Northwest Herald: Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner, lawmakers unveil government consolidation bills
Gov. Bruce Rauner and like-minded lawmakers unveiled four proposed pieces of legislation Friday aimed at helping reduce the state’s 7,000 units of government.
The McHenry County Board’s travails last year during an unsuccessful township consolidation initiative played a significant role in the developing of one of them.
The legislation is the first inspired by the final report released last month from the Task Force on Consolidation and Unfunded Mandates chaired by Lt. Gov. Evelyn Sanguinetti. The report, which included a 27-point action plan, concluded that the sheer number of taxing bodies and the unfunded mandates imposed on them by Springfield play a significant role in the state’s high property taxes.
Chicago Tribune: Chicago Stock Exchange to be sold to Chinese-led investor group
The Chicago Stock Exchange said a Chinese investor group agreed to acquire it, giving the buyer entry into the intensely competitive U.S. equity market.
Chongqing Casin Enterprise Group has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the company, according to a statement Friday, which didn’t give financial terms. The exchange said the deal is expected to close in the second half of the year, though that will require regulatory approval.
“We’re a good fit. Our strategy is something they like and is consistent with theirs,” Chicago Stock Exchange Chief Executive Officer John Kerin said in a phone interview. “We provide technology and we’re a standalone, full-service exchange that they can grow in a manner that suits their needs.”
Illinois Times: School choice, another Statehouse battlefront
Gov. Bruce Rauner loves school choice so much he devoted an entire week to it.
Rauner named Jan. 24 through 30 “School Choice Week” in Illinois to promote a popular concept in education reform, but the push for school choice leaves public schools nervous.
“School choice” refers to allowing students to opt out of normal public schools in favor of alternative options. The idea, which first took firm root in the 1990s, promises efficiency and innovative approaches to education.
DNA Info: Chicago Police Solved Just 26 Percent of the City's 472 Homicides in 2015
In 2015, the percentage of murders solved by Chicago Police tumbled to a near-record low, and gunmen who shot and wounded people escaped charges 94 percent of the time, a DNAinfo Chicago analysis of police data shows.
Chicago’s homicide total hit 472 last year, and detectives solved just 123 of those cases— a 26 percent clearance rate, according to the data.
That’s nearly a 3 percentage point drop in murder clearances compared to 2014, when police solved 28.6 percent, or 119, of that year’s 416 murders.
Chicago Tribune: Rauner plans public-private update to I-55 that may add tolls
Gov. Bruce Rauner on Thursday suggested the state should partner with private investors to build special toll lanes along a congested section of the Stevenson Expressway.
If built, the new lanes would span a 25-mile stretch of Interstate 55 between the Veterans Memorial Tollway and the Dan Ryan Expressway. It’s possible carpoolers could use the new lanes for free, the governor said.
Rauner’s idea is to build the new lanes under a public-private partnership model where private contractors would help pay for the construction and recoup their investment by charging tolls. Such an arrangement must be approved by a majority of the General Assembly before it can be pursued.
Chicago Tribune: Chicago's deepening trust deficit
Chicago is suffering from a major deficit, a deficit that affects our lives in too many ways to count.
It’s not a money deficit, though there’s that too. It’s a deficit of trust.
The people don’t trust the police.
Wabash Valley: Leaving Illinois
The lack of change often results in the lack of growth. That’s one main reason many Illinois residents have chosen to leave the land of Lincoln.
In fact, Illinois lost more citizens in 2015, than any other state, in some cases, those departing residents didn’t go very far.
Steve Miller, Chief Financial Officer of Pioneer Oil Company completes work comfortably behind his office desk in Vincennes, the company’s new headquarters. Nearly a year ago, his outlook was different. He was working in Illinois and the company wasn’t as profitable as it is now.