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"The Illinois Tollway board has a choice. It can approve a record-setting unnecessary increase that drivers and businesses cannot afford, or it can decline the increase and recognize that Illinoisans already pay enough. Nothing will change; the state still has enough money to run road projects and has a surplus sitting in tollway reserves right now."
The lawsuit seeks to declare the Illinois Voting Rights Act as violative of the Fifteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution, which would essentially cause the current map to be redrawn in compliance with the Fifteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. Former State Representative Jeanne Ives filed this lawsuit.
"This is the moment for bipartisan discipline."
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The lawsuit against Cook County was filed in 2022 in Chicago federal court. A separate action has been lodged against a group of other county governments, including Illinois' second and third largest counties, DuPage and Lake counties. And yet another lawsuit is pending in federal court in southern Illinois. The cases all center on one common accusation: That Illinois and its county governments have all but illegally ignored a recent landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision and continued to seize homes over unpaid property taxes.
The bill would require drivers who commit two offenses within a year to install the speed limiting device in their vehicle. Participants would also pay $30 per month into the Intelligent Speed Assistance Program Permit Fee Fund. This comes as sponsors said 75 percent of people with suspended licenses continue to drive.
Sen. Bill Cunningham said research shows texts are very effective in helping people make their court dates. The bill would require pretrial service agencies to send two reminder text messages to people on pretrial release before their required court dates.
“At this point, it seems unusual and targeted that the U.S. Department of Commerce had the capacity to complete in-depth reviews and approvals for every single state except for Illinois and California,” Gov. JB Pritzker wrote in his letter to Secretary Howard Lutnick. “Illinois families and businesses in rural areas are the ones paying the price.”
"The scale of the problem is staggering. It has been reported that Cook County alone has 72,000 active warrants, 72,000 individuals wanted by the courts and not in custody. Based on that number, a credible statewide estimate for all active criminal warrants in Illinois would fall somewhere between 40,000 and 80,000 at any given time. And here is the most troubling part: Illinois has no statewide database that tracks the true total number of active warrants. We are operating in the dark..."
Last week, Indiana's governor announced the suspension of the state's gasoline excise tax, which is 36 cents a gallon. On top of that, he also extended the usage tax suspension for another 30 days, which is 23 cents for the month of May. Between those two suspensions, Hoosiers will save nearly 60 cents per gallon at the pump this month, about a 12.4 percent discount per fill-up. The suspension is expected to cost the state of Indiana at least $100 million in tax revenue.
“We have seen tremendous increases in state-level funding, but it hasn't translated into any sort of decreases for property tax funding either,” state Rep. Blaine Wilhour said. “Should we just expect property taxes to increase exponentially for forever?”
Illinois lawmakers rely on secrecy and shortcuts in the budget process. In 2015, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities ranked Illinois’ process among the nation’s worst, citing lack of long-run cost or revenue forecasts. Over a decade later, it’s only deteriorated further.
State Rep. Carol Ammons, State Sen. Graciela Guzmán and State Sen. Dave Koehler: "The idea that Illinois can cut its way out of this crisis — that gutting services for families already under pressure is somehow the responsible choice — is a fiction. The math doesn’t support it, and it would be deeply irresponsible to force working families to bear the cost of a budget crisis created in large part by the wealthy and large corporations failing to pay their fair share."
In the lawsuit, the Public Interest Legal Foundation asserts the Illinois VRA all but forces state lawmakers to use race when deciding how to carve up the state and its population into legislative districts. The lawsuit further asserts Illinois Democrats have intentionally done so, with the goal of artificially creating legislative districts that work to encourage and ensure the election of state and federal lawmakers who are black, Latino or of other preferred, particular races.
The Illinois unemployment rate rose to 5.2 percent in March, up from 5.0 percent in February.
“There are currently no checks and balances on data center developers, and they’re flooding the state with proposals driving up our utility bills, threatening our water supply and leaving communities in the dark,” state Sen. Rachel Ventura said.
State Rep. Patrick Sheehan questioned whether judges who release violent offenders should face greater public accountability when those offenders commit additional crimes. “I think there maybe needs to be a reexamination of the type of immunity that judges have,” he said.
Governors in neighboring states, including Indiana and Kentucky, have recently suspended gas taxes to offer drivers temporary relief. Illinois isn't following suit — at least not yet. Gov. JB Pritzker appears focused on passing his proposed budget before the legislative session ends this month.
A battle over credit card transaction fees continues after a federal appeals court Friday sent the case about a new Illinois law seeking to limit so-called swipe fees back to District Court. A recent order from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (part of the U.S. Department of the Treasury) exempted national banks from the law but not Illinois credit unions and community banks.
