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 Better Government Association–the only Illinois non-profit holding power to account through investigative and solutions-focused journalism and policy advocacy–is seeking an inspiring, innovative ...

The Chicago City Council passed a “snap” curfew ordinance on June 18 that allows the superintendent to impose short-notice curfews. Two days later, Mayor Brandon Johnson issued the first veto in 19 ...

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 ...

Photo of the Illinois State Capitol. In 2023, the Office of Statewide Pretrial Services launched a probation and pretrial electronic monitoring program for 70 of Illinois’ 102 counties. It has since ...

In a memo sent Friday to the Chicago City Council’s ethics committee, city Inspector General Deborah Witzburg laid out a series of what her office characterizes as obstructions by the city’s law ...

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, […] ...

Former longtime Illinois Speaker of the House Michael Madigan today was found guilty by a jury on 10 out of 23 charges, including conspiracy, bribery and other charges in relation to a jobs-for-votes ...

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 ...

A 2022 BGA Policy investigation found that the department in its first three years of budgets did not reduce public safety costs, with non-personnel cost increases outweighing the savings from reduced ...

The Civilian Office of Police Accountability is the city’s investigatory body for several broad categories of police misconduct, including excessive force, death in custody, domestic violence and ...

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 ...