: Speaker Madigan did not get the mass transit sales tax increase passed. He stated he could get to 71 votes. The Illinois Policy Institute, together with our allies, proved him wrong.

All too often we hear how Illinois is a lost cause. We disagree. Those who love liberty can take principled stands and win in Illinois. We aim to keep working to do so.