-- Connecting the dots between our economy, government and business --
The single largest gaming revenue source was the Lottery, which generated $833 million, 44.2% of the total. However, video gaming is now a close second source of revenue, with $762 million being collected in FY2022. Smaller amounts were collected from sports wagering ($142 million), riverboat casinos ($140 million) and horse racing ($7 million).
Jim Dey: “Organizations like the Illinois Chamber of Commerce and the National Federation of Independent Business oppose the measure because they fear the unknown — how the amendment would be interpreted by judges in coming decades. Policy analysts at the Illinois Policy Institute and Wirepoints fear that giving public employee unions new, undefined powers will drive up the costs of government, especially property taxes.”
“I think that they are correct in identifying hydrogen power as perhaps even an important energy resource that may in many ways leapfrog electric vehicles and become the next standard,” said Todd Maisch, Illinois Chamber of Commerce president and CEO. “Electric vehicles are getting a lot of attention, rightly so, but I really do believe that hydrogen-powered vehicles may be the thing that really replaces electric vehicles sooner than you may think.”
Matt Paprocki, of the Illinois Policy Institute: “The amendment would irresponsibly condemn current Illinois taxpayers to fund a “blank check” for government unions, and the amendment’s presence in the Illinois Constitution would force future generations to continue to back this ‘blank check’ without end.”
Residents of California and Illinois are wrestling with unaffordable housing and high property taxes, which can be attributed to their positions at no. 2 and no. 3 on the list. The states are also some of the most densely populated in the U.S.
Bryce Hill of the Illinois Policy Institute said it likely will increase property taxes. “Amendment 1 would open up and create this Pandora’s Box of new subjects of collective bargaining, and each new subject will ultimately raise the cost to taxpayers.”
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Mayor Lori Lightfoot had attended the opening ceremony on FTX.US’s glitzy, 9,000 square foot office space in downtown Chicago, and touted the benefits of FTX’s presence in the Windy City – especially a pilot program sponsored by FTX that would provide supplemental income and financial education for underbanked Chicago residents.
About a year into the pandemic, Arts Alliance Illinois reported $4.7 billion in cumulative losses for Chicago’s creative industries and more than $437,00 in average financial losses per Chicago arts and cultural organization, far higher than the national average loss at that point of $30,000 per arts and culture nonprofit.
“While reform to improve criminal justice is something to continually strive for, the Safe-T Act, as currently written, undermines the exact thing it purports to represent – the safety of our communities,” Moultrie County State’s Attorney Tracy Weaver said (with link to full lawsuit).
Though crime and other issues have attracted most of the media attention, Chicago Democrat Pritzker and downstate Republican Bailey are outlining radically different views of the state’s finances and what to do next.
Jim Dey: “It’s time once again to dive in to another round of quick takes on the people, places and events that were being talked about over the past week.”
But on the streets of Rockford and Rock Island, the face-off for the open seat between Democrat Eric Sorensen and Republican Esther Joy King
Illinois and Michigan are the highest in the Midwest, each averaging $4.17.
“It’s just unprecedented the relative amount of money he gives…. Giving a million dollars to a local DA candidate, what has occurred here in Northern Virginia, and millions of dollars to Philadelphia and Chicago and New York and Los Angeles … that is unprecedented and almost unfathomable.”
The city will coordinate with state and local agencies for additional assistance.
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