The initiative is called the Illinois Secure Choice Savings Program. Through the program, signed into law (SB 2758) by former Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn in January 2015, workers at businesses in operation for at least two years with 25 or more...
By Ellyn Fortino Saving for retirement could get much easier for more than a million private-sector Illinois workers next year under a first-in-the-nation state program that is in the works. The initiative is called the Illinois Secure Choice Savings Program. Through...
Last year, Woodstock worked closely with the Responsible Business Lending Coalition to develop a Small Business Borrower Bill of Rights (BBOR). The BBOR was intended to establish best practices for the industry, including, for example, the responsibility to disclose...
Predatory Lending and Small Business Senate Hearing 1-25-16 FINAL.pdf Presented by Spencer Cowan at the Illinois Senate Hearing on small business and and impact of predatory lending.
Small Businesses and Lack of Access to Capital Testimony Final 160125.pdf Testimony of Spencer Cowan before the Senate Financial Institutions Committee. In this testimony Cowan discussed the lack of access to capital for many small businesses in Illinois and the...
By Peter Rudegeair, Emily Glazer, and Ruth Simon J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. spent about $8 billion this year on technology. But when it came to developing a new online loan for small business, the bank turned to an unlikely outsider. Early next...
It is estimated that 2.5 million Illinois workers do not have access to a retirement savings program. Retirement savings are increasingly important to a retirees’ economic security considering that other sources of income – earnings, assets, and Social Security...
Comment-Letter-regarding-State-Savings-Arrangements-Safe-Harbor Woodstock Institute strongly supports creating a safe harbor for employers that are mandated to participate in state-established and administered automatic enrollment payroll deduction retirement savings programs, and we encourage the DOL to expand the safe harbor to employers...
A year ago, Illinois became the first state in the nation to pass a law to address that looming retirement crisis. Spurred, in part, by Woodstock Institute research that showed that 2.5 million private-sector workers in Illinois lacked access...
In a Crain’s Chicago Business story this week, Dowling stated that the Illinois Insurance Department is aware of the use of price optimization by Illinois insurers but will not take steps to protect consumers because “there is no agreed-upon...