Ralph Martire

About Me

I am the Arthur Rubloff Endowed Professor of Public Policy at Roosevelt University, and the Executive Director of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability (CTBA). CTBA is a bipartisan 501(c)(3) think tank committed to ensuring that state, federal and local workforce, education, fiscal, economic and budget policies are fair and just, and to promoting opportunity for all, regardless of race, ethnicity or income class. During my time at CTBA, I helped obtain numerous legislative successes (including passage of the Evidence Based Model of Education Funding in FY2018, a state Earned Income Tax Credit, creation of a bipartisan legislative task force to integrate workforce and economic development policies, passage of the 2011 Temporary Tax Increases, corporate accountability legislation that, among other things, requires public reporting of economic development benefits created through receipt of tax breaks and other subsidies, decoupling Illinois tax policy from the federal bonus depreciation rules, and federal repeal of the estate tax).

I was appointed by Governor JB Pritzker to serve on his Budget and Innovation Committee. I also served as a member of the Equity and Excellence in Education Commission, established by Congress during the Obama Administration as part of the Civil Rights Division of the Federal Department of Education.

As a faculty member at Roosevelt, I teach a range of courses that cover various aspects of public policy generally, and fiscal and education policy specifically. I am also helping build a new Master’s in Public Policy (MPP). I have taught tax policy seminars for the International Fulbright Scholar Program, the National Labor College, and the national Women in Government lecture series. I have been featured as a tax policy expert for numerous television and radio news programs such as WTTW (the Chicago PBS affiliate) and WPWR (the Chicago NPR affiliate). I serve as a regular columnist for the State Journal-Register and the Daily Herald on issues involving education, government accountability, tax, fiscal and budget policies.

Please read my more detailed bio.