The public school district in Jacksonville, Illinois, is criticizing fellow Illinoisans for educating residents about a significant sales-tax increase proposal on the ballot – a tax increase that would drive up the cost of gas, clothes, prepared food, electronics and more. School district officials called the Illinois Policy Institute a “Chicago based” group, when we’re...

In late October, the city of Bloomington enacted one of the most comprehensive local government online transparency ordinances in the state, and taxpayers should be celebrating their officials’ commitment to open honest governing. By adopting an online transparency ordinance, largely based on the Illinois Policy Institute’s 10-Point Transparency Checklist, Bloomington is taking the strongest possible action...

At least 84 corruption-related stories have been reported from across the state of Illinois in August alone. Atop August headlines is the recent revelation that a federal grand jury subpoenaed the emails of Gov. Pat Quinn’s ex-chief of staff in relation to Quinn’s anti-violence grant program. The case, which has been referred to by some...

The bad news keeps piling up for Illinoisans. Illinois Policy’s “corruption watch” blog series hit a new high in the month of July with nearly 100 corruption-related stories. Chicago and Springfield are the two cities most synonymous with the state’s corruption woes. Unsurprisingly, both cities dominated headlines with the top two corruption stories of the...

Unfortunately for taxpayers, June was a groundbreaking month for corruption in Illinois. In June alone, there were reports of 85 corruption-related stories in the state. Some of the record-breaking highlights include the following: For the first time in 33 years, the Illinois Legislative Audit Commission exercised its subpoena powers in the issuance of a subpoena...