Chicago

Chicago City Council shows deep hypocrisy in passing pedicab ordinance

By Bryant Jackson-Green
05/05/2014
On Tuesday, Chicago’s City Council’s joint committee on  License and Consumer Protection and Transportation and Public Way passed a deeply flawed proposal to regulate the pedicab industry after hours of largely opposing testimony. On Wednesday, the measure passed the full City Council without any changes, showing that Chicago is neither serious about promoting “green” transportation...

There’s an alternative to Rahm’s proposed $750M in property tax increases

By Benjamin VanMetre
05/02/2014
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is calling for a $750 million property tax increase on Chicago residents over the next five years in his recent pension proposal. And his proposed “reform” plan covers only the city’s municipal and laborers pension funds. That doesn’t include whatever tax increases he’s got planned to fund the pensions of teachers,...

Pedaling backward: Chicago’s attack on pedicabs

By illinoispolicy
05/01/2014
Chicago alderman recently passed a deeply flawed ordinance that that arbitrarily limits the number of pedicabs and forbids their operation in a significant portion of downtown. These new rules are hitting drivers hard, and limiting their ability to make a living. Without a change, many drivers could be out of business. Show your support for...

TAGS: Chicago, pedicabs

Illinois Corruption Watch: April 2014

By Brian Costin
04/30/2014
45.  April 30, 2014 Sun-Times: Criminal probe of Quinn anti-violence plan rocks governor’s race A criminal grand jury has launched a probe into Gov. Pat Quinn’s troubled anti-violence program —  once likened to “a political slush fund” — delivering a major blow to the Democrat as he seeks re-election this fall. On Tuesday, the Quinn...

Chicago alderman turns down a bribe

By Justin Hegy
04/29/2014
With 31 of Chicago’s last 100 aldermen having been criminally convicted of corruption, it’s refreshing to hear about one that stood up against it. According to recently released court documents, Alderman Anthony Beale of Chicago’s 9th Ward turned down a bribe from a man in Northwest Indiana who was seeking to have $42,000 of business fines...

Quinn’s Chicago bailout

04/29/2014
For months Gov. Pat Quinn has campaigned on the need to make permanent the temporary tax hike the Illinois General Assembly passed in 2011. Under state law, the majority of the 2011 tax increase will sunset in January 2015. Quinn wants to reverse that. He claims the state is out of money and there is...

1 in 4 Illinoisans think state worst place to live in U.S.

By Naomi Lopez Bauman
04/28/2014
Illinoisans are frustrated. But the depths of that frustration may not have been evident until now. According to a recent Gallup survey: “Illinois has the unfortunate distinction of being the state with the highest percentage of residents who say it is the worst possible place to live. One in four Illinois residents (25%) say the state is...

6 reasons why Chicago aldermen should oppose Rahm’s property tax hikes

04/28/2014
It’s no wonder that more and more Chicago aldermen are balking at Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s property tax hike proposal. They know property tax hikes won’t play well on the campaign trail later this year. Emanuel is calling for $750 million in property tax hikes over five years to prop up just two of the four...

Two major problems with proposed Chicago pedicab regulations

By Bryant Jackson-Green
04/28/2014
A Chicago City Council committee will consider a new set of restrictions on pedicabs at a hearing this week. Many specifics of the proposal, introduced by 44th Ward Alderman Tom Tunney, are unexceptional, but two provisions stand out as unnecessarily harmful to the pedicab market and consumer choice. For one, the ordinance arbitrarily caps the...

Obama presidential library: Madigan and Rahm caught red-handed

By Jane McEnaney
04/24/2014
Last week, House Speaker Michael Madigan and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel tried to pull the wool over the eyes of every Illinoisan by dedicating $100 million of taxpayer dollars to the construction of Barack Obama’s presidential library, which the city of Chicago is vying for. Fortunately, they were caught red-handed. According to the Rules of...