Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss, whose term ends in 2025, received $66,500 in 29 donations to his campaign committee from late November 2023 to early January 2024. The Evanston Roundtable covered this early fundraising and asked Reform for Illinois to weigh…
Read More The Chicago Sun-Times covered last week’s Chicago City Council’s Ethics Committee hearing on an ordinance that would increase restrictions on outside employment for City Council members. Reform for Illinois Executive Director Alisa Kaplan testified about the advantages of broader limits…
Read MoreReform for Illinois Executive Director Alisa Kaplan joined RFI Board Member David Orr on his podcast “Politics 101” to talk with former Mayor Lightfoot about her good government accomplishments and the work that remains to be done in Chicago. Listen…
Read MoreThe Chicago Sun-Times dove into the problems with Illinois’s campaign finance regulations, including the self-funding loophole, meddling in primaries, and dark money. The article quotes RFI Executive Director Alisa Kaplan on public financing programs and how they can be used…
Read MoreCrain’s reporter John Pletz interviewed RFI Executive Director Alisa Kaplan about the guilty verdict in the Ed Burke case. While the verdict “sends a strong message,” “We need to see more proactive reform instead of just reactive.” she said. “We…
Read MoreCrain’s Chicago reporter Judith Crown interviewed Reform for Illinois’ Executive Director Alisa Kaplan about ranked-choice voting (RCV). Reform for Illinois spearheaded the movement to get RCV passed in Evanston, where it was approved by 82 percent of voters in a…
Read MoreSludge interviewed RFI Executive Director Alisa Kaplan about the new Fair Elections Small Donor Matching program that passed in Evanston last month. “This program aims to raise the voices of people who might otherwise not be heard because they couldn’t…
Read MoreIn a landmark move for campaign finance reform, the City of Evanston has established a Fair Elections Small Donor Matching program, the first of its kind in the state of Illinois. This groundbreaking initiative empowers every resident by providing a…
Read MoreOn Monday, Evanston’s City Council voted 5-1 to move an RFI-supported public financing ordinance forward, this time for final action during the council’s meeting on September 26th. Speaking to the Rules Committee back in July, RFI Board President David Melton…
Read MoreRFI Executive Director Alisa Kaplan spoke with the Chicago Tribune about Chicago Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin’s alleged misconduct and ethics violations, which were first reported by the Tribune last week. The Chicago Board of Ethics has defended its handling of the…
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