“These so-called experts are complaining that Pritzker and Lightfoot are playing taxpayers for fools over the politics of gas, which is so expensive now because of inflation and other domestic policy choices (thanks Brandon) that many Americans can barely afford to completely fill their gas tanks just to get to work….How dare these critics utter such nonsense about the governor and the mayor! Don’t they have faith in our elected officials? It all makes me so, so very sad. Since when have taxpayers ever been played for fools, idiots, nincompoops, and chumbolones by Chicago mayors and Illinois governors?”

The latest ruling comes in a case filed in Christian County on behalf of some Illinois Department of Corrections employees who objected to the requirement to show proof of vaccination against the virus or submit to regular testing.

Illinois Representative Mike Quigley said the U.S. was lagging behind in support for too long, but now officials feel the urgency. “This isn’t a weaning off process anymore. And the U.S. needs to help its allies as quickly as possible because winter is always coming.”

For residents in ComEd’s northern Illinois territory, the average electric bill will likely drop while central and southern Illinois prices are set to spike.

Families of fallen Illinois state workers can now have access to their loved one’s insurance with no premium costs. Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed the bipartisan measure Friday.

Ted Dabrowski, president of the nonpartisan, nonprofit organization Wirepoints, said there are several reasons why Illinois is not business friendly. “We’re too corrupt. Our taxes are way too high. We have way too many regulations and we have massive debts, and that is plenty of reason enough for companies to not want to locate in Illinois, not to mention the state is shrinking in population so it’s not a growth state to put your business in.”

“One thing that we’re saying and that our members are saying is that we have a testing regime that has gone too far, and is not helping children learn,” Illinois Federation of Teachers president Dan Montgomery said.

“So, according to her testimony, hospitalization is $600 a day for the first month and $1,000 a day thereafter. In this case, DCFS paid the hospital $348,000 out of the Illinois taxpayer funds…not federal funds, to keep this kid locked up beyond the date of medical necessity,” Cook County Circuit Judge Patrick T. Murphy said. “You could have bought the Taj Mahal for the cost of this placement. This is bizarre!”

Townships and municipalities are the most common governments. The rest are special units such as museum districts, mosquito abatement districts, and tuberculosis sanitation districts. And there are 17 townships in Illinois with identical boundaries to their cities – meaning residents pay two separate tax bills for two sets of bureaucracy that could easily be handled by one government unit.

Michael Mini, executive vice president of the Chicagoland Apartment Association: In the spirit of equity, the Chicagoland Apartment Association urges those policymakers to consider how increased valuations of apartment buildings will impact the price, quality and future supply of rental housing for more than half of Chicago’s residents. Any efforts to shift the burden from homeowners to other property types should not dismiss the fact that renters are taxpaying residents, too.

Civic Federation’s Laurence Msall: If members of the General Assembly are still serious about meaningful property tax reform and providing relief to taxpayers, they need to thoroughly examine the structural oddity that is Illinois government.

“This is where the high cost of goods and obtaining goods, energy prices and a tight labor market are all exacerbating cost increases that employers can’t absorb anymore and are having to push on to their customers,” said Todd Maisch, president of the Illinois Chamber

The study, released by Pew Charitable Trusts, provides an early look at the retirement plan launched in 2018 the state treasurer facilitates. Secure Choice automatically enrolls workers at Illinois businesses with at least 25 employees that do not currently offer a retirement program. Employers do not have to match the contributions.

“500 beds were let go under the prior governor, 500 residential beds,” Gov. Pritzker said. “You can’t snap your fingers and put those back it takes years to build back residential beds… If they have to lag in those facilities, while we find them a residential bed longer than any of us like, that not something any of us like.”

“There are many reasons why the last-minute budget votes benefit lawmakers. The lack of transparency makes the process less contentious, making it more difficult to mount cohesive opposition. Often, pork-barrel projects designed to help lawmakers back home are slipped quietly into the bills, and once a budget is passed into law, it becomes difficult to untangle later on.”

However, the governor also explained why he does plan to file another disaster declaration for the next month: “We’re listening to the CDC about that, and the White House, and also keeping our own counsel about the cases and hospitalizations so that we’re tracking it…We are still in a pandemic. Let’s be clear, the federal government has a disaster proclamation in place. So does the state of Illinois.”

Illinois’ top education official urged schools to stop working with police to ticket students for misbehavior, hours after an investigation by ProPublica and the Chicago Tribune revealed that schools across the state were evading laws designed to prohibit the fining of students.