House Bill 34 would ban the ability to carry a firearm at any building, property or parking area of polling locations, creating a 24th restriction on open carry laws in the state.
“I can’t stress enough we’re not seeing this from one political party,” Tazewell County Clerk JohnAckerman said. “Both are just as guilty of committing the sin of throwing misinformation into the media circus, and that’s part of the problem.”
"Not all the BUILD Plan proposals would move Illinois in the right direction. One would provide $100 million “to remove upfront infrastructure barriers that prevent otherwise viable housing projects from breaking ground.” Another bill would provide $150 million to support down payment assistance programs."
"Threading through nearly every debate in the Democratic-controlled General Assembly is a fundamental disagreement about the state’s fiscal future. While progressive Democrats are pushing to tax billionaires and close corporate loopholes, Republicans are warning that squeezing job creators will severely damage Illinois’ economy."
"There was some discussion in Springfield earlier this year about skipping the planned gas-tax hike because of rising fuel prices, but so far, nothing has come of it."
"Statewide statistics show that 20 percent of K-12 public school students fall under the category of 'chronically absent.' That means they miss 10 percent of the school year — 17.5 days of a 175-school year. ... Attendance is ground zero in the quest to see that all students have a shot at a good education."
Gov. JB Pritzker's proposed budget includes a cut of $17.5 million to out-of-school programs like After School Matters and Teen REACH, which supports kids who need extra resources and emotional support that a school can not provide. ACT Now, a statewide coalition promoting afterschool and youth development programs, is suing the federal government to pay the $18.5 million worth of grant money that was awarded to Illinois community school programs.
Illinois has provided tax incentives for data centers since Gov. JB Pritzker signed bipartisan legislation in 2019. According to the state’s 2024 report, at least 27 data centers have received incentives totaling $983 million in estimated lifetime tax breaks and benefits.
"Understanding that the best defense for incompetence is a good offense, (Gov. JB) Pritzker is attacking Trump seemingly daily as he vies for national leadership of the Trump resistance and diverts to attention or scapegoats for the state’s considerable problems. Unfortunately for Illinois, with its gerrymandered federal and state legislative maps limiting any real political accountability, Illinois residents with the means will continue to vote with their feet."
The city has just one gas station, no grocery store and a population that has dropped to about 1,200 people, making economic development a growing concern. One suggestion was using an old, roughly 100-acre Caterpillar site to be annexed into the city and sold to data center developers, but aldermen are now split on the idea.
"Again, kudos to the House for passing a Bears/megaprojects bill. It wasn’t easy by any means. As with the Senate’s mass transit bill last year, it was one of those 'whatever it takes' tasks. And it was a good time for House Speaker Emanuel 'Chris' Welch to start conditioning his members to vote for some tough bills as the session progresses. On all that, Welch succeeded."
This plan ensures utility companies and contractors can access service lines located on private property at no cost to the property owner. It also expands who can authorize and perform the replacement.
Top Chicago Stories
Teacher losses will be capped at four per elementary school and six per high school as the district adjusts its staffing allocation formulas. The district’s smallest schools will also lose funding for assistant principals. Class size limits will remain unchanged, officials said, citing several years of declining enrollment.
U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly wrote in his decision Monday that the county was “deliberately indifferent to the need to address the … violations that occurred from property tax sales.” Since 2020, nearly 2,500 homeowners not only lost their properties but also the surplus equity in those homes after their delinquent property taxes were sold.
Throughout last year, Mayor Brandon Johnson vowed to protect Chicago’s public health dollars from President Donald Trump. But behind the scenes, his health commissioner voluntarily returned tens of millions of dollars in COVID-19 grants to the federal government months before expiration — funds that could have gone to disease surveillance to help prepare for an outbreak or racial equity programming to improve health outcomes across the city.
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As of April 3, the court’s electronic monitoring program included 21 people with pending murder cases, 13 facing attempted murder charges, 103 charged with criminal sexual assault, 78 charged with robbery, and 16 with pending carjacking cases. How many of those, if any, were missing is unknown.
"Lives are at risk. Just in the 10th ward alone, I have had multiple victims lying in the alley for hours and hours," said Ald. Peter Chico.
Letouer Turner is a disabled veteran who spent 15 months serving in Iraq but is currently at risk of losing his Chicago Heights home due to property taxes he should not have been paying; court records show Turner as owing more than $243,000 as foreclosure proceedings continue. Cook County officials have issued a “certificate of error” and refunded some of the money Turner’s paid, but it is not enough to cover the costs and stop the foreclosure.
