“The problem, of course, is the cost, pegged at about $300 million per year. As I’ve told you before, numbers crunchers with the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget are saying Illinois could face a budget deficit of $891 million next fiscal year, which begins July 1. That deficit could rise to $1.4 billion in fiscal year 2026 and $1.66 billion in FY27. But this issue has real potential to take off in the General Assembly.”

A proposal to repeal the Illinois TRUST Act, which created the state’s sanctuary status, has over 30 House Republican co-sponsors. However, it is highly unlikely that Democratic leaders will allow that plan to be heard in hearing or on the House floor. “In lockstep with the White House, Gov. Pritzker and the Illinois Democrats have propped up and expanded our sanctuary state policies to make Illinois the new Holiday Inn Express for illegal immigrants,” said Rep. Chris Miller.

The data for December showed that unemployment in the state rose slightly by 0.1 percentage point from 4.7% to 4.8%. Despite the rise in unemployment, Illinois gained 1,200 payroll jobs. Illinois is also seeing a similar trend compared to December 2022, with a slightly higher unemployment rate (4.6% then) but more jobs (up 57,800).

“We are highlighting this in part because Illinois is one of only two states whose regulators have no authority to reject or modify excessive car insurance rates and we think that’s a problem,” Illinois Public Interest Research Group Education Fund Director Abe Scarr said.

The vote on Sanders’ resolution further exposed the schism that has developed among Democrats over the Israel-Hamas war and the debate over the best way for the Biden administration and Congress to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to scale back the attacks as civilian deaths in Gaza caused by Israel’s bombs soar.

“Rural and urban Illinoisans live in starkly different worlds, and the former resent it, though they don’t clearly understand why. There are textbook solutions, such as better education and higher parental expectations in rural Illinois. I wish I could be optimistic.”

It reads, in part, “After 70 years of attempts, my partners in the General Assembly and I were able to accomplish meaningful reform during my first term in office. We ushered in a new era of responsible fiscal management, one aspect of which has been consolidating over 600 local pension systems to increase returns and lower fees, reducing the burden on taxpayers and keeping another campaign promise.”

The Illinois Supreme Court Friday upheld lower courts’ rulings to allow the merger of billions in assets from hundreds of local pensions to move forward. The court said a state law requiring the pooling of assets held by more than 600 downstate and suburban fire and police funds does not violate the state constitution’s pension protections as the plaintiffs had argued.

“Appellate justices and courts throughout the state are working tirelessly to consider and issue opinions on the more than 1,500 appeals filed since September 18, 2023 related to detention and pretrial decisions across Illinois,” a spokesman for the Supreme Court said in a statement.

It’s the seventh time in 10 years the university hasn’t increased tuition for its three campuses in Urbana-Champaign, Chicago and Springfield. The board also approved a zero percent increase in fees for the first time in 25 years.

State Sen. Meg Loughran Cappel introduced a bill last week to guarantee all public school teachers in Illinois would get 45 continuous minutes daily carved out of their schedule to plan lessons.

The polar vortex gripping the nation has exposed a fatal flaw in President Joe Biden’s push to force Americans into electric cars. EVs don’t work well in the cold. Several news stories out of Chicago this week report how EV owners have been struggling to keep their cars charged as extreme cold saps their batteries of energy, extends charging times, and forces owners to wait for hours to get an open charger.

The Smart Start program passed last May as part of the state’s operating budget, which allocated $250 million to expand early childhood education programs, including wage support for child care workers, early intervention programs and home visiting programs. It also included a goal of adding 5,000 pre-k spots in areas where access was lacking – and the state has exceeded that number by over 800 seats.

The John Pritzker Family Fund gave the Protect Democracy Project $700,000 between 2019 and 2022. The Pritzker family is one of the nation’s wealthiest and deeply connected to the world of liberal politics. John’s cousin, JB Pritzker, serves as the Democratic governor of Illinois while another one of his cousins, Penny Pritzker, has held high-ranking posts in both the Obama and Biden administrations.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz exploded when Durbin accused him of assuming Adeel Mangi, nominated to serve as a U.S. Circuit Judge for the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in New Jersey, was an antisemite or terrorist sympathizer because he is Muslim. Said Cruz, “You did not dispute any of the facts I said about the organization that he was an advisor of, he was a donor of, he raised money for. The Democrats don’t want to defend the substance,

“We know this unprecedented humanitarian crisis is going to be critical to discussions on budget and other important issues this session,” House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch said Tuesday, one day before announcing a nine-member working group to concentrate on the migrant issue. “We’re going to keep all options on the table and have frank conversations with our caucus, the Senate president, Governor Pritzker, and other stakeholders.”

“Shall the written consent from a minor’s parent or guardian be required before any entity, person, clinic or school can provide a minor (under the age of 18 years) any nonemergency medical procedure, medication, pharmaceutical, or any gender modification procedure, gender identification counseling or gender therapy?” the question asks.

“The discussion about being a welcoming state or a sanctuary state, all of that discussion has always been about what are we going to do about the undocumented people that have been here for decades,” Gov. JB Pritzker said. He said there’s a difference between illegal and undocumented migrants and those who are documented asylum seekers, “so on the question about the challenges that are brought up in a press conference like that have zero to do with the current migration crisis that’s occurring.”

David Greising, of the Better Government Association: “Illinois has been hit hard: Five downstate counties have no local news source, and four others are at risk of losing their lone outlet. Illinois newspapers have lost 86% of their journalism jobs since 2005. Chicago, despite a boomlet in the nonprofit journalism sector, still is among the 20 metro areas with the largest loss of news sources per capita.”

California attorney General Rob Bonta leads the 21-state coalition demanding that the Biden administration ban menthol cigarettes, claiming they are disproportionately consumed by black smokers, LGBTQ smokers and smokers with mental health problems.

“Government leaders have named streets after (Martin Luther King Jr.) and created a federal holiday to commemorate his life. OK, fine. But if our public sector really wants a meaningful way to honor King, it should actually redress the harm done to generations of Black Americans, by eliminating the structural racism woven into the fabric of society. This responsibility falls more on the public sector now than ever, given the Supreme Court’s recent anti-affirmative action decision, which makes it difficult for individual institutions to deal directly with racial inequity.”

The cost of constructing the Enjoy Illinois float, the performers on board and the entry fee cost taxpayers $560,000. The theme spotlighted the state’s music history along Route 66 and was called “Illinois: The Middle of Beats and Blues,” a nod to the state’s tourism campaign, “Middle of Everything.” The float did not grab any of the 24 float trophies awarded this year.