The Chicago Teachers Union is under fire from within, and the union has been forced to make changes to its election filings or risk violating state law. The union has been front and center with its support of one of its own, Brandon Johnson, as a candidate for Chicago mayor. The big bucks and election actions are now causing some CTU members to speak out.

A Chicago Teachers Union political action committee has donated more than $1 million to Johnson’s mayoral campaign, and union leadership is all in on Johnson, who is a paid CTU officer and Cook County commissioner.

Less than two weeks before the federal ComEd Four bribery conspiracy trial, prosecutors revealed in a court filing that a confidant of former Speaker Michael Madigan was interviewed twice by federal authorities before the probe became public about his use of code words to refer to the longtime House leader.

The first interview of Michael McClain, the speaker’s friend and ComEd lobbyist, came in August 2014, the same month that Madigan was secretly recorded by an FBI informant at his law firm discussing a desire to secure property tax business with a Chinatown developer, the filing shows.

As Gov. J.B. Pritzker tours the state touting his proposed early childhood investments, some Republican lawmakers say taxpayers are not getting a good return for their money.

In his latest budget proposal, Pritzker wants to spend $250 million in early childhood education programs, and another $100 million on facilities. In the next school year, the program would add an additional 5,000 preschool spots across the state. He said a University of Chicago study shows it is a worthwhile investment.

Illinois has a reputation of being a high tax state and one that is losing population, but is that a reality?

According to one website, it absolutely is.

Facing what he called a “funding cliff,” Regional Transportation Authority Chairman Kirk Dillard is calling for more public funding over the next several years.

The RTA will see a $730 million gap in operating funds by 2025 as federal COVID-19 relief dollars run out, Dillard said.