Illinois’ comeback story starts here.

The Policy Shop: Who’ll be Chicago’s next mayor?

The Policy Shop: Who’ll be Chicago’s next mayor?

This week’s The Policy Shop is by the Illinois Policy Institute’s Bryce Hill, director of fiscal and economic research, and Mailee Smith, senior director of labor policy and staff attorney. In this episode of “Choose Chicago’s Next Mayor,” a runoff election April 4 raises major concerns about the future of the city. Stay tuned to...

Loophole will let Brandon Johnson collect public pension now worth $1.1M

Loophole will let Brandon Johnson collect public pension now worth $1.1M

Mayoral candidate and Chicago Teachers Union organizer Brandon Johnson is eligible to collect an estimated $1.1 million pension through the Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund despite only teaching for four years. His future path could yield a public pension worth over $2.8 million.

By Bryce Hill

The Policy Shop: Are Chicago’s speed cams a money-making scam?

The Policy Shop: Are Chicago’s speed cams a money-making scam?

This week’s Policy Shop is by Illinois Policy Institute writer Patrick Andriesen. Burdens for Chicagoans: increased. The speed cameras issued over three times more tickets in 2022 than before the pandemic in 2019. Last year the city issued more than 2.5 million speed-camera tickets, which generated $84.5 million in revenue. That’s more than two citations...