By Justin Hegy
03/28/2014
On March 23, a Chicago Transit Authority operator crashed a Blue Line train into the O’Hare National Airport terminal. The train hopped the tracks and smashed into an escalator at 2:50 a.m., injuring more than 30 passengers. Union representatives said the operator “works a lot of overtime” and was “extremely tired.” The operator admitted to...
Chicago and state politicians have ignored the city’s growing pension crisis for nearly two decades. But with the recent onslaught of credit downgrades, billion-dollar budget deficits and comparisons to Detroit, the city’s problem has become impossible to ignore. Chicago’s slide toward bankruptcy now threatens the city’s status as an economic powerhouse, as well as the...
TAGS: Chicago, Rahm Emanuel
When Mayor Rahm Emanuel went to SXSW to pitch Chicago as a destination city, he touted the city’s buzz. There’s no denying Chicago’s arts and tech scene is on the rise. But Emanuel failed to tell Austin crowds there’s a buzzkill on the way – the city’s fiscal collapse. Chicago continued its decline when two of...
TAGS: Chicago Park District, CPS: Chicago Public Schools, credit rating
By Justin Hegy
02/27/2014
Remember in 2011 when Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said he was going to get “deadbeat” city workers to pay up on unpaid parking tickets, fees and fines? Back then, he threated lengthy suspensions or termination. Emanuel scolded workers, stating “the free ride is over for everybody.” It turns out public unions are making this a lot...
TAGS: Chicago, labor, parking violations, Rahm Emanuel, unions
By Benjamin VanMetre
09/17/2013
The city of Chicago has long been regarded as an economic engine of the Midwest. It is home to some of the country’s largest industries and more than 30 of the nation’s Fortune 500 companies. Chicago is accessible by road, rail and water, and is located in a state that boasts an abundance of natural...
By Ted Dabrowski
07/26/2013
In what’s become a torrent of bad news regarding Illinois’ fiscal health, Moody’s Investors Service has downgraded Chicago Public Schools’ $6.3 billion general obligation debt one notch. The credit rating agency’s outlook remains negative, and CPS debt is now just four levels above junk bond status. The CPS ranking drop to A3 from A2 follows recent downgrades...
by Katherine Casey Taxpayer-funded state lobbying is once again on the rise in Illinois. As the Illinois Policy Institute noted earlier this year in its 2011-2012 Illinois Legislators’ Guide to the Issues, a lack of transparency still plagues the topic of lobbying across the state. Unknown to many citizens, “state-level lobbying” has quickly seeped its way into towns and...
By Chris Andriesen
11/30/2010
by Kate Piercy Free rides aren’t so free: According to a report from the University of Illinois, the free-rides program initiated and sent through the legislature by former Gov. Rod Blagojevich costs the CTA, Metra and Pace between $38 million and $116 million last year. On top of this, “Thousands of fraudulent free rides have been...
by Wesley Fox The Illinois Policy Institute has proposed greater transparency in taxpayer-funded lobbying, including reports on state and local government expenditures on lobbyists. The Daily Herald has found another good reason for transparency. According to the Daily Herald, the Regional Transit Authority (RTA), Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), Pace and Metra spent more than $12.8 million on...
A report from the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform found that taxpayers paid lobbyists nearly $6.4 million to influence their own state government last year.
