I have fond memories of riding my mountain bike in the hills of Busse Woods as a child. My godfather, Sean Costin, is an experimental bike designer and has set world records in racing recumbent bicycles. I even continue to watch the Tour de France in the post-Lance Armstrong era. I love bikes. But my love for bikes...
In July 2012, the Illinois Policy Institute revealed research detailing the great lengths Illinoisans would have to take to find out how an elected official voted during committee. To find this information, they would either have: stream the committee online, attend the committee hearing or access committee transcripts, which are often published months after a committee was...
When families in Illinois need to tighten their belts, cable TV is often one of the first expenses to go. A state nearing bankruptcy should do the same. The Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) racked up a cable bill of $2,261,009 between July 2010 and June 2012. Popular channels included in this bill were MTV,...
Many local voters didn’t realize it, but residents of Westmont, Ill., made history during last week’s election. By a vote of 51.5 percent to 48.5 percent, Westmont became the first Illinois community to repeal a municipality’s home rule power in 29 years. The last repeal happened in Rockford in 1983. Westmont automatically became a home rule...
In March of this year, state Rep. Derrick Smith was charged with accepting a bribe of $7,000 in exchange for supporting a grant for a fictional day care operator in an undercover FBI sting. The legislature expelled Smith from the legislature in August, but after Tuesday night’s elections it appears that Smith will return to the Legislature...
With a track length of nearly 3.1 miles, taxpayers are looking at footing a cost of almost $110 million per mile.
Since the city of Chicago began Illinois
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Last week, Citizens Against Government Waste, or CAGW, named Gov. Pat Quinn their September “Porker of the Month.” This monthly “award” is given to politicians and public officials who have “shown a blatant disregard for the interests of taxpayers.” As we’ve previously reported, Gov. Quinn’s fiscal year 2012 budget floated the idea of having the federal government guarantee the...
Recently, the Institute released the results of transparency audits of 26 northern Illinois counties as part of the Local Transparency Project. Kane County earned the highest grade and became the first county in Illinois to score a 100%, on the Institute’s 10-Point Transparency Checklist. Here is a picture of Kane County’s Transparency Team who was responsible for...
A letter to the editor from Illinois Policy Institute's Director of Government Reform, Brian Costin, on issue of local government transparency in Lee County.
This time the alleged corruption comes from West Harvey-Dixmoor School District 147. Retired superintendent, Alex Boyd, is accused of,“fraudulently cashing out about $350,000 worth of sick and vacation time and racking up $57,000 in unauthorized credit card charges.” Also, board member Mable Chapman is accused of, “helping Boyd bilk the district while having family members hired by...
The national food stamp program was originally designed to provide nutritional foods for folks who can
By a vote 100-6 State Rep. Derrick Smith (D-Chicago) has been expelled from the Illinois House of Representatives.