38 challengers give Illinois voters first choices in decades

By Dylan Sharkey

07/31/2022

Alper Turan fled Iran 24 years ago to seek a better life for himself and his family. He wants to help his new home by being one of 38 candidates recruited by Illinois Policy to run for the Illinois General Assembly. He wants voters to have a choice.

TAGS: election, gerrymandering, Illinois, vote-by-mail

Taking a ballot selfie is a felony in Illinois

By Austin Berg

06/28/2022

Voters wanting to share their Election Day pride best not do it with a voting booth selfie posted to social media. That’s a felony in Illinois.

TAGS: ballot, election, Election Day, voting

Illinois House passes bill to scan license plates on highways

By Dylan Sharkey

04/12/2022

The Illinois House approved a law calling for the installation of license plate reading cameras. Big Brother just wants to solve crime.

TAGS: Illinois, interstate highway, license plate recognition camera

4 of Illinois’ past 10 governors went to prison

By Hannah Schmid

04/11/2022

Four of the past 10 former Illinois governors are among the public officials who have been convicted of offenses in Illinois. The state needs stricter ethics reforms to change its culture of corruption.

TAGS: corruption, governors, Illinois, prison

Illinois lawmakers should read laws before they pass them

By Joe Tabor, Jon Josko

04/11/2022

Politicians use a loophole to bypass the Illinois Constitution’s requirement that bills be read on three separate days before they are passed. Instead, they often gut minor bills and put significant legislation in the bills within a day of the vote.

TAGS: budget, ILGA: Illinois General Assembly, transparency

Illinois House passes plan to partially refill unemployment fund

By Dylan Sharkey

03/24/2022

The Illinois House voted to use $2.7 billion in federal relief to partially refill the state’s depleted unemployment trust fund. Some lawmakers said it’s not enough.

TAGS: ARPA: American Rescue Plan Act, Illinois, unemployment

Politicians convicted of corruption can run for re-election under Illinois law

By Dylan Sharkey

02/28/2022

After a corrupt politician gets caught in Illinois, they can again run for office. State Rep. Curtis Tarver II has introduced a bill to stop that.

TAGS: corruption, election, Illinois

Illinois lawmakers fail to replace their ethics watchdog

By Hannah Schmid

01/21/2022

The Illinois General Assembly is without a watchdog. The former legislative inspector general quit after saying she was just a paper tiger. Now lawmakers cannot agree on her replacement.

TAGS: ethics reform, Illinois, Legislative Inspector General, watchdog

Unions flood politicians with cash: How it buys clout in Illinois General Assembly

By Mailee Smith, Jon Josko

12/22/2021

Government unions in Illinois have tremendous power. Most are allowed to go on strike and can bargain over virtually anything.1 It creates an uneven playing field, with unions able to demand costly provisions in their contracts and threaten to strike – denying Illinoisans needed services – to get what they want.2 Until recently, the potential...

‘Home Alone’ in real life could land you in an Illinois jail

By Dylan Sharkey

12/13/2021

Illinois sees leaving a child younger than 14 ‘Home Alone’ as a crime, one that state employees have vigorously applied.

TAGS: home alone, Illinois, negligence

United States Senate

38 challengers give Illinois voters first choices in decades

Taking a ballot selfie is a felony in Illinois

Illinois House passes bill to scan license plates on highways

4 of Illinois’ past 10 governors went to prison

Illinois lawmakers should read laws before they pass them

Illinois House passes plan to partially refill unemployment fund

Politicians convicted of corruption can run for re-election under Illinois law

Illinois lawmakers fail to replace their ethics watchdog

Unions flood politicians with cash: How it buys clout in Illinois General Assembly

‘Home Alone’ in real life could land you in an Illinois jail

Fighting poverty with employment: Chicago block clubs

Report Archive

Diana Graham

Process for unionizing non-state workers raises red flags

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