Former Chicago Ald. Ricardo Munoz, appointed by Richard M. Daley, faces federal charges stating he used campaign funds to pay for personal expenses and committed money laundering. Over 30 Chicago aldermen have been convicted or charged with corruption.
Chicago Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson, related to both Mayor Daleys, faces federal charges stating he filed false tax returns and lied about $219,000 in payments from a neighborhood bank. Over 30 Chicago aldermen have been convicted or charged with corruption.
Chicago’s public health commissioner said residents are not required to get vaccinated against COVID-19 – unless they want to attend summer events. City spending nearly $10 million to reach more neighborhoods with vaccines and close racial gaps.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker promised on the campaign trail and repeatedly after that, including earlier this year, to end partisan gerrymandering of political maps. Now he says, ‘Nevermind.’ He trusts lawmakers.
“It’s so unacceptable that people are sitting, waiting for money and starving. In the meantime, we also face the [second-highest] property taxes in the nation. We’re getting creamed on every aspect in Illinois.”
New federal corruption charges state a former Illinois House member conspired to use bribes to get a red-light traffic camera contract renewed and more of them installed in a suburban Chicago community. Traffic cameras collected $5.5 million during a decade in the suburb.
The Illinois General Assembly busies itself with limiting balloon releases and regulating pitchfork fishing along highways when ethics reform is the need in a state with a rich history of corruption.
The Illinois House unanimously passed a bill intended to help make Chicago and Illinois a hub for financial technology companies.
Illinois state representatives almost unanimously voted to stop legislative leaders from again building a 36-year dynasty like former Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan. The Illinois House passed a 10-year term limit on party leaders in both the Illinois House and Senate.
Oct. 1 deadline looms even as five Chicago-area driver’s service centers have remained closed for a year and 1.2 million licenses and IDs have expired.
Chicago’s longest-serving alderman, Ed Burke, tried to extort redevelopers of the old West Loop post office and others. They said there was no need to entrap Burke because his hand was regularly out.
State workers are still being paid as their five Chicago-area driver’s license facilities remain closed for nearly a year. That’s as 1.2 million Illinoisans are driving on expired licenses.
A recent comprehensive analysis found the real number of government units in Illinois is 30% higher than the U.S. Census Bureau’s count. Too many government units mean too many taxes.
Putting the public’s business on public display can help Illinois reform its culture of corruption and control government waste. An Illinois House bill will put more local government records online.