The five counties which lost the most residents are all located in high-tax states, namely California, Illinois, and New York. They have also been wracked by homelessness, drug taking and high rents and living costs.

The 593-megawatt Double Black Diamond Solar farm near Springfield is being built by Swift Current Energy of Boston. But the city doesn’t have a contract with the project itself. Instead, City Hall has a deal with Constellation Energy to supply 100% renewable energy. The Baltimore company sells electricity and natural gas contracts in states — like Illinois — that

Matt Paprocki, of the Illinois Policy Institute: “Another reform that would be popular? Pension reform. Even though Illinoisans paid the third most for government workers’ retirements in 2021, the state’s pension debt still totaled almost $140 billion at the end of fiscal year 2022..Voters deserve the chance to vote on a proposal to reform the state’s public pensions. A 2022 poll found bipartisan supermajorities of Illinois voters favor pension reform.”

Days before the family disappeared, 11-year-old Aiden told his grandmother and adult sister that he had twice walked in on his father telling a clown mask in his bedroom that he needed to ‘kill three people’, according to Gia Wright of the Missing Persons Awareness Network (MPAN).

The Bloomington-Normal Airport Authority is looking to expand its tax base to prepare for emergencies, but it has no plans to increase the levy. The levy would lead to lower property tax bills for Bloomington-Normal residents, while it would increase for the rest of the county. Bellflower Mayor Allen Grussing argued against the proposal, explaining that his community has just three businesses, and no schools or hotels. “Any revenue that would be coming in through the airport is not coming to Bellflower,” said Grussing.

State Rep. Marcus Evans Jr., who is sponsoring a bill that would create the Illinois child tax credit, said the legislation is an effort to support to support low-income, working families. He said it can also create more revenue, with families having more spending power once they receive the credit.

Before Elizabeth Rochford and Mary O’Brien were elected to the Illinois Supreme Court in November 2022, Gov. JB Pritzker gave each of their campaign funds half a million dollars from both his campaign account and a revocable trust, totaling $1 million to each. The two justices also received six-figure donations out of a campaign fund controlled by Illinois House Speaker Emanual “Chris” Welch”.

After Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) signed a controversial six-week abortion ban Thursday night, Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D-IL) reached out to disaffected residents of the state, encouraging them to make Illinois home instead.

Gov. Pritzker posted his support on Twitter. “No one better I can think of to be appointed to the Committee for the Preservation of the