Chicago aldermen had until Sept. 2 to reject a roughly 10% pay raise for next year. The highest-earning council members will make $142,772 starting Jan. 1, 2023 – more than double the city’s median household income.
Arlington Heights residents want the Chicago Bears to move to town, but nearly 70% of residents surveyed are against using taxpayer dollars to build a new football stadium.
Illinois mandates off-year municipal elections, but they result in lower voter turnout that gives powerful special interest groups more influence and diminishes local voters’ concerns.
Only $134 of each Chicago Teachers Union member’s dues is actually spent on representing Chicago Public Schools teachers. The rest is spent on other CTU leadership priorities and on the union hierarchy.
Published Aug. 17, 2022 Illinois is home to one of the worst pension crises in the country.1 At 39% funded, according to the nonpartisan Pew Charitable Trusts, Illinois has the worst pension funding ratio of any state.2 By contrast, neighboring Wisconsin’s pension system is 103% funded.3 In fiscal year 2022, Illinois’ total general funds pension...
The “gift room” scandal, a botched police raid and a smokestack implosion underscore how the head of Chicago’s Law Department, also known as the corporation counsel, too often lacks independence from the mayor’s office. Chicago’s corporation counsel is appointed by the mayor and can be removed at the mayor’s discretion. Experience in other major cities...