Travel and tourism is an essential investment for Illinois, generating nearly $43.1 billion in direct spending (ranking Illinois 6th in the nation), Dave Herrell told lawmakers, pointing out that it supports 344,100 Illinois jobs and saves the average Illinois household $1,300 in taxes each year.

Josh Sharp, CEO of the Illinois Fuel & Retail Association, explained, “We’re only one of a handful of states that permits sales taxes on top of our already lofty motor fuel tax.”

The slew of tax cuts and proposed relief comes as some higher-tax states shed residents. From April 2020 to July 2021, higher tax areas, such as California, Hawaii, Illinois, New York and the District of Columbia, were the top five to lose residents. “We’re seeing a really competitive environment where states are looking for ways to make a name for themselves,” said Katherine Loughead of the Tax Foundation.

Madigan is certainly quoted deep within the 106-page bombshell document, but his comments won’t exactly go down in Chicago corruption history like Ald. Edward M. Burke’s: “did we land . . . the tuna?” Madigan’s are more along the lines of “OK . . . very good.”

A group of Democratic lawmakers had asked Gov. JB Pritzker to hold those funds after an investigation outlined Madigan’s role in securing $144 million for just four Rebuild Illinois projects. Pritzker now says a review confirms that the money was allocated in compliance with state rules and regulations.

She said of her position pre-pandemic, “Well, it wasn’t a walk in the park before the pandemic. There’s always an emergency. We had the measles outbreak; we had the vaping incidents which took lives. … It’s a really big state, so trying to navigate and drive to cover all parts of the state … I was busy.” Dr. Ngozi Ezike is one of USA TODAY’s Women of the Year, a recognition of women across the country who have made a significant impact.

Jim Dey: “As Champaign County’s elected executive, Darlene Kloeppel claimed authority to make appointments to various boards and commissions with the advice and consent of the county board. The county board chair, elected from a single district, claimed the same authority, effectively cutting the executive elected out of the appointment process…In keeping with the longstanding tradition of the Illinois General Assembly, its members decided to address their mess by making a bigger mess.”

“For every kid that gets placed, there are hundreds of kids behind that kid waiting for a bed,” said Cook County Public Guardian Charles Golbert. “And this is gonna continue to go on and on until DCFS creates the placements and the services that it needs for its children.” Golbert says DCFS is currently short more than 500 beds.

According to AAA over half of Americans said they will make lifestyle changes when gas hits over $4 per gallon, which we are well above in Illinois.

“The marketers of these systems are telling local leaders that they can adopt these systems in order to fight a recent spike in gun violence,” said Ed Yohnka, of the ACLU of Illinois. “There’s actually no evidence that it works that way or that it will help in terms of that.”

“A lot of families were angry and put out,” state Sen. Dave Syverson said. “People should never have had to die alone when their family members wanted to be there with them.” He added that people with cognitive disabilities and dementia suffered unnecessarily because they felt abandoned by their loved ones.

“…I asked (state Rep. Kelly) Cassidy about (Michael) Madigan’s legacy, and she said it’s not one way or the other: ‘all the best and worst things that have occurred in this state have his fingers on them.'”

At Wisconsin gas stations near the Illinois border, there are Illinois license plates everywhere as drivers try to save money.

Elected village presidents of Hanover Park and Hoffman Estates op-ed on restoring the Local Government Distributive Fund (LGDF) to its intended rate of 10%.