BGA policy analyst calls for reducing number of local governments

Posted on November 20, 2015

By Dave Dahl/Illinois Radio Network

SPRINGFIELD – The “Land of Lincoln” is the “Land of Local Governments” – some 7,000.

“There are more than 200 sanitary districts within just three counties: Champaign, Christian, and Iroquois,” Alden Loury told a government consolidation task force chaired by the lieutenant governor. Loury is senior policy analyst for the Better Government Association.

Okay, but don’t cut my local unit of government, right? Especially townships, which provide relief to the poor. Loury’s heard it all and gives an example of a new law allowing consolidation of Belleville Township into the city of Belleville.

“In the run-up to that legislation, it was reported widely that the township was spending more on the administration for its general assistance grants than it was actually providing in grants themselves.”

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year. It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city. Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University. We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk. Going to work every day for some people means…