U.S. District Judge Marvin Aspen ruled in favor of Personal PAC, an abortion rights committee who sued in February, charging that contribution limits violated constitutionally guaranteed free-speech protections. more ›

Seven Democratic Senators, including Illinois' Dick Durbin, introduced a constitutional amendment that would overturn the Citizens United decision. more ›

Chicago News Co-Op's Dan Mihalopoulos reports today on the loopholes some political donors have found in order to skirt the capped amounts they can donate to a political campaign. Simply write maximum dollar amount checks from separately owned and incorporated businesses. more ›

Illinois is set to have new campaign finance restrictions go into effect on New Year's Day. Yesterday, Gov. Quinn signed into law new pension reforms that increase the retirement age of teachers, firefighters and policemen, and restricts double dipping. While neither go the full length of what reform advocates want, they are first steps and, to a man, are the result of the actions or inactions of Rod Blagojevich's tenure as Governor, and his impeachment. more ›

After a summer filled with debate amongst the Cook County Commissioners in regards to the sales tax rollback, Board President Todd Stroger's veto, and the commissioners inability to garner enough votes to override said veto, the state legislature has gotten involved. Yesterday, both the House (by a 66-49 vote) and the Senate (by a 49-1 vote) passed a bill that sets the new requirement for a veto override at three-fifths of the commissioners (11) rather than the current requirement of fourth-fifths (14). Now all that's left is for Gov. Quinn to sign it. The bill was specifically aimed at Stroger and the tax rollback. The bill's sponsor, Sen. Dan Kotowski (D-Park Ridge), said, "This is a great win for taxpayers in Cook County." Stroger spokeswoman Chris Geovanis said, "We're disappointed that the legislature chose not to use logic and decided to change the rules in the middle of the game." Stroger has previously said he would fight any such legislation in court if it was passed. more ›