Illinoisans may elect who goes to the House of Representatives, but they don’t choose their representation – at least not in any meaningful sense. The power belongs to Madigan. And he represents himself.
The Illinois auditor general found the Illinois Lottery in violation of a state finance law for paying $20 million to ensure that, even in the absence of a state budget, Illinois could continue to participate in the Mega Millions and Powerball games.
Illinois’ new program to create driver’s licenses and state ID cards with enhanced security features has generated concerns over the possibility of identity theft and government tracking of private citizens.
In Illinois, politicians pick their voters.
Illinois motorists have paid more than $6.5 million this year for failing to renew vehicle license plates on time, more than double the amount collected in the same four-month span last year.
Madigan has been in office since 1971 and has served as Illinois House speaker for 31 of the past 33 years.
DuPage County is projected to save millions of dollars through government-consolidation authority it has enjoyed for years. Now, the Illinois House of Representatives has voted in favor of a bill that would expand these capabilities to all counties statewide.
House Bill 5522 would require local governments and school districts in Illinois to maintain websites with links to vital public information such as budgets, expenditures and officials’ names and numbers.
Local government transparency, local government consolidation and criminal justice reform gain traction despite politicized legislature.
Several instances of corruption and mismanagement of public property and trust came to light in March and included new developments in cases involving Chicago Public Schools’ former CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett and former Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
After returning from vacation, Illinois lawmakers will operate under rapidly approaching deadlines to pass legislation.
Chicago recently became the fourth city to ban smokeless tobacco at ballparks, and is home to the nation’s highest tobacco tax.
Illinoisans’ confidence in their state government is the lowest of residents of any state in the nation, and corruption stories from February 2016 don’t help.
Illinois Policy Action has been busy advancing its 2016 Legislative Agenda, arguing for bills that make local- government operations more transparent to residents, and promote efficiency.