An investigation in December 2017 found that a convention for municipalities and public agencies ran taxpayers nearly $120,000 in exhibition and hospitality costs. A proposal making its way through the General Assembly would bar state funds from contributing to these excesses.

House members won't return to the Statehouse until the second week of April.

House Bill 4273 would eliminate a loophole in state law that allows lawmakers to receive a month's pay for a day of work.

Spending has consistently outpaced state tax revenues in Illinois for more than a decade. To avoid future tax hikes, Illinois must impose real fiscal discipline on state lawmakers.

Illinois is broke. But leaders don’t act like it.

The Taxpayer Fiscal Charter Act would demand funding transparency before spending bills make their way out of Springfield.

With statewide elections in November, the 2018 forecast calls for gridlock.

Illinois lawmakers passed hundreds of bills in 2017, but enacted no real reforms to boost the state’s economy, rein in the cost of government or provide relief to taxpayers.

Thirty-three state representatives and senators will not be returning in the next General Assembly in 2019.