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Top Illinois Stories
For the average driver, those increases add up fast. Illinois motorists now pay nearly $150 more annually in state gas taxes than they did before the 2019 increase. Drivers in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and several other counties pay even more because of additional local gas taxes.
SB 2810 provides that independently owned brick-and-mortar businesses with 25 or fewer employees as of September 9, 2025 would be eligible for the grants from a newly-created Small Business Restoration Fund. State Sen. Don DeWitte said similar grants were handed out during the COVID-19 pandemic and after businesses were affected by protests and looting following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
"The moves, according to some seasoned political consultants, suggest that Pritzker believes he can go pound-for-pound in a presidential run against the likes of fellow Democrat Govs. Gavin Newsom of California, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, as well as former Vice President Kamala Harris." More Highlighted Illinois Stories
“You’ve set real benchmarks in the formula, as far as what you expect on spending,” said state Rep. Rep. Blaine Wilhour. “We need real benchmarks on what we expect on student outcomes in conjunction with that spending. Because it looks to me like there’s really nothing.”
Gerard C. Moorer, 42, of Chicago, is accused of submitting fraudulent certifications of his unemployment for 16 months — reaping $31,887 in benefits. Moorer has served as deputy district director for Davis since August 2013.
Village Administrator Scott Eisenhauer said the difference amounts to about a $315 difference for the owner of a $150,000 home. He said repayment of a bond that paid for the electrical substation was accidentally applied to the property tax rate when it shouldn’t have been.
“It seems that we are asking employers to fund our judicial system,” state Sen. Jil Tracy said.
Other tax proposals by Democrats include an attempt to close loopholes allowing corporations to shift in-state profits offshore to avoid taxes, and a 10 percent tax on digital advertisers earning over $150 million a year.
“We cannot balance the state fund or state budget on the backs of local governments at a time when federal support is dwindling,” Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said outside the Capitol. “Our residents pay into this fund through their income taxes, and they most certainly deserve their fair and equitable share in the benefits of their contributions.”
The state created only 54,000 jobs in seven years. That’s a mere 0.9 percent increase, ranking Illinois 43rd in the U.S.
Illinois suffered the worst decrease in inventory since the pandemic of all states -- down 75%.
Part of the state's rebrand is deleting the term “chronic absenteeism.” Schools will no longer be downgraded if students fail to show up, but a school’s overall grade can be “lifted” if students demonstrate “consistent attendance.”
Under Senate Bill 3444, developers would not be held responsible for massive harms if they did not act intentionally or recklessly and if they publicly post detailed safety and transparency plans. Instead of limiting liability, Senate Bill 3261 would require artificial intelligence developers to undergo independent audits of their safety and child protection plans, and report serious AI safety incidents to the Illinois Attorney General.
“These families have done everything right and they're still being squeezed,” state Rep. Nicole La Ha said. “In some of the hardest hit areas, about 10% of homeowners were only able to make partial payments on their property tax bills. That trend points to real financial strain.”
IDES Director Ray Marchiori said IDES has collected nearly $713 million in overpayments since 2021 and prevented $358 million in further attempts at fraud. When asked $713 million “out of how much,” IDES Chief Financial Officer Brett Cox could not say. State Sen. Chapin Rose remembered the number being in the billions.
The Democratic Whip addressed matters including Amtrak funding, gas prices, data centers, green energy and the farm bill.
Experts in artificial intelligence spoke to state lawmakers recently, providing guidance on four bills introduced in the House, which would regulate and unlock legal remedies against AI companies, platforms and products. A repeated point of contention for the proposed regulations was the patchwork of legislation varying state-to-state stifles innovation nationwide.
More than 160 school districts in Illinois lock kids out of participating in school activities simply because they aren’t full-time public school students. It’s not the law. The Illinois School Code allows school boards to make district activities inclusive for all resident students.
An analysis conducted by Gov. JB Pritzker’s office and shared with legislators found that from a hypothetical $20 million payment in lieu of taxes made for a large industrial development, a typical Illinois homeowner would see only $1.29 in relief.
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon said the inquiry will go beyond classroom instruction and examine whether districts are encouraging or facilitating gender transitions without parental notice or consent, including through policies involving students’ names, pronouns or participation in school clubs focused on gender identity. "Illinois is just pushing these radical agendas," she said.
Illinois has refused to hand over an unredacted voter registration list. Instead, it has provided DOJ with electronic copies of partially redacted files that do not include sensitive information such as dates of birth, driver’s license numbers or partial Social Security numbers.
Rallies were held at more than 50 locations across the state.
But Tracy Sullivan, a consultant who assists businesses with the certification process, said the problem is a combination of difficulty and disillusionment. "I don't believe that businesses don't care about being certified," she said. "You can only bang your head against the wall so many times before the headache becomes too much."
With Gov. JB Pritzker priming for politics outside of Illinois, let’s not forget his scandalous past - including hidden trusts in the Bahamas, scrubbing the Internet of photos with an accused murderer, hypocrisy during the COVID no-travel order, and skirting rules to appoint brother-in-law to a political position.
