Legal

Federal prosecutors seek records on state Rep. Dan Burke after a BGA/Sun-Times investigation raises questions about how he awarded taxpayer-subsidized college tuition waivers to the daughter of his former secretary.

Prompted at least in part by a CBS2/BGA investigation, the Chicago Public Schools’ inspector general cracks down on abuses in the free and reduced school lunch programs, which are supposed to help lower-income students. Turns out numerous CPS employees, including principals, were inappropriately signing their children up for the programs, saddling taxpayers with the tab.

On the heels of a BGA investigation, the Village of Lansing voted to repeal a pension spike for retiring first responders. Police officers and firefighters in the south suburb had been able to take a 25 percent raise or a $12,000 raise, whichever was greater, on their last day of work. The now-defunct boost enhanced their pensions by at least $6,000 in the first year of

After the BGA, the Chicago Sun-Times and others exposed repeated abuses in how Illinois legislators award college tuition waivers — and following an aggressive lobbying campaign by the BGA policy team — the General Assembly voted to end the decades-old program, which had been costing taxpayers more than $13 million a year. Gov. Pat Quinn signed the bill into law on July 11 and

After the BGA discovers that Rahm Emanuel’s campaign fund apparently violated a pledge not to accept donations from lobbyists, his political action committee announces it will return five donations totaling $7,650.

Prompted in part by disclosures by the BGA and Chicago Sun-Times of a pension perk apparently crafted by a state legislator just for a member of one of Chicago’s most powerful political families, the Illinois Senate passes a bill to reverse the benefit. While the House didn’t take up the measure, it’s expected to be revisited in the next legislative session.

Following a series of stories from the BGA and the Chicago Sun-Times about a politically connected dairy company and its government contracts, Chicago Public Schools negotiated new terms that should save the system $750,000 in milk expenses. Officials also pledged to launch a “rigorous competitive bidding process” to keep costs down.

Revelations by the BGA and NBC5 that a Stroger Hospital doctor was getting paid even though he no longer worked for Cook County government prompted an inspector general investigation that found “negligence” and recommended discipline against three employees, including a supervising physician. Also, the BGA’s inquiry prompted the return of roughly $80,000 to county coffers.