New federal corruption charges state a former Illinois House member conspired to use bribes to get a red-light traffic camera contract renewed and more of them installed in a suburban Chicago community. Traffic cameras collected $5.5 million during a decade in the suburb.
Illinois will lose one representative in the U.S. House. The state’s population declined for the first time in over 200 years, the 10-year U.S. Census count showed.
The Illinois General Assembly busies itself with limiting balloon releases and regulating pitchfork fishing along highways when ethics reform is the need in a state with a rich history of corruption.
Illinois’ decade of population loss, with last year being the worst loss of people since World War II, will cost is one seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Some thought the new Census would cost Illinois two seats in Congress.
In a letter to the president, Gov. J.B. Pritzker joined other Democratic governors to urge the removal of the State and Local Tax deduction cap. The move would primarily benefit the wealthy, including Pritzker.
The Illinois House unanimously passed a bill intended to help make Chicago and Illinois a hub for financial technology companies.
Recent Illinois House votes aim to protect the state and its residents from pitchfork fishing along highways and from releasing too many balloons. The state’s big problems remain ignored.
Illinoisans planning a balloon release will need to count carefully. State lawmakers voted to fine repeat offenders who wantonly release 50 or more balloons.
Illinois state representatives almost unanimously voted to stop legislative leaders from again building a 36-year dynasty like former Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan. The Illinois House passed a 10-year term limit on party leaders in both the Illinois House and Senate.
Illinois’ unemployment rate remains the highest in the Midwest despite March jobs growth. Unemployment is high across the state compared to the region.
Oct. 1 deadline looms even as five Chicago-area driver’s service centers have remained closed for a year and 1.2 million licenses and IDs have expired.
Under a new proposal, the city of Chicago would issue debit cards to 5,000 low-income residents that provide $500 each month for a year using some of its COVID-19 relief money.
Chicago’s longest-serving alderman, Ed Burke, tried to extort redevelopers of the old West Loop post office and others. They said there was no need to entrap Burke because his hand was regularly out.
Both police reform advocates and law enforcement supporters face the same serious obstacle in Illinois: police union contracts include provisions protecting officers from discipline. Those contracts carry more weight than state law.