James Abrams, a donor to Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the husband of a city alderwoman, violated an ethics ordinance by lobbying without registering to do so, according to the Chicago Board of Ethics.

The Chicago Board of Ethics has fined local attorney and disc jockey Alan S. King $2,500 for operating as a lobbyist in communications with Mayor Rahm Emanuel without having followed the proper channels to do so.

State bureaucrats will dictate how many teachers Illinois school districts must hire and how much to pay them if a school funding bill is signed into law this month.

Illinois ranks third in the nation in unfunded pension liability despite being saddled with some of the most stifling tax burdens in the country.

Mike “Mish” Shedlock, who runs the blog “MishTalk.com,” believes imposing more taxes on Illinoisans with the biggest pensions can solve the pension crisis.

A group of journalists got together at a Springfield forum recently to discuss the future of ... a group of journalists.

While state lawmakers ended a two-year budget impasse, the measures adopted by the Illinois Legislature will not fix the state's fiscal mess, an analyst who co-wrote a paper that places the state 49th in long-run solvency told the Sangamon Sun.

Gov. Bruce Rauner’s office has lost or terminated 21 staffers in the wake of the passage of a contentious budget plan and an unpopular tax hike on July 6, which many saw as a major political defeat for Rauner and many GOP lawmakers.

A measure that would require homeowners in Chicago’s suburbs to pay off Chicago Public Schools’ $17 billion in debt is expected to go to Gov. Bruce Rauner’s desk for his signature later this month.

Chicago Inspector General Joe Ferguson's ongoing investigation into allegedly racist emails sent by Water District supervisors has revealed additional inappropriate messages, the Chicago Tribune reported recently.

The Cook County Board and the Chicago City Council are creating a system that will enable the public to contribute to legislative deliberations via the internet.

Illinoisans will pay 72 percent more in phone line fees to keep 911 service alive, the Edgar County Watchdogs reported recently.

Moody's has downgraded Northeastern Illinois University's (NIU) Certificates of Participation (COPs) to B3 from B1, according to the investor service's website.

The Chicago City Council has agreed to listen to public comments -- for 30 minutes.

Better Government Association (BGA) CEO Andy Shaw threw a bone to four government watchdogs recently whom he said have proven their dedication to moving Chicago away from politics as usual and toward good government.

Illinois has one of the largest number of special districts in the country, but the Chicago Transit Authority is a national leader in terms of easily accessed financial reporting, according to a recent report on the online transparency of special districts.

Illinois’ economy will take decades to recover from the state’s current pension and workers’ compensation obligations, to say nothing of the debts continually being added because of a significant lack of reform, according to a blistering analysis from Chicago attorney Eugene Keefe.

The proposed Chicago Fair Workweek Ordinance, designed to offer greater shift predictability for hourly workers, could put significant financial burdens on businesses, according to attorney Lilia Picazo.

One simple way to help combat youth crime is to employ young people in other ways, the coauthor of a Chicago youth study told the Chicago City Wire recently.

Chicago businesses need to fight a recently proposed ordinance regarding work schedules or face even more fiscal pain, attorney Eugene Keefe said recently.