Jim Dey: "The law requires state pension systems to terminate direct investment in companies boycotting Israel. It passed without opposition in the Illinois House and Senate and was signed into law by former Gov. Bruce Rauner. But is the worm starting to turn as progressive groups, among others, turn against Israel and, to a degree, embrace anti-Semitism?"
The utility says the added costs were related to connecting data centers and other new businesses, as well as electrification efforts such as building out EV charging infrastructure in 2025. If approved, the cost reconciliation would add $2.97 per month to the distribution charges on the average residential customer bill beginning in January 2027.
State Sen. Elgie Sims has publicly pushed back on calls to revisit the SAFE-T Act, describing the killing of Officer Bartholomew and the wounding of his partner as “one-offs.” His social media posts since the shooting have ranged from a missing person bulletin to criticism of Walgreens for closing its store at 8628 South Cottage Grove Avenue, which the company says it shut down due to theft and violent incidents running above company averages.
A report issued on April 21 by the outgoing auditor general found that the state agency the new state auditor had previously led, the Illinois Finance Authority, lacked a required full-time internal audit program. As executive director, Meister was responsible for appointing a chief internal auditor.
"A shrinking tax base and exploding spending obligations are a recipe for disaster. Government costs don’t magically shrink when people leave; they get slammed onto the backs of the remaining families, small businesses, and retirees who can’t afford to escape. The middle class gets squeezed even harder."
House Bill 5295, also known as the Reproductive Health Records Privacy Act, would require health providers to segregate records related to abortion and gender-affirming care and limit their disclosure. But physician and state Rep. Bill Hauter argued, “We rely, as medical professionals, on the medical record to be complete and accurate and private. To say that this information is unimportant… ignores real-world scenarios where it could be critical to patient care.”
Top Chicago Stories
“All of us are bracing for cuts,” said one elementary principal. “How could there not be? The money has to come from somewhere. Robbing Paul to pay Peter is what it feels like at this point.” 
At another point in the four-plus hour deposition, Foxx revealed that when she announced during a luncheon that she would not run for a third term, the presentation was entirely ad-libbed and she had no factual basis for telling the crowd that Marilyn Mulero “went to prison for a crime which she didn’t commit” and “was wrongfully convicted.” Mulero is now using Foxx's off-the-cuff statements as evidence of her innocence.
ICE officers went to Chicago and arrested Guatemalan national Erik Giovanni-Quiroa, who had been released from jail after his ICE detainer was ignored following a conviction for aggravated sexual abuse of a five-year-old child. Giovanni-Quiroa, who also had a 2011 firearm-battery conviction, was given a three-year sentence on the pedophilia charge.
More Highlighted Chicago Area Stories
The district has been dealing with ongoing financial troubles. CPS is projected to end the school year with a $45 million deficit and may have to contend with a $529 million deficit next year. Recently, CPS was caught up in a disagreement with the Archdiocese of Chicago over whether the district was holding back federal funding meant for students with disabilities who attend private schools.
Further in the deposition, Foxx admits the decision in 2022 and 2023 to not oppose the certificate of innocence petitions from a number of people convicted in cases investigated by former Chicago Police Detective Reynaldo Guevara and his partners came after high-level meetings with representatives from the Exoneration Project, a Chicago group tied to lawyers who have secured millions of dollars in payouts from the city on behalf of people who claim they were wrongfully convicted.
In response, Ald. Ray Lopez asked, "Where was that anger when the stores in our communities were under years and years of assault by criminals allowed to shoplift, vandalize, and destroy neighborhood institutions? Many leaders say it is simply an insurance matter. They are wrong. There are real-world consequences for crime running rampant. This closure is the perfect example of that effect."
For Illinois residents, tickets are discounted: $26 for adults and $15 for children 3 to 11. For an extra $75 per person, you can get a 90-minute tour of the Obama Presidential Center campus, which includes stops at the Home Court athletic center and the Presidential Suite.
The Department of Finance and the Department of Water Management have not consistently shared information about faulty meters, estimated bills, or account adjustments — leaving some customers with huge spikes in their water bills. "The range of that was from approximately $1,000 to one case study where the individual, the spike was approximately $23,000," said interim Inspector General Tobara Richardson.
"For Chicago, the result has been a steady erosion of one of its most prominent corporate anchors — shrinking office space, relocating employees and the departure of a billionaire who once poured hundreds of millions into the city’s institutions and politics. It also meant fewer high-paying finance jobs downtown and the disappearance of a major civic and cultural benefactor."
An investigation into the fatal shooting of Silverio Villegas González, who was killed by federal immigration agents during a traffic stop in Franklin Park early on in “Operation Midway Blitz,” is underway after the Franklin Park Police Department asked the state police’s Public Integrity Task Force to investigate. “When complete, the case will be turned over to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office,” a spokesperson said.
A panel of federal appeals court judges continues to agree that a Chicago federal judge overstepped his authority in ordering the en masse release of hundreds of illegal immigrants detained by federal agents in and around Chicago. The panel sharply disagreed over whether federal law gives federal immigration enforcement agencies the power to detain illegal immigrants without bond, if those immigrants are found anywhere in the country other than at the border itself.
