States with mask mandates haven’t fared significantly better than the 35 states that didn’t impose them during the omicron wave. There’s little evidence that mask mandates are the primary reason the pandemic waves eventually fall — though much of the outrage over lifting mandates is based on that assumption. Many experts acknowledge that the rise and fall of waves is a bit of a mystery.

A day after Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker visited Rockford to discuss tax relief measures in his $45.4 billion proposed 2023 budget, Mayor Tom McNamara urged passage of legislation that would restore a portion of the Local Government Distributive Fund. McNamara during his regular media briefing said approval of the legislation would mean an additional $5 million annually for the city, and about $500 million for municipalities across the state.

“While the political positions espoused by Democrats and Republicans can be crystal clear, this pending dispute again demonstrates how complex legal disputes spawned by those political differences can be.”

For the first time in over three decades, inflation will be well over 5.0%, thus allowing affected governments to increase their levies up to the 5.0% PTELL limit if they so choose. In contrast, the inflation linked PTELL limit in tax year 2021 for taxes payable in 2022 was only 1.4%.

The CDC’s handling of this study has implications that extend beyond the empirical question of how well masks work. In this case and others, the agency has proven that it cannot be trusted to act as an honest broker of scientific information. The result is that Americans are increasingly skeptical of anything the CDC says, even when it is sensible and well-grounded. While the CDC’s desperate attempts to back up conclusions it has already reached may be aimed at protecting its reputation and credibility, they have the opposite effect.

Pritzker said his three goals for higher education affordability were increasing Monetary Award Program (MAP) funding by 50%, making Illinois a top five state in federal student aid, and increasing the state’s support for higher education as a whole.

Don Schaefer, executive vice president of Mid-West Truckers Association, said he doesn’t see that developing in the Midwest. “They’re easing the masking mandates, we don’t have as strict … protocols that they’re protesting in Canada.”

Association of Illinois Rural and Small Schools Executive Director Dave Ardrey said ongoing litigation and executive mandates aside, small districts continue to focus on the mission of educating children. “I think individual schools are back to kind of that local control and working through this issue with their own boards and their own superintendents and their districts’ parents.”

The state has not passed a balanced budget since 2001, and that includes each year of Pritzker’s tenure as governor.

“CTU’s political muscle – and their willingness to flex it – could become the blueprint for schools and government at all levels if Illinois’ powerful government-sector unions get what they’re asking for at the polls in November. They want an amendment to the Illinois Constitution that would give unelected government union bosses more power than state law or the people elected to represent residents’ best interests.”

An unmasked seventh grade student explained, “We weren’t allowed to go outside until after everyone else was done being outside. But all the other students, when they are outside, don’t ever wear masks. So, I don’t understand that. This is horrible. They are treating us like prisoners.”

The proposed Vacancy Fraud Act would allow municipalities, school districts, parks and other taxing bodies to file complaints with their county government if a property owner who receives vacancy tax relief isn’t actively trying to lease, sell or renovate the property.

The investigation, which stemmed from an anonymous complaint in June 2017, also showed how correctional facilities across the state were illegally accepting donations from state vendors.

The proposed legislation would allow municipal governments with fewer than 3 million residents to levy up to a 3-cent per gallon tax on gasoline for road projects without first gaining the approval of local taxpayers at the polls. This would give each of Illinois’ 1297 municipalities the individual power to raise gas taxes on residents at will.

“Let’s start with the quintessential Valentine’s Day gifts. Expect a trip to the flower shop to cost 4% more this year. And the candies? That’s an extra 4.8%, too. Heading out to dinner and a show? That’ll cost 7.1% and 5.5% more than last year, respectively.”