State workers are still being paid as their five Chicago-area driver’s license facilities remain closed for nearly a year. That’s as 1.2 million Illinoisans are driving on expired licenses.

Government corruption is nothing new for Illinoisans. Illinois is the second-most corrupt state in the nation, according to research by the University of Illinois-Chicago. And corruption costs the state economy more than $550 million per year. What is new? Powerful Illinois lawmakers, Chicago aldermen, local mayors and business interests are involved in what appears to be...

One of the state’s poorest communities is already facing enormous financial pressures.