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Sponsors said this is an attempt to address the financial disincentives that exist for potential jurors to serve. The National Federation of Independent Businesses opposes the bill, as small businesses believe employees should be paid by the government for jury duty.
The Illinois General Assembly is considering helping educational support staff workers whose incomes dry up each summer by allowing them to collect unemployment benefits between academic terms beginning on June 1. “The discussion we’re having now is how expensive it is,” House sponsor Rep. Marcus Evans said. “Is it a Maserati or a Camry? I think it’s a Camry.”
"The rejection of her petition came without dissent or comment from any Supreme Court justices. And the rejection came despite warnings from Jeanne Hedgepeth's attorneys and other legal observers that to allow the lower courts' decisions to stand would essentially give the green light to public school districts to censor and potentially fire teachers and other school staff, should they say things that might offend the political sensibiities of students, other faculty or others in the 'school community' who may cause a commotion in protest of the disfavored speech."
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Jim Dey: "In a Monday committee meeting, the Urbana City Council approved a new 'Ethical Investments' policy that excludes 'investments in organizations that make war.' But council member Chris Evans later characterized a specific reason for the list of companies to be boycotted as 'the Gaza genocide.'”
A city employee fell for the scam and disclosed "sensitive account information" April 29 when they received a phone call from someone impersonating a bank representative, city officials said.
The Centralia facility, which opened in 2012 with just 12 employees, has expanded nearly fourfold in square footage and now employs 141 people; employment at the Centralia site is expected to reach approximately 201 employees by the end of 2028. The $15.3 million investment from Intermountain Electronics is supported by a Reimagining Energy and Vehicles (REV Illinois) agreement with the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.
Advisory referendums supporting some form of separation have passed in 33 of Illinois' 102 counties, largely in rural and downstate areas frustrated by Democratic dominance in Springfield. But Saturday's meeting in Barrington highlights growing interest in some suburban communities as well.
“We have been on a spending spree, and it’s time to use this year as an austerity year to be mindful of the working families in the state that say ‘Boy, We pay a lot of taxes in Illinois,’” state Rep. Ryan Spain said.
Few issues have drawn more ink than a megaprojects bill aimed at keeping the Chicago Bears in Illinois. They want to build a domed stadium and mixed-use site in Arlington Heights, but they also want property tax certainty. The 40-page original bill passed by the House now is nearly 400 pages.
Sen. Dave Syverson noted that those who support public schools often also choose alternative education for their own families. “(The Education Freedom Tax Credit) just gives families, most of those low-income, the same educational choices and options that educators get, that legislators get, that the governor gets, that we should believe they should get as well,” Syverson said.
Gov. JB Pritzker’s record-high $56 billion proposed budget for fiscal 2027 relies on an additional $1 billion in revenue that may or may not materialize and $589 million in not-yet-approved tax hikes.
Founded in 1872 as the Cook County Herald, the suburban Chicago newspaper has grown into the third-largest daily print publication in Illinois, with a current circulation of 52,410, according to its website.
Chicago's lobbyist, John Arena, said that sweeping TIF funds is a key tool the city uses to avoid more harmful financial decisions. “This would deprive local taxing bodies of revenues that they could otherwise use to address budget shortfalls, infrastructure needs, and programming taxpayers rely on for Chicago,” Arena said. “That is a terrible limitation on revenue management. The bill would result in tax increases, service cuts, or both for schools, parks, and other taxing bodies.”
The Illinois Department of Employment Security said the unemployment rate was 5.1 percent in April, unchanged from March, and up +0.6 percent from the same month, one year ago, based on data provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The Illinois State Board of Education waited until April to distribute $18 million, and then told recipients they had only until the end of August to spend the money or else return it.
Faith Colson, a survivor of abuse by a teacher at her suburban Chicago high school in the early 2000s and the namesake behind Faith’s Law, which strengthens requirements intended to stop grooming in schools. Colson opposes the bill, saying it could make it harder to find a pattern of child abuse if it is not documented in every instance.
The House Gun Violence Prevention Committee voted 9-5 along party lines Wednesday to pass House Bill 4471, which seeks to ban the sale of any semiautomatic pistol with a cruciform trigger bar in Illinois.
Gov. JB Pritzker said most of the BUILD plan would not cost taxpayers anything, but he said it did include $250 million to spur development and help people afford housing.
Senate Bill 3496 was filed in February to ensure proper licensing of nurses, but the bill text was gutted and replaced by House Amendment 1 to establish a Prescription Drug Affordability Board. State Rep. Nabeela Syed there would be an estimated cost of $750,000 for PDAB operations that would be paid back to the state by the fees on drug manufacturers.
