HB 3796 would hamstring watchdogs in a state riddled with corruption. Lawmakers should let Quinn’s veto stand.

At least 84 corruption-related stories have been reported from across the state of Illinois in August alone. Atop August headlines is the recent revelation that a federal grand jury subpoenaed the emails of Gov. Pat Quinn’s ex-chief of staff in relation to Quinn’s anti-violence grant program. The case, which has been referred to by some...

It’s not all bad news in Illinois. Sometimes our politicians get it right. Illinois lawmakers have made it a Class 4 felony to intentionally hide public records from the public. House Bill 4216, introduced by state Rep. Anthony DeLuca, D-Chicago Heights, was passed unanimously by both the Illinois House and Senate. It was signed into...

The bad news keeps piling up for Illinoisans. Illinois Policy’s “corruption watch” blog series hit a new high in the month of July with nearly 100 corruption-related stories. Chicago and Springfield are the two cities most synonymous with the state’s corruption woes. Unsurprisingly, both cities dominated headlines with the top two corruption stories of the...

The Illinois General Assembly recently sent a bill to Gov. Pat Quinn that would make it much harder and more expensive for citizens to fight public corruption through the Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA. The governor did not sign this bill – and that’s good news for Illinoisans. Illinois is already ranked as the...

Illinois is ranked as the third-most corrupt state in the nation. And Illinoisans have by far the lowest level of trust in state government in the nation at only 28 percent. So why are lawmakers trying to make it harder and more expensive for citizens to fight public corruption? A “watchdog tax” bill that does...