Scott T. Holland

'For transit to be useful, it has to be within walking distance of the places people are actually going. And the destinations where people are actually going are not in the middle of the freeway.'

Rather than cover the expected funding gap, the RTA said doing things right actually would cost twice as much: $1.5 billion. Further, the report calls for "a strengthened RTA to oversee region-wide minimum service standards."

If you’re not subscribed to your officials’ newsletters, do so now! I’m interested in hearing who has the best strategy and how we can improve communication for all.

'When people asked me for help, if possible, I tried to help them,' Madigan said last week, surprisingly testifying in his own defense.

The good news is the website randomizes the list of options with each visit. The bad news is everything else.

Impactful legislation rarely materializes fully formed. Current debate on both topics echoes an ongoing discussion. Are these ideas now fully baked?

Despite the Senate approval and Gov. JB Pritzker’s endorsement, the issue more or less imploded during the waning hours of this week’s lame duck session.

Follow bills on ilga.gov, and – at least once before Memorial Day – reach out to elected officials, be it email, phone call or response on social media.

'I don’t mean this as insulting, but I don’t trust ComEd to write anything that isn’t in their best interest.'

'The fact that we’re not even, in our current system, paying those relatives the same amount that we pay a stranger to care for a child, it’s pretty frustrating.'

An appreciation for how memories of presidents' brief visits to otherwise anonymous communities can still resonate decades into the future

Altogether, these tidbits send us into the new year with a lesson that turning bills into laws is only one step in a lengthy process. Money is usually required, and simply getting people talking about an issue is no guarantee those conversations will lead to action.

'By implementing these changes, we can deter repeated patterns of abuse and remove the source of these issues as they occur.'

This legislation offers two lessons: One, in macro: When operating inside the bounds of legality runs afoul of basic fairness, it might be time to change the rules. And two, in micro: If you’ve got a problem, pick up the phone and call someone.

Almost 300 new laws take effect in Illinois Jan. 1, and as has become custom around here I like to use the last few columns of December to review legislation that might not have gotten proper attention earlier in the year.