The Government Relations Committee of the Chicago Association of Law Libraries (CALL) are the proud parents of a new guide, Finding Illinois Law: A Librarian’s Guide for Non-Lawyers. The guide covers all aspects of legal research in Illinois, and includes chapters on the laws of Chicago and Cook County and …
An amicus brief (pdf, 2.14mb) submitted to the Chicago Election Board on December 18 said former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel satisfies the residency requirement to run for mayor, and “the voters of Chicago are therefore entitled to determine through the electoral process whether they want Mr. Emanuel …
Texas had the nation’s highest proportion of residents without health insurance in 2007, and was home to the 14 counties with the highest rates of uninsured at the county level, according to new data released by the Census Bureau. The Small Area Health Insurance Estimates (SAHIE) program data released this …
Cuts to funding for public housing have affected the maintenance and supply of affordable housing units, and contributed to the subprime mortgage crisis and a “new face of homelessness†in the United States, according to the report (pdf, 139kb) of a United Nations fact-finding mission. In the fall of 2009, …
Maryland defended its title in the newest national ranking of state government websites designed to provide transparency about spending under last year’s stimulus bill. Show Us the Stimulus (Again) is the second report of rankings conducted by Good Jobs First, a non-profit coalition “promoting corporate and government accountability in economic …
In a letter to Illinois Governor Pat Quinn (pdf, 1.3mb), the Obama administration announced its intention to acquire the Thomson Correctional Center in Thomson, Illinois, as part of a plan to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. The letter, signed by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of Defense …
A tougher Freedom of Information Act for the state of Illinois was signed into law by Gov. Pat Quinn on August 17. Gov. Quinn said in a news release (pdf, 25kb) that the new revisions will “increase transparency and accountability in state government†and ensure that “the state’s boards and …
In a July 30 report (pdf, 8.6mb) sent to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee highlighting a study of executive compensation in the banking industry, New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said his investigation found that there is “no clear rhyme or reason to the way banks compensate …
Forty-six states ended their fiscal year on June 30, and at least seven states have extended their legislative sessions or gone into special sessions to resolve their budgets, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL). An NCSL press release summarizes the situation as of June 30, and links …
A panel established in the wake of the arrest last December of then-Governor Rod Blagojevich has issued its report, calling for sweeping changes to address political corruption in Illinois. In its report (pdf, 705kb), the Illinois Reform Commission recommended a range of ethics reforms that would affect the way the …