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SourceLineThe Black Civic Data Platform

Our mission is to make sure Black communities are not simply informed about the decisions shaping our future, but equipped to help make those decisions. An informed community is a powerful community.

State · Congress and state, with local votes in 6 places

Illinois

Who represents Illinois in Congress and how to reach them, the Black community by the numbers, the national stories told with Illinois’s own figures, and what Black newspapers here are reporting. Each figure names its official source.

Look up an address in IllinoisWhat each level shows

Coming to your state

How will Chicago pay $481 million for police misconduct cases?

Mayor Brandon Johnson's proposed $17.6 billion budget borrows about $481 million through bonds to pay police misconduct settlements, repaid over five to seven years. The city's finance department estimates interest on the first $350 million at more than $139 million. Aldermen questioned that cost at hearings that began October 26. (FOX 32 Chicago, October 26, 2026)

Your numbers

About 211,000 Black Illinoisans said they were registered but did not vote in 2024, compared with about 50,000 in 2020. (Census Bureau survey estimate; the Illinois sample is small and the range is wide)

Who pays

Yes, city tax dollars, through bonds repaid with interest. Residents weigh the cost of settling against the cost of trials; SourceLine takes no side.

Who decides

The 50 members of the Chicago City Council. The budget needs 26 votes.

What is coming to Illinois

When SourceLine is complete here, you will see every City Council budget vote, by name, at your address.

Read the FOX 32 story · The story and its reporting belong to the outlet that published it. Survey figures are estimates with wider ranges in smaller states.

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About these figures

Every figure on this page shows the year it describes. Public agencies release their numbers on their own schedules, often a year or more after the work of counting is done. The Census Bureau, for example, publishes its five year community survey each December, and the national reading test is given every two years. That is why some figures are not from this year. SourceLine updates each one as soon as the agency publishes it.

For some counties and small towns, SourceLine has not found meeting records online. Where it has not, we add them as they become available. A page that says SourceLine hasn’t updated a record yet means exactly that.