The Pentagon’s Office of Inspector General will also be evaluating the deployment of active duty troops and National Guard members to Los Angeles, Memphis, Portland, Oregon, and Washington, D.C., according to an agency memo published Monday. It was unclear exactly what the inspector general would use to measure the "effectiveness" of the deployments.
Prosecutors said Brandi Wright, 44, allegedly obtained more than $41,000 in pandemic small business loans as part of the Paycheck Protection program for a bakery that did not exist.
Dabrowski, Wirepoints president emeritus, said the stories are extreme, they recur constantly, and the chain of decisions that allowed them to happen is traceable and documentable.
“I don’t know why any Chicago legislator would vote for anything that doesn’t benefit the people that they represent,” said Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, before hinting that he may propose a new home for the Bears within the city limits.
A City Council committee determined to maximize revenue from video gambling terminals and eliminate competition for them moved Tuesday to ban sweepstakes machines over Mayor Brandon Johnson’s objections.
Speaking about the bill now before the Illinois Senate that would allow developers of large projects, including the Bears, to make payments to local taxing bodies in exchange for long-term freezes on property taxes. Mayor Brandon Johnson said, "Without, you know, a clear pathway to provide certainty, as well as equity for everyday working people, I believe that is a mismatch there."
But the court’s records are missing addresses for nearly 10,000 of the cases filed between April 2022 and September 2025; the landlord’s address is absent for 98 percent of the cases.
According to the CPD, there were 32 homicides in April, which marks a 39 percent increase over the 23 homicides recorded in the same month last year. Through the first four months of 2026, Chicago has seen 130 homicides, CPD data shows, up from the 120 recorded during the same period in 2025. Despite the recent uptick, the 32 homicides last month were the second fewest for any April in Chicago in more than a decade, trailing only 2025’s total.
While city leaders often followed past IG Joe Ferguson's "investigative recommendations" on things like disciplining staffers, he says, outcomes "were much more mixed" when it came to his advice on department operations.
“There’s a lot of stuff that doesn’t make the news, or we may not report to our village boards, but it’s nightly where I’m getting emails from our midnight watch commanders of this town got hit,” Oak Lawn police Chief Daniel Vittorio said. Chicago Ridge, home to about 30 businesses with video gaming terminals, has seen five such burglaries since October.
Bronzeville landlord Ebony Lucas points to a property tax bill where taxes on the building jumped 76 percent. She once paid about $7,400, but a surprise bill in December, right around the holidays, jumped to $21,000.
Brandon Johnson, along with mayors from Broadview, Fox Lake, Lynwood, Palos Hills, and other local municipalities, will argue that the loss of money shared with municipalities from the Local Government Distributive Fund (LGDF) would impact essential services they provide their residents.
Both Glock and Smith & Wesson are facing potentially massive payout demands in lawsuits in which plaintiffs have said they are trying to hold the gun makers liable for the illegal use of their weapons by violent criminals to commit murder and other crimes. Both lawsuits center on similar claims that the gun makers have violated a recently enacted provision of Illinois' consumer fraud law, crafted by Democratic lawmakers in 2023 specifically to trigger such lawsuits against gun makers.
"These environmental hazards disproportionately affect Black and Latino residents, costing lives, shortening futures, and deepening the inequities that define daily life in Chicago. The failure to address this public health crisis is not a problem of money; it is a problem of will."
They said they've made adjustments to their operations and taken other steps to mitigate the issue, but "ongoing safety challenges" made it hard to keep staff and customers safe, and so they have chosen to close the store.
The case, Westforth Sports v. Chicago, alleged Westforth sold more than 300 guns between 2014 and 2021 to known straw buyers. The lawyers said those guns were used in homicides, shootings and assaults.
Illinois Restaurant Association President and CEO Sam Toia said Chicago is 10,000 jobs below pre-pandemic levels, and independent restaurants have suffered more since Mayor Brandon Johnson began phasing out the tip credit.
Wirepoints Research and Commentary
Everybody needs a side hustle these days, and mine is Ukraine, where I am now.
Audio and summary 
If this bill passes, say goodbye to local control over all Illinois parks and expect to see open drug and alcohol use, needles, no sanitation and fire hazards, but no ordinary park users.
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Chicago’s political leadership is floating a pension buyout program as evidence it is seriously addressing the city’s thirty-six-billion-dollar unfunded pension liability, but Mark Glennon, founder of the Illinois policy research organization Wirepoints, said that the proposal moves debt from one column to another rather than reducing it, and that the broader fiscal picture facing the city continues to deteriorate across every measurable dimension. Audio here.
Expect no retraction or apology. This what they do. 
The state's existing buyout program for its own pensions is the precedent for Chicago, which should be a warning: Look out for similar exaggerated claims and shoddy analysis. 
Illinois lost another 54,000 tax filers and dependents, net, according to the IRS. Since 2000, fleeing taxpayers have taken $94 billion of annual adjusted gross income with them. 
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