In a rarely seen move, Illinois’ Crystal Lake School District 47 has decided to post its recently negotiated contract online – for the public to view – before the union and district hold a vote on it. Unfortunately in Illinois, contract negotiations are often completely hidden from the public until the whole process is completed....

Over the four-year history of the Local Transparency Project, there have been 35 municipalities, 12 school districts, seven counties, four park districts, two townships and even one fire protection district to earn the Illinois Policy Institute’s Sunshine Award. But until recently, no library has won the award. The April 16 Niles Public Library board meeting...

Illinois is one of only 14 states that doesn’t have some form of gubernatorial term-limits. A proposal introduced by Illinois State Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno (R-Lemont) and Illinois House Republican Leader Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs) would give Illinois voters an opportunity to change that this coming November by enacting eight-year term limits on executive...

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...