Chicago

Illinois General Assembly proposes new internet privacy protections

By Amy Korte
04/11/2017
As the federal government repeals regulations requiring broadband companies to obtain consumers’ consent before using their browsing history and other personal information to create targeted ads, Illinois state politicians are moving to ramp up privacy protections. However, whether these bills would actually further those privacy goals or whether they would merely bolster Illinois’ class-action lawsuit industry while burdening businesses are open questions.

TAGS: Ann Williams, Arthur Turner, BIPA: Biometric Information Privacy Act, Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act, Donald Trump, Facebook, FCC: Federal Communications Commission, Geolocation Privacy Protection Act, Google, Lou Lang, Michael Hastings, Microphone-Enabled Devices Act, Right to Know Act

Workers’ compensation estimated to cost Illinois taxpayers nearly $1 billion per year

By Michael Lucci
04/05/2017
Workers’ compensation is a significant cost to Illinois taxpayers and drains scarce tax dollars from government coffers. A previous report in this series estimated the direct cost of workers’ compensation to state, county and municipal governments is $402 million in worker payouts per year.1 Building upon those findings, this report estimates that the total cost of workers’ compensation to...

Why are Illinois Democrats preparing to bail out bankers and cash-strapped local governments?

By Michael Lucci
04/03/2017
Bailout bills moving in the Illinois General Assembly would attempt to turn Illinois’ massive debt problems into guaranteed profits for banks and bondholders and a lower standard of living for other Illinoisans.

TAGS: bonds, budget, CTA: Chicago Transit Authority, general obligation bonds, grand bargain, John Cullerton, LGDF: Local Government Distributive Fund, property taxes, RTA: Regional Transportation Authority