An ongoing corruption probe targeting Illinois officeholders has shown there’s no unit of government too small to invite the attention of federal investigators.
The Illinois General Assembly passed over 600 new laws in 2019. Some helped taxpayers, but many more hurt as they spent $85 billion while doing little to fix the pension crisis.
Local governments must maintain certain financial records, but not all make it easy for taxpayers to obtain it. A bill headed to the Illinois House floor would put local government financial records online.
The gas the Mautino campaign claims to have purchased over 16 years would equate to more than 35,000 miles every year. The circumference of the earth is 24,901 miles.
Negotiations between government-worker unions and governing bodies are conducted behind closed doors, away from public scrutiny. And yet taxpayers are required to pay for whatever extravagant benefits the unions obtain. Recently a bill in the General Assembly would have brought more transparency – and accountability – to the process, but it failed to make it out of committee.
Chicago’s $1.15 billion projected budget gap is the latest in a decades-long string of structural deficits. Making Chicago’s high taxes worse is not the solution.