Gov. JB Pritzker signed a law this summer that public defenders say will better clarify when someone found unfit for trial should undergo outpatient fitness restoration. The law, which goes […]
Archives
Posted inOpinion
Greising: Gov. JB Pritzker pushed back on the transit bill. He needs to do that with pensions.
As a sweeping restructuring of the public transit systems in the Chicago area neared an up-or-down vote last week, it was loaded with enough new revenue ideas to fill a progressive’s wish list. A “billionaire’s tax” on realized investment gains? Check. Expanded real estate transfer taxes? Those, too. Taxes on delivery services and concert tickets, a congestion tax and a ride-share tax? Of course. The Tribune’s editorial board reacted with dismay and called for them to scrapped.
Posted inCriminal Justice & Public Safety
Chicago Police Withhold Border Patrol Shooting Videos, Citing Probe of Chief Accused of Calling Off Cops
Patrol Chief Jon Hein faced a flood of criticism — from ex-cops, internet trolls and members of his own department — after his officers were ordered not to respond to the Oct. 4 shooting in Brighton Park.
Posted inStatewide Investigations
‘They are literally targeting people.’ ICE comes to southern Illinois
CARLYLE, Ill. — When Jose Jeronimo Guardian showed up at a Spanish language traffic court this week, he didn’t expect to be detained and face expulsion from a country he’d […]
Posted inInvestigating Responses
These Counties Spend Transit Tax Money on Ride Services. They’re Lifelines for Thousands of Residents
Fledgling dial-a-ride networks are filling gaps in public transit in the collar counties, but they struggle to meet demand.
Posted inGovernment Finance & Accountability
A Little-Known Legal Loophole Has Scrambled State Efforts to Save Transit Agencies From Financial Disaster
Suburban counties last year spent $83M in RTA sales taxes on jails and courts, and they are not giving that money up as the state scrapes for cash.
Posted inFollow-Up
Hundreds Of Lots Owned By ‘City’s Worst Landowner’ Went Up For Sale. But Only A Fraction Have Sold
Parcels that belonged to Suzie B. Wilson and her sister accumulated $15 million in city fines for rat-related violations. Hundreds are still sitting empty without any promise of redevelopment.
Posted inGovernment Finance & Accountability
Calls For ‘Belt-Tightening’ in Chicago Budget Face Hurdles Amid Few Options for Pain-Free Cuts
Cutting city spending faces at least as many logistical and political challenges as raising taxes, an Illinois Answers Project analysis found.
Posted inUncategorized
Greising: Gov. JB Pritzker should keep his attention on the work needed to offset Donald Trump’s actions
Will he? Won’t he? Now, next week, another time or never? President Donald Trump has created quite the guessing game, centered on the serial on-again, off-again threat to send the […]
Posted inOpinion
Greising: Many of the ideas for closing Chicago’s budget gap won’t make a dent
The Chicago Financial Future Task Force, appointed by Mayor Brandon Johnson early this year to give him ideas — and political cover — for closing a projected $1.15 billion budget gap, has issued its first report. It’s a smorgasbord of ideas, many of them already familiar, that comes just weeks before Johnson’s scheduled Oct. 16 budget address.
