Better Government Association
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BGA on Pritzker: Need ‘law that establishes minimum standards for blind trusts’
The Better Government Association is calling for a law to make more transparent “blind trusts” such as that Gov. J.B. Pritzker uses to invest in state contractors.
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Work of committee that identified 41 public monuments for possible removal remains opaque
The Monuments Projects Advisory Committee hasn’t been heard from for its first six months of its existence.
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Lobbying reform commission hears opinions from local officials
The Joint Commission on Ethics and Lobbying Reform recently spent several hours listening to officials from city, county and state agencies regarding the possibility of stricter restrictions on lobbying activity.
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BetterGov's candidate questionnaires will help you vote
BetterGov has compiled an extensive list of candidate and their response to hot topic issues such as property taxes, pensions, jobs, etc in order to help voters vote.
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BetterGov Fact-Check: Pritzker’s claim that Rauner delayed school funding
"Pritzker’s ad suggests Illinois’ protracted budget stalemate held up state aid for K-12 schools and left local property tax payers to pick up the tab, all thanks to Gov. Rauner. But that argument doesn’t quite add up."
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BetterGov Fact-Check: Rauner claiming Pritzker proposed a mileage tax
Gov. Bruce Rauner's recent ad claims Pritzker's tax plan includes taxing miles driven. Pritzker claims that he has only explored the idea.
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BetterGov - Gov. Rauner’s EPA draft plans to use Volkswagen settlement funds
The Rauner Administration plans to use $109 million in lawsuit-settlement from a Volkswagen emissions scandal to fund more environmentally friendly policies such as less-polluting trains, electric car charging stations and funding for school buses.
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BetterGov's Doubek: Candidates, where's the discussion about the big debt problems?
BetterGov's Madeleine Doubek assess why there is a hush on discussion of the state's big debt problem among candidate.
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Curbing Golden Parachutes: How the BetterGov Policy Team's Government Severance Pay Act became law
Singed by Gov. Bruce Rauner and drafted by the Better Government Association, the Government Severance Pay Act limits the severances of government employees.
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BetterGov's Greising: The bombardment of lowbrow campaign ads
BetterGov's President David Greising opines about the glut of ads full of flash but lacking in substance.
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BetterGov - Politics in Illinois becoming a playground for the rich
BetterGov's Tim Jones examines how the top gubernatorial candidates bankroll their campaigns, which totals in the millions.
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BetterGov's Doubek on how to tackle the transparency deficit in government
Recently, two public executives - Metropolitan Water Reclamation District President David St. Pierre and Southern Illinois University President Randy Dunn - were dismissed from their positions. They took with them thousands of dollars in severance deals funded by taxpayers, who were mostly left in the dark.
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BetterGov fact-check: Rauner’s Legionnaires’ claim misses mark and the point
Gov. Bruce Rauner recently made a claim, among others questionable statements, that the Legionnaire's outbreak were due to massive.flood. BetterGov investigates the validity of that claim.
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Wirepoints founder says BGA assessment of why residents are leaving Illinois distorts data
While Better Government Association (BGA), a nonpartisan watchdog group in Illinois, says residents are leaving the state for reasons other than taxes, Wirepoints calls the data distorted.
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BetterGov - how frugality impaired the Metra System
BetterGov investigates how the Metra system is impacted by frugal spending, which has resulted in cars that are decades out of date.
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BGA - Illinois' population is shrinking but it's not all because of taxes
Many have postulated that Illinois' falling population is mainly due to rising taxes. BetterGov believes there are other determining factors.
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BGA Policy report: progress on curbing severance, FOIA and government consolidation
With the close of the Spring General Assembly, the BGA takes a moment to examine the wins and losses so far for 2018.
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BetterGov Fact-Check: Blagojevich op-ed claims he went to prison for ‘practicing politics’
Illinois' 40th governor, Rod Blagojevich, penned a column in the opinion pages of The Wall Street Journal, claiming that he was treated poorly by the Justice Department and is in prison for practicing politics.
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BetterGov - Public Pensions Crisis with Laurence Msall
Laurence Msall, president of the Civic Federation, tackles the history of the public pension problem and what Illinois can do to get out of its hole.
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BetterGov wins national award for investigative series on city colleges
BetterGov has won the Education Writers Association award for “The Graduates*,” an investigation into questionable graduation rates touted by City Colleges of Chicago and Mayor Rahm Emanuel