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The state already provides identification cards to people leaving the Department of Corrections or the Department of Juvenile Justice, but the new law expands the program to every county jail and federal prison in the state.
“He’s probably one of the better retail politicians in the Democratic Party,” said Bill Daley, who served as chief of staff to President Barack Obama and commerce secretary under President Bill Clinton. “I’m sure he’s built up a lot of relationships and that’s what the business is about – relationships. If he doesn’t get the vice presidency and Harris and her running mate lose, then he’s in a strong position to make a run after reelection in ’26, in ’28.”
During the meeting, the village’s embattled Mayor Tiffany Henyard ordered residents in the viewing gallery to pass through metal detectors, after they’d already taken their seats. As the meeting became heated, attendees were led out.
“If you are an employer in Illinois, you know that Democrats have saddled your business with burdens unlike most states … But if you are the University of Illinois and Northwestern University, you have the extraordinarily good fortune of having the Illinois House speaker (Chris Welch, a former Wildcat baseball player), state Sen. Napoleon Harris (a former Wildcat football player) and state Rep. Kam Buckner (a former Illini football player) sponsor a labor law that shields you from any possibility to be an employer of your athletes.”
“Chicago is a cautionary tale. Its past two mayors had no management experience and thin political resumes. Voters chose amateurism at a high cost. Similarly, the triumph of progressive ideology over responsible governance has imperiled the city’s future. The ‘economic, cultural and lifestyle marvel’ lauded by the national press at the last Chicago convention is in danger of returning to the ‘city on the brink’ that Daley inherited decades ago.”
Long-time readers of Wirepoints’ IRS out-migration work will know Illinois is a net loser of households in every single income and age bracket the IRS tracks. Now a new cut of the data shows Illinois ranks near-last nationally in almost every one of the brackets, revealing just how repellent the state’s policies are for all Illinoisans.
Just a taste of things we’ll be hearing during the Democratic convention in a couple weeks.
Mark joined Scott Childers on the Ray Stevens Show to talk about why the so-called “Worker Freedom of Speech Act” has been met with harsh criticism across the state. It’s clearly a violation of the First Amendment and will be hit with lawsuits almost immediately.
Under the legislation known as Senate Bill 2979, the the state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act law is now revised to declare that “individual violations” can only be counted per person, not per biometric scan. Thus, BIPA plaintiffs could only demand $1,000-$5,000 each, not multiplied against potentially hundreds or even thousands of potential biometric scans per plaintiff over five years.
The elimination of the statewide grocery tax doesn’t go into effect until Jan. 1, 2026. But the measure does other things – like allowing local governments to impose a grocery tax and increase other sales taxes, not through voter referendum, but through ordinance – that take effect immediately.
George Cardenas, commissioner of the Cook County Board of Review: “As we saw in this year’s reassessment in the south suburbs, property assessments tend to be skewed against lower-income homeowners and people of color, leading to over-assessments and higher tax bills. … Circuit breaker programs provide targeted property tax relief based on a household’s income.”
Jim Dey: “While the Pritzker veep sweepstakes didn’t cause much buzz nationally, Illinois’ self-interested Democratic pols fantasized about the possibilities here. … All those wannabes trapped in lower offices would like to move up. Circumstances would become even more chaotic if aged Democratic U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin doesn’t seek re-election in 2026.”
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