To help shine light on Illinois’ judicial branch, BGA Policy is proud to lead the Court Transparency Coalition, which recommends that the judicial branch be added to the state’s Freedom of Information ...

El acceso a los documentos gubernamentales es fundamental en nuestro sistema de gobierno abierto. Tienen derecho a saber qué están haciendo sus gobiernos. Access to government documents is fundamental ...

A BGA Policy analysis of the 16 county detention centers across Illinois has found that only three successfully have completed audits mandated by federal law to enforce protections against sexual ...

The Better Government Association is a non-partisan, non-profit news organization and civic advocate working for transparency, efficiency and accountability in government in Chicago and across ...

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - JANUARY 20: A sign hangs outside of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge on January 20, 2023 in Chicago. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images) Salaries and bonuses for Chicago police ...

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 ...

Chicago’s City Council is off to a slow start in 2023: Only about 40% of its time in session so far this year – or about two of every five hours between the opening and closing gavels– has been spent ...

Your Transparency Watchdog BGA OpenGov is the Illinois affiliate of the National Freedom of Information Coalition. Without access to information about the workings of government, it would be ...

The creation of a new City of Chicago Office of Public Safety Administration (PSA) in Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s inaugural budget for fiscal year 2020, which the mayor’s office announced as a cost-saving ...

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 ...

Mayor Brandon Johnson released his proposed 2025 budget for the City of Chicago on Wednesday, Oct. 30. As in previous years, BGA Policy will release a series of department-specific budget snapshots ...