Good Government

Taxpayers Paying for New Model of Chicago

by Wesley Fox In 2008, the Chicago Architecture Foundation was awarded a $100,000 grant from the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to “assist in the development of the 2008-2009 Special Exhibitions.” According to the DCEO Grant Tracker (Under “Search Grants by Organization” search Chicago Architecture Foundation, Grant #09-335008), the Special Exhibitions will feature a “state-of-the-art scale model...

Chicago Officials Circumvent Competitive Bidding Rules

by Amanda Griffin-Johnson Competitive bidding rules help governments save money, increase transparency, and avoid “pay-to-play” politics. Unfortunately, government officials don’t always play by the rules. The Chicago Tribune reports: City officials circumvented competitive bidding rules to steer a $23 million digital-radio contract to Schaumburg-based Motorola, according to City Hall’s top watchdog and documents obtained by the Tribune. Inspector General...

Fake Reform: The 2010 Illinois Governor Recall Amendment

The Problem Blago, Ryan, Walker—Illinois has a sorry history of crooked governors. Currently, the Illinois General Assembly has a monopoly on the gubernatorial removal process by way of impeachment proceedings. Citizen-initiated recall is one way to vest citizens with the ability to remove corrupt or poorly performing elected officials from office. Unfortunately, the Governor Recall...

By Chris Andriesen

Detroit’s Train to Nowhere?

by Amanda Griffin-Johnson According the 2010 ALEC-Laffer State Economic Competitiveness Index, Michigan ranks 50th for economic performance, 50th for personal income growth per capital, and 50th for job growth. Detroit has lost half of it’s population since 1950 and was the 2009 “murder capital.” Is this the time or place for new light rail construction? From Reason.tv: The Motor City...

Tax Increment Financing: Hidden in Plain Sight

The Problem Although tax increment financing (TIF) has been around for over thirty years, many people do not understand how it works, how it affects their communities or their pocketbooks. Most people have no idea a significant portion of their property taxes are flowing into the hands of real-estate developers instead of their schools, public...

By Kate Campaigne Piercy

What about that $162 million in stimulus money?

by Kate Piercy Although Recovery.gov promised transparency on how the government spends every dollar of stimulus money, USA Today reports “there’s $162 million the website doesn’t disclose,” finding: Recipients of 352 federal stimulus contracts, grants and loans have failed to report how they spent the money, the status of their projects or how many jobs were funded, according...

Spotlight on Spending #14: Illinois’s Urban Fishing Program

The Problem Do you know why there are so many single-parent families in Illinois? Not enough fishing! Believe it or not, that’s part of the rationale behind the Illinois Department of Natural Resources’ Urban Fishing Program. According to the program’s website, “much of Illinois has been transformed from a quiet rural setting into an urban...

By Chris Andriesen

More Corruption in Cook County

Cook County Board President Todd Stroger’s deputy chief of staff, Carla Oglesby, has been accused of rigging contracts. The story in the Chicago Tribune described the details. “A bond hearing is scheduled today for a top aide to Cook County Board President Todd Stroger accused of steering hundreds of thousands of dollars in contracts to her own...

2010 Illinois Capital Bill Piglet Book

The Illinois Policy Institute and Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) released a new report shining the spotlight on state spending: If You Build It, Debt Will Come: A Closer Look at the Illinois Capital Spending Spree. The latest piglet book identifies a series of egregious spending examples included in the $31 billion capital bill that is...

By Chris Andriesen

A CONcrete Example – Policy Changes Lives

“Imagine for a moment that your father, brother or husband had prostate cancer. That is bad enough, of course, but now imagine that they had to unnecessarily wait in long lines to get the most advanced and least invasive treatment possible, or perhaps, not receive this better treatment at all. Or imagine it is your...

Over 20% of State Police Employees Receive $100k+ Salaries

In 2008, the Illinois Dept. of State Police paid 3,520 employees a total of $266,671,219 in wages, which is fourth highest among all departments. What is more interesting is that 730 employees made over $100,000, which is 20.7% of its employees. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the mean wage for state police and sheriff...

Spotlight on Spending #13: ‪Illinois Film Tax Credit Program‬

The Problem Witnessing explosions from the latest Transformers movie on Michigan Avenue and catching glimpses of movie stars like Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie may provide an exciting novelty for Illinois residents. But is it worth the price? Illinois state government offers film production projects generous tax incentives to film within its borders, but the...

By Chris Andriesen

Sell the Executive Mansion?

by Kristina Rasmussen We’ve written about the cost of the Governor’s entourage (you know, your standard retinue of butlers, housemen, and laundresses). Today’s State Journal-Register features a thoughtful letter to the editor on closing the Executive Mansion down as a residence for the governor: In times of economic distress, tough choices have to be made. A family might decide to forego a...

Cook County Board President allegedly violated a ban on political hiring more than 150 times.

by Kate Piercy According to a report from the Chicago Tribune, “the attorney at the center of a long-running lawsuit,” Michael Shakman, told a federal judge Thursday that since the start of 2008, Cook County Board President Todd Stroger violated a ban on political hiring more than 150 times: Stroger’s administration altered the list of jobs not covered...