By Brian Costin
08/09/2014
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...
By Brian Costin
07/23/2013
Turns out there’s no proof that Chicago’s red-light camera program has done anything to improve safety. In May, the Chicago Inspector General released a scathing audit of Chicago’s controversial red-light camera program. The audit found the Chicago of Department of Transportation couldn’t prove it placed cameras at Chicago’s most dangerous locations or that the cameras actually...
By Benjamin VanMetre
05/22/2013
Even with record revenues, Illinois is suffering
TAGS: budget
by Amanda Griffin-Johnson Earlier this week, U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., released Wastebook 2011, a report covering 100 examples of wasteful government spending. The examples range from millions of dollars to just a few thousand dollars, but all highlight how government uses taxpayer money to fund unnecessary projects, often not relating at all the to core purposes...
While governors in New York and Wisconsin are stirring up much antagonism from state and local employees after making sizable cuts to stave off fiscal calamity, Illinois's Governor is adding hundreds to the state payroll.
by Amanda Griffin-Johnson A clout hiring scandal in Chicago’s Department of Transportation (CDOT) has led to a five-day, unpaid suspension for an engineering technician and the resignation of a Deputy Commissioner. The Chicago Sun-Times reports: Jim Bolster was slapped with the five-day suspension “for assisting” his boss, former Deputy Commissioner Gilberto Quinones, in Quinones’ quest to...
by Amanda Griffin-Johnson The U.S. Department of Transportation estimates that the states have spent a total of around $5 million of stimulus funds on signs “touting ‘The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act’ and reminding passers-by that the program is ‘Putting America Back to Work.’” ABC News reports that “the state of Illinois has spent $650,000 on about 950...
by Mark Cavers In 2008, the Department of Transportation paid 33 bridge tenders $2,515,550.28 in combined total wages. The 13 highest paid tenders all made over $90,000, and 29 of the 33 made over $60,000. Bridge tenders are responsible for operating “a vertical lift, horizontal swing or basque electrically controlled bridge.” This position requires “knowledge, skill and mental development...
by Mark Cavers In 2008, the State of Illinois employed 38 individuals to help with the production and placement of signs across the Illinois highway system. These employees, ranging from sign makers, to hangers to supervisors, were paid a combined total of $1,822,653.47 in wages. The highest paid employee, a supervisor in a sign shop,...
