Illinoisans pay 2nd-highest local government fines, fees in nation

By Dylan Sharkey

02/08/2023

Illinoisans gave up $50 on average to fines and fees last year. That’s the second-most in the nation and almost double the U.S. average.

TAGS: fees, local government

Illinois cities take on more debt to cope with pensions

04/14/2022

Pension deficits are causing communities to consider more borrowing – and gambling with the proceeds – as pensions continue to consume bigger shares of budgets.

TAGS: Illinois, local government, pension obligation bonds

Bill fights Illinois corruption with online access to government spending, records

By Justin Carlson

04/19/2021

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.

TAGS: corruption, government spending, Illinois, local government, transparency

Those closest to a disaster tend to show best how to respond

By Brad Weisenstein

03/27/2020

The individual choices we make every day will curb or aggravate the pandemic. And the policies we collectively pursue will either let us bounce back or aggravate the economic disaster.

TAGS: coronavirus, COVID-19, local government

After $1B in tickets and 4 corruption indictments, Illinois should shutter the red-light camera industry

By Austin Berg

01/30/2020

With a federal corruption probe burrowing deeper into Springfield, the Illinois General Assembly has only one choice when it comes to the future of a red-light camera industry that has infected nearly 100 communities statewide: shut it down.

TAGS: bribery, Chicago, corruption, David McSweeney, fees, fines, IDOT: Illinois Department of Transportation, ILGA: Illinois General Assembly, Illinois, John Bills, local government, Martin O'Malley, Martin Sandoval, Mike Madigan, red light cameras, Redflex Traffic Systems, SafeSpeed, Springfield

Illinois township pensioners have collected nearly $300M over past 20 years

08/21/2018

While often regarded as a duplicative and unnecessary unit of government, former township employees in Illinois have banked more than $273 million in pension benefits since 1998.

TAGS: local government, local government consolidation, municipal pensions, pensions, property taxes, townships

Hog-tied: Illinois state law not equipped to address local governments’ pension problems

By Joe Tabor

07/23/2018

Avenues for state oversight for cities with financial difficulties have limited utility in the face of massive pension debt and have almost never been invoked since Springfield passed them into law in 1990.

TAGS: bankruptcy, East St. Louis, Financially Distressed City Law, local government, Local Government Financial Planning and Supervision Act, municipal pensions, pensions

Algonquin Township denies taxpayers the choice to consolidate road district

07/17/2018

A new law gives townships the option to let voters abolish their road districts through referendum. But Algonquin Township trustees rejected a resolution that would have given taxpayers that choice.

TAGS: Algonquin Township, Bob Miller, consolidation, local government, local government consolidation

More than 90 local government leaders sign on to letter opposing progressive tax

By Jim Long

05/21/2018

Local government leaders across Illinois are asking their state lawmakers to stand up against House Speaker Mike Madigan’s progressive tax push.

TAGS: local government, Mike Madigan, progressive income tax, taxes

Former Vernon Hills village manager to receive $161K severance package

By Vincent Caruso

04/20/2018

While details surrounding the ex-official’s separation with the village remain undisclosed to the public, trustees’ approval of his $161,000 severance package went unobstructed.

TAGS: local government, municipal pensions, pensions, salaries

Unlocking Opportunity: How Occupational Licensing Reform Would Promote Equitable Empowerment in Illinois

Illinois finds itself at a crossroads: will it empower minorities and poor people to unleash their potential, or will it perpetuate an inequitable status quo? For far too many Illinoisans, opportunity is unfairly and unnecessarily out of reach. Illinois ranks in the bottom ten among all states in social mobility and last among Midwest states...

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Unlocking Opportunity: How Occupational Licensing Reform Would Promote Equitable Empowerment in Illinois

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Martin Sahagun

Process for unionizing non-state workers raises red flags

CBS Chicago: Illinois’ highest-paid superintendent receives $400K per year to oversee 1,200 students