Scott T. Holland

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.

Districts have to follow the laws, which means they have to cough up the difference. ISBE estimates lawmakers would need to spend $142.2 million more in the next fiscal year just to fall short by the same percentage as this cycle.

Unlike the DoorDash settlement, which included information about how many drivers stood to divide the settlement pool, the Grubhub deal is short on details.

Expect a history lesson, bring a calculator and a working knowledge of actuarial science.

In addition to the new designs, we’ll be able to choose to keep the current design or adopt the 1918 centennial or 1968 sesquicentennial flags.

We can both look California, where there are so many propositions on each ballot the state has to reset its numbering system every decade. Chaotic by comparison, that system gives our Midwestern sensibilities a sense of practical order.

Prior records, criminal or otherwise, should factor strongly into decisions about whether suspects can abide by release conditions. If judges and prosecutors aren’t so empowered, lawmakers have an invitation to act

'We are mindful that the legislature has considered amending the Vehicle Code, but it might also consider amending the Regulation Act'

Sincere belief in cash bail elimination carries a commitment to ensuring the current law applies equally in all cases.

Over the years I’ve tried to spend a few column inches sharing reader inspirations in hopes of making everyone’s holidays a little brighter.

We’re not to the point of remembering the past, we’re living the first draft of history.

'…the entire landscape of public education has been dramatically altered, presenting new challenges and heightened scrutiny of public schools.'

On a day dedicated to American gratitude it seemed worthwhile to set aside a few moments for appreciation.

Any cost estimates team or government officials might bandy about should be considered somewhere between conservative and antiquated, much like the offensive playbook.

If a company must hire workers in order to stay in business, it should pay those people the minimum wage. That seems like basic fairness.

Altogether it’s clear more than half of participating Illinoisans are voting outside conventional Election Day precinct polling places.

Judges didn’t legislate from the bench, per a common criticism, but observed repercussions and asked the General Assembly to revisit the drawing board.

About 6% of adults owe more than $1,000 and about 3 million people have medical debt exceeding $10,000.

Successfully arguing to spend an extra $60 million seems to necessarily include showing how much more K-12 spending would need to increase if all the kids on the waiting list don’t start getting help until kindergarten.

Making these types of choices comes with the responsibility of elected office.

Raoul: 'By putting tips toward driver pay, DoorDash could get away with contributing as little as $1 toward a worker’s pay and allow tips to make up the rest.'

'On any given night in Illinois, an estimated 11,947 people are living in shelters and transitional housing programs, in parks and abandoned buildings, in cars and in barns'

While saluting service is appropriate and important, proper care is a permanent commitment backed by legislation, oversight and investment.

Illinois isn’t facing a $3 billion deficit. With more than eight months remaining in the current fiscal year and pencils barely sharpened on the fiscal 2026 budget, there remains plenty of time for better data and more informed choices.

Send an email. Follow social media. Sign up for a newsletter. Get on a mailing list. Legislators are theoretically accountable to everyone but in reality much more so to people they know and hear from regularly.

It’s exactly 16 weeks until the consolidated primary election on Feb. 25.

If more people try to understand methods, trends and benchmarks that increases the possibilities for using the report as fuel for continued improvement.

Ranked choice allows a broadly acceptable compromise at the expense of more extreme and polarizing options.

There are just a few steps between announcing plans to introduce a bill and watching the governor put pen to paper.

These questions don’t have easy answers, but asking them helps move our state forward.

The Department of Health and Human Services says investments in these centers have helped reduce homelessness, substance abuse and reliance on emergency rooms and hospitalization, all of which ease tension on the social safety net.

Quite a bit of administering a government happens between seemingly interminable campaign cycles, and a key to understanding the next election is observing what incumbents do when they’re not on the stump.

Pro soccer doesn’t maintain nearly the same stature in the civic pride firmament as other major sports, but that could change with a Fire franchise owned and operated by a local guy.

Another takeaway – regardless of whether a jury decides Madigan was corrupt – is the political importance of leading without becoming poisonous.

No idea should be off the table. Think beyond trains and large fixed-route buses to paratransit and potentially even subsidized taxi service. Explore how community planning and civil engineering might evolve to increase the efficiency of public transportation.

Sarah Boettcher is a junior at Naperville North High School. She is responsible for KnowYourStateJudges.org, a new website that helps voters outside of Cook County cast informed ballots in judicial elections.

“Long” John Wentworth, who died this day in 1888, served six terms in Congress representing Chicago – first as a Democrat, then a Republican – and among a legendary career played a role in formally ending the border dispute with Wisconsin.