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Speaker Welch got union power into Illinois Constitution, now his workers use it against him

By Mailee Smith
06/03/2024
Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch supported the so-called workers’ rights amendment but won’t recognize his own staff’s union. That union has now filed suit.

TAGS: Chris Welch

Government union power unleashed on Illinois House speaker

By Mailee Smith
09/14/2023
Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch – who supported an Illinois constitutional amendment granting government unions unprecedented power – is reportedly refusing to meet with a union seeking to represent his own staff.

TAGS: Chris Welch

‘Transparency’ on Illinois legislative maps begins behind closed doors

05/07/2021
Democratic state lawmakers were given a private look at new Illinois House district maps. Partisan legislative maps and gerrymandering seem to be surviving ‘transparency.’

TAGS: Chris Welch, fair maps, JB Pritzker, legislative district, transparency

Illinois corruption reforms gain momentum with Madigan gone

By Joe Tabor
03/04/2021
With Mike Madigan out as Illinois House speaker, state lawmakers have a unique opportunity to turn around the second-most corrupt state in the country. Ethics proposals are gaining support.

TAGS: Chris Welch, corruption, ethics, Mike Madigan, resignation

Speaker Welch says Illinois’ financial disclosure forms are ‘worthless’

By Joe Tabor
03/02/2021
The new speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives referred to state lawmakers’ statements of economic interest forms as confusing and a ‘worthless piece of document.’ They can be fixed.

TAGS: Chris Welch, conflict of interest, financial disclosure

Illinois House speaker unwilling to take voters’ ‘no’ on ‘fair tax’ for an answer

By Adam Schuster
02/25/2021
Just more than three months after voters soundly rejected a progressive state income tax, new Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch is trying to revive the idea as a fix for state pensions. There is a better solution than the failed ‘fair tax’ scheme.

TAGS: Chris Welch, progressive income tax

With Madigan out, now is the time to reform the House Rules

By Joe Tabor
02/09/2021
The House Rules allowed Madigan to accumulate unprecedented power in the Illinois speaker’s office and helped enable a culture of corruption in Springfield. With Madigan out, reformers have a shot at changing the House Rules.

TAGS: Chris Welch, corruption, house rules, Mike Madigan

Madigan’s reign ends as longest-serving legislative leader in U.S. history

By Austin Berg
01/13/2021
Illinoisans watched the politically impossible become the politically inevitable.

TAGS: Chris Welch, corruption, House Speaker, Illinois House of Representatives, Mike Madigan

Emails detail Madigan’s use of ComEd as crony job service

12/02/2020
Emails between indicted former employees of ComEd show hiring at the company was based on what Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan wanted.

TAGS: Chris Welch, corruption, Eddie Acevedo, Kathleen Willis, Michael McClain, Mike Madigan

Term limits popular with local voters, but Illinois state lawmakers try to blunt reforms

By Vincent Caruso
01/02/2019
Since 2014 alone, voters in 11 suburban Cook County communities approved term limits on elected leaders. A bill in the Illinois General Assembly seeks to curb those reforms.

TAGS: Chris Welch, harvey, Sam McCann, term limits

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Center for Poverty Solutions / Research Report

Beyond degrees: Empowering Illinoisans through career-first education


Published June 3, 2025 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The best path to empowerment and success, especially for poor people, is work. Work allows us to prosper while providing dignity, upward mobility, the means to support ourselves and create value for others. It’s how we become thriving members of our community. Central to this process is our education...

View Report

Report Archive

Budget + Tax / Your Story

Allan Luzbetak

Labor / Policy Point

Process for unionizing non-state workers raises red flags

By Paul Kersey
06/19/2014
Illinois Policy In the News

CBS Chicago: Illinois’ highest-paid superintendent receives $400K per year to oversee 1,200 students

By Ted Dabrowski
05/02/2016

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