CIVIC FEDERATION CONTACT: communications@civicfed.orgCHICAGO — Today, the Civic Federation released the following statement regarding the FY27 State Budget and end of the Illinois spring legislative session.“Illinois has once again settled for a budget that relies on new taxes and interfund transfers rather than adopting the meaningful…
Mosquito abatement districts (MAD) in Illinois utilize integrated pest management strategies to control mosquito populations and prevent diseases from mosquito-borne viruses such as malaria, yellow fever, dengue, filariasis, encephalitis, and West Nile virus.Mosquito abatement services can be delivered by special district governments, municipal or county public health programs, public works programs, or through contracts with private companies. In parts of Cook County, four mosquito abatement…
CHICAGO – Illinois is home to nearly 9,000 local governments—more than any other state. This sprawling, and at times overlapping, patchwork of governance jurisdictions has long fueled redundancies and inefficiencies, resulting in transparency and accountability deficits. In stark contrast, many other states deliver vital public services through far leaner government structures. A prime example of this inefficiency is found in the four Cook County Mosquito Abatement Districts.
This report lays out several major issues facing the Chicago Mayor and City Council as they prepare to enter the FY2025 budget cycle and beyond, including the City’s structural deficit, pensions, long-term debt, public safety and more.
The Civic Federation today released a position paper calling on the Illinois General Assembly to pursue foundational structural reform of Northeastern Illinois’ mass transit systems—the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), Metra, Pace and the Regional Transit Authority (RTA)—by centralizing the service boards and operations under a single, duly empowered and resourced regional transit agency. Doing so would allow for more efficient, effective, integrated and equitable service delivery as well as…
CHICAGO — The Civic Federation today released a position paper calling on the Illinois General Assembly to pursue foundational structural reform of Northeastern Illinois’ mass transit systems—the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), Metra, Pace and the Regional Transit Authority (RTA)—by centralizing the service boards and operations under a single, duly empowered and resourced regional transit agency. Doing so would allow for more efficient, effective, integrated and equitable service delivery as…
The Civic Federation today releases a report calling for the consolidation of the Chicago Transit Authority, Metra, Pace and the Regional Transit Authority into a single regional transit agency. The Federation urges linking transit governance reform with funding.
CHICAGO — The Civic Federation today released a data and policy analysis and position statement on the Bring Chicago Home referendum appearing on Chicago’s March 19 primary election ballot. The referendum, if passed, would change the City of Chicago’s real estate transfer tax upon buyers of properties to a graduated rate from the current flat rate in order to generate an estimated $100 million annually to allow the City of Chicago to expand services aimed at addressing the crises of…
Homelessness and a lack of housing affordability pose critical challenges for a growing number of people living in Chicago and at the same time contribute to a larger destabilization of the City’s ability to attract residents and businesses. These issues combined constitute the local dimensions of a national social and policy crisis that the City of Chicago and other governments must address with holistic attention to both their immediate humanitarian imperatives and impact on the larger…
The following are summaries of the five most-read posts presented on the Civic Federation’s blog in 2023, listed here in chronological order. The posts examine issues related to Illinois taxes and debt, Tier 2 Benefits, the SAFE-T Act, and the tragic passing of Civic Federation President Laurence Msall.
