In 2013, Brandon Johnson was the Chicago Teachers Union’s deputy political director and was talking about having persuaded members to walk out the previous year in the union’s first strike in decades.

A higher percentage of Illinois small businesses could not pay their rent in full in February.

The small business network Alignable surveyed thousands of business owners from across the country and found that 35% of small businesses in Illinois couldn’t afford their rent last month, the fourth highest in the country.

Early voting in the Chicago municipal election on Feb. 28 was the most popular in city history but day-of voting was described by officials as “sluggish.” In the end, the percentage of registered Chicago voters that turned out to vote was slightly less than recent elections.

Here’s an in-depth look at voter turnout data for the election, including turnout compared to past municipals, turnout levels across the city and what age groups showed up at the highest rates.

Besides electing members of municipal, school and library boards, voters in some communities will decide April 4 whether to fund hundreds of millions in new buildings, facility improvements, amenities and other ballot measures.

In most cases, voter approval would result in an annual property tax increase. Here’s a synopsis of the big-money questions facing voters in next month’s election.

Gov. JB Pritzker made hay in his State of the State address last month by pushing for universal access to preschool for 3 and 4-year-old Illinoisans. Now, a bill moved forward in committee looks at doing the same for kindergarteners.

The Child Care Access and Early Childhood House committee heard arguments last week for and against House Bill 2396, which would require all school boards to establish a full-day kindergarten program in their districts.

The justices of the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments last week in a case that could impact more than 1.5 million people in Illinois with student debt. At issue is the legal standing of President Joe Biden’s loan forgiveness program, which would cancel up to $20,000 in debt for borrowers earning less than $125,000 a year.

One year ago today, former House Speaker Michael Madigan – for decades the most powerful figure in Illinois politics – was indicted on 22 counts of racketeering, bribery, wire fraud and extortion.

The anniversary comes roughly two years after Madigan’s fellow Democrats forced him to cede the title of longest-serving speaker of any legislature in U.S. history. His ouster in January 2021 was followed by his resignation from both the House seat he’d held since 1971 and as chair of the state Democratic Party he’d molded in order to further consolidate power.