El acceso a los documentos gubernamentales es fundamental en nuestro sistema de gobierno abierto. Tienen derecho a saber qué están haciendo sus gobiernos. Access to government documents is fundamental ...

For first-time watchers, Chicago’s City Council can seem incomprehensible. Most of the business is done in a routine, rapid-fire succession of votes and gavel raps, punctuated by repetitions of the ...

In a memo sent Friday to the Chicago City Council’s ethics committee, city Inspector General Deborah Witzburg laid out a series of what her office characterizes as obstructions by the city’s law ...

Mayor Brandon Johnson released his proposed 2026 budget for the City of Chicago on Thursday, Oct. 16. As in previous years, BGA Policy will release a series of department-specific budget snapshots ...

Better Government Association believes in transparency and accountability, which is why we have partnered with FastDemocracy to bring you some of the most powerful tools to keep tabs on your lawmakers ...

Under Illinois’ Freedom of Information Act, there is a presumption that government records are open to the public. Body cam footage is an anomaly. Its availability is dictated by the Law Enforcement ...

Your Transparency Watchdog BGA OpenGov is the Illinois affiliate of the National Freedom of Information Coalition. Without access to information about the workings of government, it would be ...

To help shine light on Illinois’ judicial branch, BGA Policy is proud to lead the Court Transparency Coalition, which recommends that the judicial branch be added to the state’s Freedom of Information ...

The Chicago Police Department is the city’s largest department both in headcount and in overall funds appropriated, with nearly three times the positions budgeted as the next-largest Chicago Fire ...

*Historical comparisons typically go back to 2011. For COPA, the average annual rate of change is given starting from 2018, the first full budget year following the department’s transition from its ...

Inspectors general are responsible for the direct oversight of a given federal, state, county, or city agency. They aim to stop corruption and hold its agency accountable through leading ...

A BGA Policy analysis of the 16 county detention centers across Illinois has found that only three successfully have completed audits mandated by federal law to enforce protections against sexual ...