Illinois General Assembly

Illinois Forward: A 5-year plan for balanced budgets, declining debt and tax relief

By Adam Schuster
02/15/2020
The years 2010 through 2019 will go down in Illinois history as a decade of public policy failure and economic decline. High fixed costs for pensions and government worker health care have prevented the state from balancing its budget in any year since 2001. Since the Great Recession in 2008, the state’s fiscal imbalance has...

Illinois watchdog’s report of ‘serious misconduct’ was ‘squashed’ by panel of lawmakers

By Joe Tabor
02/07/2020
Illinois’ legislative inspector general investigates complaints against state lawmakers, but a commission of their peers can – and did – bury those findings, the former inspector said. A new bill would change that.

TAGS: corruption, ethics, ethics violation, ILGA: Illinois General Assembly, Illinois, Joint Commission on Ethics and Lobbying Reform, Jonathan Carroll, Julie Porter, Legislative Ethics Commission, Legislative Inspector General, OEIG: Office of the Executive Inspector General, sexual harrassment, Springfield, transparency, watchdog

Bill to remove nearly 100 red-light cameras advances to House floor

02/06/2020
The proposal to limit red-light cameras in Illinois is making progress as another bill’s sponsor believes she can garner the votes to ban them entirely.

TAGS: bribery, Chicago, corruption, David McSweeney, FBI: Federal Bureau of Investigation, federal investigation, home rule, IDOT: Illinois Department of Transportation, ILGA: Illinois General Assembly, Illinois, Illinois House of Representatives, Jonathan Carroll, Martin Sandoval, Oakbrook Terrace, red light cameras, SafeSpeed, Springfield, Susana Mendoza

After $1B in tickets and 4 corruption indictments, Illinois should shutter the red-light camera industry

By Austin Berg
01/30/2020
With a federal corruption probe burrowing deeper into Springfield, the Illinois General Assembly has only one choice when it comes to the future of a red-light camera industry that has infected nearly 100 communities statewide: shut it down.

TAGS: bribery, Chicago, corruption, David McSweeney, fees, fines, IDOT: Illinois Department of Transportation, ILGA: Illinois General Assembly, Illinois, John Bills, local government, Martin O'Malley, Martin Sandoval, Mike Madigan, red light cameras, Redflex Traffic Systems, SafeSpeed, Springfield

Madigan confidant used state worker’s silence on rape to prove political loyalty

By Brad Weisenstein
01/08/2020
Silence on a rape and about ghost workers were evidence of political loyalty that should save a state worker facing discipline, according to an email uncovered in an open records request.

TAGS: conflict of interest, ethics, FBI: Federal Bureau of Investigation, federal investigation, house rules, ILGA: Illinois General Assembly, Illinois, JB Pritzker, lawmakers, Legislative Inspector General, lobbying, Michael McClain, Mike Madigan, Mike McClain, Pat Quinn, redistricting, revolving door, Rod Blagojevich, sexual harrassment, Smart Scale, Springfield, Virginia, watchdog

Illinois saw nation’s worst population loss during the decade

By Orphe Divounguy, Bryce Hill
12/30/2019
Illinois suffered its sixth consecutive year of population decline in 2019, driven entirely by residents leaving for other states.

TAGS: 401(k), debt, flat tax, general revenue fund, Great Recession, ILGA: Illinois General Assembly, Illinois, Illinois Constitution, JB Pritzker, job creation, Mike Madigan, outmigration, population, revenue, Springfield, tax burden, tax hikes, tax increase, U.S. Census Bureau, working-age

2019 laws in review, Illinois lawmakers passed both nice and naughty bills

12/20/2019
The Illinois General Assembly passed over 600 new laws in 2019. Some helped taxpayers, but many more hurt as they spent $85 billion while doing little to fix the pension crisis.

TAGS: AFSCME: American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees, capital plan, consolidation, Cook County, corruption, expungement, free speech, gas tax, government unions, ILGA: Illinois General Assembly, Illinois, Illinois Constitution, JB Pritzker, lawmakers, Luis Arroyo, Martin Sandoval, Open Illinois Checkbook, progressive income tax, record sealing, Springfield, tax hikes, taxes, transparency, vehicle registration

Feds investigating former Cook County assessor, Madigan rainmaker Joe Berrios

By Austin Berg
12/17/2019
The probe potentially opens up a new front in authorities’ investigation of House Speaker Mike Madigan: the property tax appeals game from which he has made millions.

TAGS: capital project, Chicago, conflict of interest, Cook County, Cook County assessor, Cook County Democratic Party, corruption, Ed Burke, federal investigation, house rules, ILGA: Illinois General Assembly, Illinois, JB Pritzker, Joseph Berrios, Legislative Inspector General, legislative map, Madigan & Getzendanner, Mike Madigan, property taxes, redistricting, revolving door, Rod Blagojevich, Springfield

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4 ways to break out of Illinois’ pension trap

Causes, costs, how to set the state free

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Diana Graham

Process for unionizing non-state workers raises red flags

By Paul Kersey
06/19/2014

CBS Chicago: Illinois’ highest-paid superintendent receives $400K per year to oversee 1,200 students

By Ted Dabrowski
05/02/2016