In response to today’s sentencing, Better Government Association President David Greising stated, “For years, Michael Madigan was the most powerful political figure in Illinois. He used that power to ...

A series of new lobbying priorities announced by Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson at a press conference last week included tweaks to revenues the city currently receives from the state government, but ...

Director of OSPS Cara Smith told BGA Policy that as of February 5, 2025 there were 1,772 defendants monitored electronically. At any given time, typically five or six counties have no one being ...

Last month, we sent a letter to the Senate President and Speaker of the House requesting that they update their chambers and join the 44 other states that have free archives online for the people of ...

In a memo sent Friday to the Chicago City Council’s ethics committee, city Inspector General Deborah Witzburg laid out a series of what her office characterizes as obstructions by the city’s law ...

Many of the charges were at the centerpiece of the recent “ComEd Four” trial, in which all four defendants were convicted. The Madigan jury also found him guilty on multiple counts relating to the ...

The Better Government Association, the Civic Federation and the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability recommend that the Mayor of Chicago deliver the budget proposal earlier in the year than the ...

Largest Appropriations As with several other departments, CDOT’s budget includes a “reserve balance” appropriation from a number of grant funds. This appropriation, which appears in several department ...

The Department of Streets and Sanitation budget stayed relatively flat during both of Rahm Emanuel’s terms, following a roughly 270-position staffing reduction in his first budget. Appropriations ...

Positions Overall The largest net reduction in positions was within the Police Officer position. 118 police officers positions were eliminated, with 64 new positions created for various police officer ...

The Civilian Office of Police Accountability is the city’s investigatory body for several broad categories of police misconduct, including excessive force, death in custody, domestic violence and ...

The OIG has a mandatory budget floor to ensure that it cannot be underfunded. Since 2015, the OIG budget has been required to be at least 0.14% of annual appropriations, not including pension payments ...