During another takeover two days later, masked individuals were seen banging on a Chicago police cruiser and preventing it from moving. It's unclear if any arrests were made.
“In Chicago, when you think about the Great Migration, what people were running from, and what they were coming to, how has that impacted how the legal system looks currently?” said Andre, Chicago’s new deputy mayor of community safety. “If we’re serious about root causes, we cannot not look at history.”
"The billable hours logged as Salvatore Prescott Porter & Porter chased their tails obviously amounts to a rounding error for a school system exceeding $10 billion in annual spending. But the symbolism of taxpayer funds wasted on Harden’s temper tantrum over news leaks reverberates well beyond the price tag. This is not evidence of a school board president focused on the right priorities."
After several Latino aldermen questioned developers about how Latino contracting firms would be involved in construction, Ald. Nicole Lee, one of two Asian aldermen, reminded them that “we live in a very diverse city.”
"By treating children as a captive audience for a specific political agenda, the CTU is stripping them of the very thing education is supposed to provide: the intellectual autonomy to navigate the world as free-thinking and upstanding citizens. Instead, they are being used as political props to give the illusion of a youth-led mandate for CTU’s platform."
Store representatives said the store loses 16 percent of its inventory to theft, four times the company’s average. Walgreens hired security guards at a cost of $400,000 per year and locked up its most frequently stolen merchandise, but executives said those measures failed to stop the losses.
A review of city records showed Mayor and state Rep. Thaddeus Jones spent more than $35,000 on restaurants and more than $46,000 on travel-related expenses since 2024. And just 30 minutes after the report aired, an email from Mayor Jones’ Calumet City account to seven people, including the park district’s executive director, read: “After Clerk Figgs nasty interview about me tonight on WGN, I am withdrawing my support for the $250,000 for the Park District.”
The owners of the United Center are closer to obtaining a $55 million property tax break for a massive development project surrounding the arena, but questions over minority contracting and a dispute with a hospitality union threaten to thwart or delay final approval of the subsidy. 
Chicago is vying against Atlanta, Boston, Denver and Philadelphia, cities which can't boast one selling point scouts will get an early peek at: the Obama Presidential Center.
"Clearly, City Hall has prioritized CTU and its schools over other public employee unions, schools, and agencies. This is evident in both salary increases and headcount growth. Contrast the city’s reduction of more than 2,100 public safety positions with more than 9,000 new full-time budgeted positions added to CPS. There are 7.5 school district employees per student, including more than 22,000 non-teaching positions at CPS — more than 10,000 more non-teachers than the total number of Chicago police officers."
Both former Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Mayor Brandon Johnson approved a request from the city’s top lawyer to hire private attorneys to defend Officer Melvina Bogard, and her partner, Officer Bernard Butler, records show. In fact, the city hired four private law firms to defend the city and the two officers.
The ages of the victims range from 17 to 79, according to Chicago police.
"As a child of the South Side, I have seen the incredible potential in this community, particularly the resilience of its people. I’ve also seen great ideas, sparks of progress and coordinated efforts to lift up our neighborhoods — but until now, I have not seen the realization of our collective vision for a resurgence on this scale."
“We must win a majority of the first 21 person fully elected school board in November,” reads the first point in CTU’s member FAQ document. Another constitutional change was slipped into the dues hike vote, which will take place May 20-21, tries to place limits on when members may bring a lawsuit against the union for violating members’ rights.
"We have learned that this year alone, the Chicago Police Department has refused to act on nearly 300 immigration detainers presented to them for known criminals in our custody who are not citizens," said Chicago Ald. Ray Lopez. "When are we going to choose the law-abiding, innocent people who deserve our protection over those that are here abusing our systems?"
The arrest comes as some lawmakers are trying to outlaw the use of facial recognition by state and local law enforcement agencies across Illinois.
More than 40 percent of Chicago Public Schools students were chronically absent during the 2024–2025 academic year — missing at least 10 percent of school days. For about 130,000 young people, that adds up to nearly a month of lost learning
"Tuesday’s stunning revelations about former Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s abuse of Certificates of Innocence (COIs) may finally force Chicago’s political and media establishment to confront an uncomfortable reality: The city’s wrongful-conviction litigation system has become a lucrative enterprise in which violent criminals, along with their lawyers, are extravagantly enriched at taxpayers’ expense, all in the name of criminal justice."
And there’s still more work to be done. The final public infrastructure costs are likely to approach $200 million. The costs are not part of the presidential center’s privately-funded $850 million price tag - the funding comes from a $174 million pot created for the center’s benefit by the state back in 2018. 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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