BGA

Following a series of stories from the BGA and the Chicago Sun-Times about a politically connected dairy company and its government contracts, Chicago Public Schools negotiated new terms that should save the system $750,000 in milk expenses. Officials also pledged to launch a “rigorous competitive bidding process” to keep costs down.

Revelations by the BGA and NBC5 that a Stroger Hospital doctor was getting paid even though he no longer worked for Cook County government prompted an inspector general investigation that found “negligence” and recommended discipline against three employees, including a supervising physician. Also, the BGA’s inquiry prompted the return of roughly $80,000 to county coffers.

After the BGA, the Chicago Sun-Times and others exposed repeated abuses in how Illinois legislators award college tuition waivers — and following an aggressive lobbying campaign by the BGA policy team — the General Assembly votes to end the decades-old program, which had been costing taxpayers more than $13 million a year. Gov. Pat Quinn is expected to soon sign the bill into

Following inquiries from the BGA about his private companies doing business with the government agency that he was leading, Cook County Housing Authority board Chairman Elzie Higginbottom resigns and, to avoid a possible conflict of interest, the agency changes the way Section 8 vouchers are handled for buildings run by his firms.