A federal judge today sentenced former Illinois Speaker of the House Michael Madigan to 7-½ years in prison and three years’ ...

BGA Policy has long documented the perils that come with the judiciary being exempt from the Freedom of Information Act. This ...

For first-time watchers, Chicago’s City Council can seem incomprehensible. Most of the business is done in a routine, rapid-fire succession of votes and gavel raps, punctuated by repetitions of the ...

It is no secret that Illinois is home to the greatest number of government units in the nation, nearly 7,000. Following the passage of Senate Bill 3 in the summer of 2017, which made the process of ...

Year after year, Springfield makes headlines for bribery, corruption and even bullying. A report from the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Department of Political Science found Illinois to be the ...

Chicago taxpayers are on the hook for an average $93.6 million a year for legal judgments and settlements against the city. A Better Government Association policy team analysis found that after years ...

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 ...

In-Person Public Comment During each City Council meeting, 30 minutes is dedicated to public comment. Public comment is limited to three minutes per speaker, for a maximum of 10 speakers (although ...

Perhaps you’ve heard the buzz about something called ranked choice voting. Instead of marking their ballots for just one candidate, voters are asked to rank two or three or more, with the winner ...

Policing is the city’s most expensive and perhaps its most important service. In spite of all that, it’s a service that Chicago (and many other cities) can’t seem to get right. Chicago is in the midst ...

The Chicago Police Department is the city’s largest department both in headcount and in overall funds appropriated, with nearly three times the positions budgeted as the next-largest Chicago Fire ...