Better Government Association

Analysis: Cost of Chicago Legal Judgments and Settlements

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 ...
Better Government Association

Watching Your Government: What to Expect at a Meeting of Chicago’s City Council

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 ...
Better Government Association

Analysis: Departmental Budgets Fall Short of Mandatory Minimums for City Oversight Agencies

Departmental budgets for three of Chicago’s oversight agencies are not on their own sufficient to meet mandatory minimums described in law, a BGA Policy analysis of annual appropriations and related ...
Better Government Association

How to FOIA for Body Camera Footage

Under Illinois’ Freedom of Information Act, there is a presumption that government records are open to the public. Body cam footage is an anomaly. Its availability is dictated by the Law Enforcement ...
Better Government Association

How a FOIA Loophole in Illinois Puts Kids at Risk

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 ...
Better Government Association

State Courts Lag on Electronic Monitoring Data Required by SAFE-T Act

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 ...
Better Government Association

Brandon Johnson is Chicago’s Next Mayor. Here’s Where He Stands on Government Transparency and Ethics

Brandon Johnson is the newly elected mayor of Chicago, succeeding Lori Lightfoot. Prior to his election, Johnson served as a member of the Cook County Board of Commissioners and as a community ...
Better Government Association

SAFE-T Act Data Collection Begins Behind Schedule

Illinois courts are quickly falling behind in key areas of data-collection required by the state’s new Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today (SAFE-T) Act – a lag that is making it ...
Better Government Association

Growth of “Finance General” Category in Chicago’s Budgets Obscures Departmental Costs; Reflects Rising Pension and Borrowing Expenses

A yearly Chicago ritual is about to begin. Oct. 16 marks the start of two weeks of budget hearings, when department heads will appear before City Council to take questions about their administrative ...
Better Government Association

Chicago’s City Council Spends One-Third of Its Meetings on Honorary Speeches

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 ...
Better Government Association

2026 Preliminary Budget Overview

Mayor Brandon Johnson released his proposed 2026 budget for the City of Chicago on Thursday, Oct. 16. As in previous years, BGA Policy will release a series of department-specific budget snapshots ...
Better Government Association

BGA Budget Hearings Snapshot: Department of Assets, Information and Services, Department of Procurement Services and Chicago Animal Care and Control

The Department of Assets, Information and Services, which oversees the city’s physical buildings and facilities, motor pool and IT infrastructure, was created in the 2020 budget by the merger of the ...