In Illinois, pensions trump people
A yearlong budget battle is set to push Illinois into uncharted waters. No state has gone without a budget for a full year since at least the 1930s, according to...
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How Madigan became king
Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan's first political splash had nothing to do with policy. It wasn't a blueprint for a better state. It wasn't middle-class jobs growth. It wasn't a...
A mother’s will to win
It's easy to get cynical about Illinois politics. Frustration is the norm in Springfield. Optimism is an emotional liability. But Lisa Creason doesn't play by those rules. When it comes...
Mike’s rules: How Madigan killed Illinois democracy
On a single day in 2011, Illinois lawmakers introduced and passed the largest tax hike in modern state history in a matter of hours. On May 25, House Democrats introduced...
Illinois’ opioid crisis and the dark side of workers’ comp
When an Illinoisan gets hurt at work, she goes to the doctor. The doctor treats her, and perhaps prescribes a painkiller. She gets better. She starts working again. At least,...
How Illinois politicians pick their voters
Springfield saw the arrival of a curious contraption May 5. Outside the Illinois State Board of Elections was a 36-foot-long file cabinet, filled with more than 500,000 signatures, each one...
Madigan muzzles Illinoisans on term limits
When Mike Madigan first took his seat in the Illinois House of Representatives, the wide-eyed youths of the world were proclaiming the virtues of Coca-Cola. "I'd like to teach the...
The SEIU is hurting Illinois caregivers
Illinois politics is too often a master class in masking true intentions. A legislative push by the Service Employees International Union and some state lawmakers is one such case. Behind...
Jobs are the ultimate crime stoppers
Susan Trieschmann was sick of hearing the same story. Kid grows up in a dangerous household. Kid commits a crime. Kid says he never would have done it if he...
Who’s afraid of consolidation?
Illinois has nearly 7,000 units of local government. That's the highest count of any state in the nation, and the runner-up is not even close. One of those units of...