Criminal Justice

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Illinois’ Rating Reversed to Negative Due to Unbalanced Budget

Less than a month into the new fiscal year, which began on July 1, Standard and Poor’s announced that the financial outlook for the State has…

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Court Ruling on Health Insurance Could Add to State of Illinois Budget Woes

A court ruling on health insurance for retired State of Illinois workers could put additional pressure on the State’s stopgap budget for the year that began on July 1, 2014…

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FY2014 Public Safety Spending in Cook County

Cook County is a home rule government with three primary responsibilities: collecting tax and fee revenue, protecting public health through the administration of a public health and hospital system and ensuring public safety and justice…

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Rhode Island Pension Settlement Rejected, Trial Set to Start in September

A settlement agreement on Rhode Island’s pension reform litigation that was presented to pension system members for a vote has been rejected even though most groups overwhelmingly backed it. The vote was structured such that any one group…

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Forum on Municipal Fiscal Distress Looks at the Landscape After Detroit

The Civic Federation joined with the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago on April 23, 2014 to co-host a conference on ways that municipalities in Illinois can avoid or resolve fiscal…

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Illinois Supreme Court Recommends Pretrial Services Reform in Cook County

A recent report by the Illinois Supreme Court raises significant concerns about Cook County’s pretrial services. The Cook County Pretrial Services Department (PSD) was established in 1990 to address a host of concerns, not the least of…

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General Assembly Hears Plans for Illinois Medicaid Waiver

On December 18, 2013, the Illinois General Assembly held its first hearing on the plan to apply for a federal waiver to overhaul the State’s Medicaid program…

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Chicago City Council Adopts Ordinance to Create Independent Budget Office

On December 11, 2013, the City Council approved an ordinance to establish the City…

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Indicators of Financial Condition: A Comparison of the City of Chicago to 12 Other U.S. Cities from FY2007 to FY2011

This report uses nine indicators of financial condition to measure the relative financial performance of Chicago and 12 other major U.S. cities from FY2007 to FY2011. In addition to Chicago, the other cities analyzed were Baltimore, Boston…

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New Location Buoys Casino Revenues But Illinois Taxes Remain Flat

According to the latest legislative report on gaming in Illinois, total casino revenues have recovered since the opening of the State’s tenth riverboat casino…