Progress Illinois

The two-week Illinois General Assembly veto session started Tuesday with public and private sector unions trying to kill a bill that would reduce the pension benefits of current public employees.

As Illinois environmental groups push for
expanded renewable energy use, they will inevitably engage in some
political give-and-take with traditional suppliers. A prime example is
some dealmaking led by the Sierra Club almost three years ago. In that
case, the nonprofit ...

On Monday, we reported
that Illinois officials were scrambling to find the funds for thousands of vouchers that parents and social
service agencies rely on to care for foster children across the state.

Well, the crisis has been averted.

We got word that ...

We've already written about how drug treatment programs, social services and child welfare
have fallen victim to the dysfunction in Springfield. This
afternoon we confirmed some news that cements just how bad things
have gotten.

Despite being one of the wealthier ...

When Fred Pennix (right) was hired 15 years ago as a state child welfare investigator in
Chicago's Englewood neighborhood -- arguably one of the nation's most devastated communities
-- he thought the job would be tough. Turns out, he was
right.

Poverty there runs deep ...

After a few tense days when it looked like the Illinois Senate might not reconvene, both chambers have now done their part to restore funding
to programs and agencies whose budgets were earlier cut by Gov. Blagojevich. If the $221 million economic assistance bill becomes law...

When cities like Springfield have to propose ordinances stipulating a minimum distance between payday loan, title loan, and installment loan stores.

Image of Springfield loan shops by Flickr user Dabadoo...