“It’s just disheartening that we continually think that government knows better than a parent knows about their children,” state Sen. Jil Tracy said.
Gas prices in Illinois are up 48 percent from last Memorial Day.
The major investment is part of a $2.9 billion national funding package from the Trump administration’s Environmental Protection Agency. Illinois received about 10 percent of the federal dollars — the largest allocation among all 50 states.
Chicago developer Mike Reschke is poised to buy a mostly empty downtown office tower at 55 West Monroe St. at a staggering 90% discount from its 2014 sale price, reinforcing both the financial carnage in the local office market and his status as a big bettor on the Loop’s post-pandemic recovery.
The bill to establish a Prescription Drug Affordability Board is part of a broader push by Democrats to address an affordability crisis that has rocked Illinois and the rest of the country. But opponents argue the panel would do little to actually lower prices while creating new layers of bureaucracy in state government.
Gov. JB Pritzker told members of the press Wednesday he’s not sure what new tax measures the legislature will pass, and he sees the current priority as delegating how to best spend the revenue the state will have.
The teacher on summer vacation wrote in one post that she would need “a gun and training” because “civil war has begun,” and she reposted another that advocated for using high-pressure washers against protesters. The school district deemed the posts “disrespectful, demeaning of other viewpoints and racist,” which the former teacher alleges amounted to infringement of protected speech.
Illinois lawmakers should get economic impact studies before enacting major taxes and regulations and review costly policies they’ve already enacted.
Top Chicago Stories
Hilario Domínguez began his CPS career in 2015 as a special education teacher. But in November 2021, a fellow employee accused Domínguez of discrimination and sexual harassment; the employee said Domínguez repeatedly made a Nazi salute and called them “Hitler” in front of students. In November 2022, he took leave from CPS and eventually joined CTU staff. 
Tens of millions in public funding may also be required to build a new Pink Line CTA station near the United Center. 
"You know, it's not parent-shaming to say that you should know where your children are at 10, 11, 12 o'clock at night, when you have a 12-year-old or a 13-year-old," he said. More Highlighted Chicago Area Stories
The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office says no public funds are being used for the agency’s new Regional Transit Task Force. Task force participants include the Chicago Police Department, Chicago Transit Authority, Cook County Sheriff’s Office, U.S. Attorney’s Office, FBI, ATF, DEA, Metra and Pace.
"The Illinois legislature faces a May 31 deadline to finalize their Arlington Heights work. Otherwise, the only tangible choice the Bears would have is the Indiana site because that state's legislature put together a package to help the Bears fund a new stadium and Governor Mike Braun signed the bill into law. So Illinois is at minimum trying to keep the Bears in the state. But the Chicago folks are moving slowly to improve their chances of keeping their team in their city, even if it costs the state the team. This infighting surprises. Or perhaps not."
"As a Chicagoan, I have no illusions about the city politics. There has never been reasonable fiscal policies in the city in my lifetime. However, Johnson has moved from the dismissive to delusional in ignoring the economic realities growing in the city."
David Greising, of the Better Government Association: "In many states, the law requires detailed cost-benefit analysis on all bills with major financial implications for state budgets. Illinois has one such law, but it is full of loopholes that render it almost meaningless."
Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas says the dramatic increase is due to two AI experts she recently hired. "In the last six weeks, due to artificial intelligence, look at this 28,000 people have gotten $73 million. We are killing it," Pappas said.
Mayor Brandon Johnson says his plan is also focused on engaging with young people and providing summer jobs and safe spaces for youth. This upcoming holiday weekend, Chicago's top cop says days-off for his officers have been canceled to provide more resources in targeted areas.
Robbins Mayor Darren Bryant was behind the wheel of a white sedan when Calumet Park police pulled him over for making an illegal turn. He asked a total of 15 times why he was pulled over before police pulled him from the vehicle and placed him under arrest. During that interaction, police asked him 10 times to provide his license and insurance, but he did not. "You don't know who you're arresting right now," Bryant said after he was handcuffed.
“The district really went on a hiring spree during COVID, against the advice of most financial experts,” said Austin Berg, of the Chicago Policy Center,. “They were adding a lot of recurring costs on one-time revenues that they knew would go away after the pandemic was over.” Berg also said CTU asked too much of the district in the two bodies’ most recent contract.
Judge Erica Reddick’s ruling Thursday came after more than 400 attorneys, clergy members, elected officials and community organizers accused Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke of abandoning her official duties in refusing to investigate widespread allegations of crimes committed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in and around Chicago. But Reddick found that it is law enforcement agencies, not the prosecutor’s office, that are tasked with launching such investigations.
