Solutions
City Plan To Ticket Drivers Who Block Bike Lanes Downtown Draws Mixed Reaction From Cycling Advocates
Even though it only applies to the Downtown area, some cycling advocates say the pilot program is a step in the right direction. Others say it’s light on details and doesn’t address pressing safety concerns.
The Latest
Explained: Illinois’ Assault Weapons Ban and the Legal Challenges It Faces
A new law banning assault weapons is facing an uphill legal battle with scholars hesitant to say it will survive challenges
Update: Pritzker signs bill shielding abortion patients, providers from out-of-state legal threats
Legal scholars say without those protections abortion opponents in other states might be able to sue or prosecute Illinois residents.
Cook County TIF revenues smash records, squeeze taxpayers
Tax-increment financing districts raked in $1.6 billion in 2021, accounting for nearly 10 cents of every dollar in taxes paid by Cook County property owners last year.
Invited in Only to be Shut Out
The city’s development initiative, Invest South/West has brought hope to areas long ignored by developers and the promise of hundreds of millions of dollars. But some residents say they’ve been left out of real decision-making on the major projects coming to their areas.
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The Illinois Answers Project offers two easy-to-use databases of public information to bring greater clarity to how tax dollars are used.
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Illinois Public Employee Salaries
Illinois Answers compiles the most comprehensive database to review, explore and compare compensation for public employees in Illinois.
Illinois Public Pensions
We collect data from the largest public pension systems in the state and centralize it into our Illinois Public Pensions Database.
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Community Engagement & Partnerships Specialist
We’re searching for a motivated, collaborative person to join the Better Government Association’s audience engagement team as our Community Engagement & Partnerships Specialist.
How much COVID relief money has your school district spent? Search our map
A Chalkbeat Chicago and Illinois Answers Project investigation revealed that despite student needs, high poverty districts have spent smaller portions of their ESSER funds in comparison to low poverty districts.
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Solutions
Moment of Truth for the City Council Ethics Committee
A freshman alderperson is trying to breathe life into one of the least active City Council committees.
What would the end of cash bail mean for Illinois? New Jersey offers a preview.
As the Illinois Supreme Court considers the fate of the law, bail reform experiments elsewhere consistently show promising results. But the political backlash remains intense everywhere.
Investigations
Chicago Boards the ‘Social Bonds’ Bandwagon — And Gets Results
The trendy debt maneuver has been tried in other major cities with some success
Cook County Board Commissioner’s Campaign Got $300K From a Nonprofit with a Murky History
Sean Morrison, who is also chairman of the Cook County Republican Party, raked in the money in a tight reelection race from a nonprofit that has financial ties to a PAC funded by billionaire Ken Griffin.
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Opinion
Greising: Are Chicago’s Mayoral Candidates Conjuring Up Useful Solutions for the City’s Challenges?
Are Chicago’s mayoral candidates conjuring up useful solutions for the city’s challenges? Mayor Lori Lightfoot hasn’t come up with simple fixes to the city’s problems. That may be because she knows how tough the job can be.
Greising: Pritzker’s Appearance at Davos Could Mark a Turning Point
The forum at Davos built its reputation as a place where unlikely partners could get results. Gov. J.B. Pritzker should consider going again.
Greising: If State’s High Court Blocks It, Pritzker May Find Another Path To Carry Out Cash Bail Reform
It was a no-brainer that the Illinois Supreme Court needed to step in to avert chaos once a Kankakee County judge invalidated portions of a state law designed to end most forms of cash bail in Illinois. Trouble was, Judge Thomas Cunnington’s ruling affected 65 of 102 Illinois counties, the ones that sued to block implementation of…
Greising: Pritzker’s Presidential Daydreams Might Help the People of Illinois
How Gov. J.B. Pritzker addresses his gubernatorial to-do list matters to Illinoisans — as well as to his prospects for the presidency.