Get the latest news from around Illinois.
Chicago Sun-Times: Madigan: No role for Arroyo in picking his replacement
Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan is putting the kibosh on plans by former state Rep. Luis Arroyo, who faces criminal charges, to help choose his own Springfield replacement.
Madigan on Monday sent letters to the nine Democratic committeemen tasked with voting on Arroyo’s General Assembly replacement, warning that “any involvement by the 36th Ward — whether a direct vote or a vote by proxy would cause the candidate’s qualifications to be challenged by the full Illinois House of Representatives.”
Chicago Tribune: Could CPS teachers go back on strike? That’s possible if the union ratification vote fails
Page by page, hundreds of educators from all over Chicago debated the merits of their tentative contract agreement in a hall named after Jacqueline Vaughn, who led the Chicago Teachers Union through its longest strike ever in 1987.
At the end of the 2½-hour meeting Oct. 30, described by those in the room as “raucous” and “intense,” 364 union delegates voted by standing up to recommend the document and suspend the strike short of the 19-day record, if Mayor Lori Lightfoot agreed to make up the school days missed because of the walkout. A sergeant-at-arms recorded each vote with a clicker.
Associated Press: Lobbying by sitting Illinois lawmakers under scrutiny
A federal bribery charge against an Illinois state legislator has led to questions about whether lawmakers should be allowed to lobby other units of government.
The federal bribery charge last month against former Rep. Luis Arroyo laid bare the potential ethics tangle. Most states allow lawmakers to lobby outside state government, and Illinois isn’t even the least restrictive. Eighteen states, including California, have no restrictions on such lobbying.
Chicago Tribune: Calls for reform in Springfield amid scandal are nothing new: ‘It’s deja vu all over again’
It’s a pattern that’s repeated itself over the years when scandal strikes Illinois state government: Corruption is exposed and a burst of reform proposals is floated in response.
The flurry of ethics legislation proposed after lawmakers returned to Springfield last week against the backdrop of a far-reaching federal corruption probe recalls previous calls for reform that include what happened in 2009 following the arrest and impeachment of Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
Chicago Tribune: Mayor Lori Lightfoot will head to Springfield to urge Illinois lawmakers for help landing a Chicago casino
Mayor Lori Lightfoot is heading to Springfield on Tuesday in hopes of eking out a deal to make a proposed Chicago casino more attractive to potential developers by reducing the cut that would go to the city and state.
Lightfoot will arrive as the legislature reconvenes for its last three scheduled days this year. When legislators began the six-day fall session last month, they were facing two requests from City Hall: fix the casino tax structure and give Chicago permission to implement a graduated tax on high-price real estate transfers.
Daily Herald: Buffalo Grove hopes local gas tax will close gap on road repairs
Buffalo Grove is banking on the belief that the extra pennies paid by drivers filling up at local gas pumps will translate into hundreds of thousands of dollars annually to help the village maintain its streets.
Beginning next year, the village will impose a 2-cents-per-gallon fuel tax. Revenue generated by the tax, approved by trustees last week, will be earmarked for transportation and roadwork.
Crain's Chicago Business: A scandal Illinois lawyers and justices should no longer ignore
Favoring campaign donors in the awarding of government contracts denies fair market access to lawyers who would compete on the basis of merit, thereby increasing the cost and degrading the quality of public services. It also entrenches existing hierarchies of the wealthy and powerful, who can use their deep pockets to capture government resources and freeze out less endowed rivals. Favoring donors in the outcomes of adversary proceedings undermines democracy’s essential premise that legal disputes be decided by the rule of law.