"In (Mayor Brandon) Johnson’s mind a progressive council aligns with a progressive mayor and that’s how government should function. He is continuing the tradition of giving the council and public too little time and too little information. Major decisions — from asset sales to pension holidays to tax-increment financing and the casino deal — have been shaped behind closed doors, with the council largely rubber-stamping them."
“I make my own detritus,” Bradford said, “and then I use the detritus to make a painting.” The debris makes his canvases impressionistic and sculptural, and resistant to linear, literal storytelling.
"Chicago Public Schools has an 82.5 percent high school graduation rate, although only 27 percent of students are proficient in math and 42 percent in reading. ... Around 43 percent of CPS students going to state community colleges are enrolled in remedial courses."
Officer Kevin Mangan had responded to a location where three people had pulled up and blocked an ambulance from leaving a separate scene in McKinley Park. When Mangan started writing that ticket, police said a 30-year-old woman started banging on a squad car. Then she and a 33-year-old man attacked Mangan.
The ordinance from Ald. Matt Martin prohibits officers from engaging in “extremist activities,” defined in the measure as any attempt to overthrow the U.S. government through violence or “unconstitutional means.”
The report notes that Burke reversed a policy set by Kim Foxx, who during her tenure said her administration would not file felony retail theft charges unless the stolen goods were valued at more than $1,000. Illinois law sets the threshold at $300, which is what Burke has now directed prosecutors to use.
Far Southwest Side Ald. Matt O’Shea said a parade of restaurant owners in his border ward have told him they don’t want to leave Beverly, but city mandates have them seriously considering moves to suburbs like Oak Lawn, Evergreen Park and Blue Island. “If the restaurants don’t exist or leave to go the suburbs, nobody’s got jobs,” O’Shea said.
Quintina Brown, head of the Markham Park District, arranged for a helicopter to land at Roesner Park May 8 so her 17-year-old daughter could pose for pictures in front of it on prom night. Brown is accused of using a taxpayer-funded credit card to help pay for the $800 helicopter rental.
All current sitting school board members plan to run for election or reelection except the appointed president, Sean Harden. With several candidates in the running to replace him, the race for school board president is expected to be competitive and expensive.
Johnson appeared to argue that pushing for property tax breaks for the Bears was antithetical to lawmakers’ responsibility to their constituents. "The difference or the disconnect is, look, we do come from different experiences," Johnson said. "I’m not a billionaire. I’m not the heir of billions of dollars. I’m a working-class brotha that was teaching middle school a handful of years ago."
According to Ald. Anthony Napolitano, the city’s "weak" judicial system coupled with the SAFE-T Act puts both law enforcement and Chicago’s residents at risk. "[Officials] don’t know where the [electronic monitored felons] are or how to attest for them or how to get in contact with them. They’re basically on the run," he said. "We should know as residents of the city, what is the threat level setup that you as a judge are allowing these people to go on an electronic monitoring system?"
Chicago recorded the highest number of homicides among major U.S. cities from January through April, with 98 killings. Oakland was next with 67.
David Glockner used his confirmation hearing to differentiate himself from his predecessor. He said he won’t hesitate to “call balls and strikes,” but he added he plans to try to minimize clashes with the mayor’s office by emphasizing “problem-solving over fingerpointing.”
Asked whether she’d be comfortable wearing the hat if the legislation failed and the Bears chose Hammond, Indiana instead, Davis Gates said the bill should have nothing to do with whether or not the Bears choose to go to Arlington Heights. “I have no idea how school funding and the Chicago Bears Stadium are intertwined. Our position is property tax dollars currently go to fund our schools. That's what we want to happen,” she said.
"Strengthening both policing and prosecution of property crimes is the key to bringing Walgreens and other businesses back to the South Side. Rhetoric like (Ald. William) Hall’s, by contrast, continues to send the message that Chicago is closed for business."
"There is something profoundly bizarre about the mayor of a financially struggling American city darting off to the Vatican to deliver a White Sox baseball cap to the Pope while the transit system back home increasingly resembles a rolling crime scene."
If the full council approves the $5 million TIF sweep when it meets Wednesday, the move would follow a roughly $1 billion sweep of TIF funds to CPS by the council last December. Days earlier, the Chicago Board of Education raised its property tax levy from 3.8 percent to 4.7 percent during what board president Sean Harden called a “special” meeting held during the district’s winter break.
Wirepoints Research and Commentary
Audio and summary 
A largely unasked question is becoming glaring: Is Illinois doing all it should to use artificial intelligence to make government cost less and work better? So far, the evidence says no.
Everybody needs a side hustle these days, and mine is Ukraine, where I am now.
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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.
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. 
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