Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel calls for property-tax hikes, garbage-collection fees and ridesharing surcharges as a stop-gap measure to plug the city’s $750 million budget hole.
The proposed change in city code would further tilt the scales in favor of the politically powerful, as they could be granted full knowledge regarding the investigation on their wrongdoing, including information on who brought the case to light.
The Illinois Supreme Court’s precedent has made it impossible for Chicago to stave off bankruptcy by making even the most meager reforms to government-worker pensions.
Buying local just got a lot less appealing for Chicagoans. The city reclaimed the highest sales-tax rate of any major city in the nation on July 15, when the Cook County Board, which oversees Illinois’ largest city, voted to raise its portion of the sales tax, bringing Chicago’s combined rate to 10.25 percent from 9.25...
An ordinance that would immediately allow thousands of food-cart street vendors the freedom to serve their communities sits before Emanuel’s City Council, and along with it the potential for explosive growth in the industry.
Occupational licensing requirements present one of the steepest barriers to low-income Illinoisans starting careers in beauty services. Illinois requires anyone seeking to become a barber, cosmetologist, nail technician or hair braider to obtain a state license, essentially a permission slip to work. Unlike 45 other states, Illinois offers only one pathway to licensure for each...