Nearly a year after Illinois lawmakers requested a comprehensive audit of state unemployment fraud during the COVID-19 pandemic, IDES, the state agency in charge of issuing assistance, remains unable to tabulate how much money was lost to scammers.
The proposal to limit red-light cameras in Illinois is making progress as another bill’s sponsor believes she can garner the votes to ban them entirely.
Traffic cameras collected more than $1 billion from drivers since 2008, but corruption probes are prompting state comptroller to stop acting as ticket collection agency.
As the bipartisan backlash against red-light traffic cameras continues to build, a third Illinois state lawmaker has introduced a proposal to ban the controversial devices statewide.
Chicago has more red-light cameras and revenue from them than any other large city in America. The cameras are costly for drivers, create government mistrust and foster corruption.
Red-light cameras are taking more and more money from Illinois motorists. But dubious safety benefits, a cloud of corruption and a bipartisan bill in Springfield may combine to take them off the streets.
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.