The Illinois Supreme Court has ruled that the public has no right to boat, fish or swim in small rivers that flow across private property, but two justices are urging the General Assembly to change that law.

“In a number of primary elections on Tuesday, both parties continued to reject candidates willing to ever deviate from the party line…This trend is causing more extremity, more intransigence and more gridlock in Washington. Both parties are failing our country and hurting the American people.”

Comment: See our retort to these claims in our new column linked here.

Asked if there is anything about Bailey that Pritzker respects, he replied, “Oh, sure. I know that he’s a man who worships God who believes significantly in the tenets of his religion. I respect anybody that is committed as he is and he and his wife are.”

The state’s fiscal year 2023 budget includes $598 million, a $54.4 million increase from FY22, for early childhood education. The state has also used federal pandemic relief funds to support child care programs. According to the Pritzker administration, $978 million in pandemic relief funding has reached more than 12,000 child care providers with more than 85% of eligible child care centers and 60% of licensed child care homes receiving direct relief.

“According to research done by Linda Darling-Hammond, one of the pre-eminent authorities on education policy, an insufficient number of qualified teachers negatively impacts student achievement. So if Americans are really serious about wanting improved student outcomes, America has to get serious about investing enough tax dollars to pay teachers a competitive wage.”

More generally speaking, most Illinois voters are not happy with the direction the state is going in, as 59 percent said the state is on the “wrong track.” Just 40 percent believe it is headed in the “right direction.” This could spell trouble for Pritzker, per the survey.

“On its face, ( U.S. Judge Sue) Myerscough found, the sign language is a straightforward fact, the goal of which is ‘to inform consumers’ of the tax delay ‘and prevent gas retailers’ from ‘deceiving consumers by increasing gas prices by the non-imposed but previously scheduled’ tax increase. So let the word go forth that if motorists buy 20 gallons of gasoline at $5 a gallon, their costs, theoretically, will be reduced by 2.4 cents per gallon (28 cents). Instead of paying $100 for the fill-up, it’ll only be $99.72.”

“We have had four straight years of $4 billion declines in the unrestricted net position, which is like a loss, even as the state claims it’s a balanced budget,” Loyola University instructor Bill Bergman said.

In 2021, local health departments received approximately $230 million in federal tax funds to perform and improve contact tracing, case investigation, testing efforts, vaccination programs, and community outreach. But a study from the National Bureau of Economic Research gave Illinois a failing grade when combining health outcomes, economic performance throughout the pandemic, and impact on education. Now the program will receive another $10 million in federal tax money from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to continue its work.

In all, there is $17.9 million earmarked for rebates. It may sound like a lot but that only covers 4,475 drivers; The money could run out within months. There are now about 45,000 registered owners of electric vehicles in Illinois. About 3,000 of them were purchased in the last two months.