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PolitiFact

The Newsroom runs PolitiFact Illinois, the local arm of the nationally renowned, Pulitzer Prize-winning fact-checking enterprise that rates the truthfulness of statements made by governmental leaders and politicians.

PolitiFact

Fact-Check: Is Chicago Gun Violence Really ‘Killing’ the City’s Bottom Line?

Chicago’s former top cop, now a challenger to Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s re-election, says murders and shootings cost city taxpayers more than is spent on all other programs combined. The claim is a wild exaggeration based on a misreading of research.
April 17, 2018
PolitiFact

Fact-Check: Facts Bug New Pritzker Attack Line on Quincy Veterans’ Home

Democrat JB Pritzker is quick to blame rival Gov. Bruce Rauner for new health problems at the state facility for retired veterans. But the stomach virus is very different and harder to prevent than Legionnaires’ disease, which has killed 13 residents since 2015.
April 10, 2018
PolitiFact

When It Comes to Illinois’ Deficit, How Bad is Bad?

There are lots of different ways to measure Illinois’ fiscal crisis, and politicians usually seize on the yardstick that best fits their partisan agendas.
April 3, 2018
PolitiFact

Rauner Cites Own Remarks as Proof of Outside Support for Election Night Claim

In a speech to supporters on primary night, Rauner claimed that “newspapers” were now likening his political rivals to the mafia. In reality, one newspaper columnist was quoting Rauner.
March 21, 2018
PolitiFact

Governor Candidates' Job Claims Built on Shaky Foundation

Pritzker, Kennedy and Rauner all lay claim to superlative records of job creation in the business world. Proving it up? Not so much.
March 9, 2018
PolitiFact

Fact Check: Rauner’s Head-spinning Claim That Arch Conservative Opponent Jeanne Ives Is A Mike Madigan Lackey

Rauner’s campaign ad said: “Who’s really behind Jeanne Ives’ campaign for governor? Mike Madigan’s corrupt insider machine. They’ve bankrolled her campaign with thousands in shady labor union cash, turning Ives into another Madigan lackey.”
March 5, 2018
PolitiFact

Fact Check: Chris Kennedy Flunks Data Interpretation 101 With Cairo College Readiness Claim

Kennedy falsely claimed that test results show no high school students in an economically distressed Southern Illinois town are prepared for college.
February 28, 2018
PolitiFact

Fact Check: After Parkland, Can Illinois Communities Ban Assault Weapons?

Highland Park, Chicago and a few other Illinois towns have banned assault weapons, but state law blocks most other communities from following suit. How come?
February 27, 2018
PolitiFact

Fact Check: Does Rauner Truly Have a $1 Billion ‘Tax Relief’ Plan?

The day after Gov. Rauner unveiled a new budget blueprint for the coming fiscal year, his campaign released an ad highlighting a vague $1 billion tax cut plan.
February 16, 2018
PolitiFact

Fact Check: Rauner Didn't Make Taxpayers Fund Late Abortions

The bill Gov. Bruce Rauner signed changed nothing about the legality of state-funded late abortions: The state has paid for certain cases for decades, while others remain illegal.
Updated February 12, 2018