The resolutions reads, in part, “As LBGTQ+ people and families visit Illinois to access reproductive healthcare and gender-affirming care or move to Illinois in order to escape the oppression of cruel and harsh anti-LBGTQ+ regimes in other states, attorneys, judges, and courtroom staff in Illinois will more frequently come into contact with and represent LBGTQ+ people who need legal services to defend their rights, freedom and bodily autonomy.”

Overall, fall-to-fall retention of first-year students improved, with underrepresented freshman student retention increasing. Black freshman student fall-to-fall retention increased by 3 percent, and Latinx freshman student retention increased by 12 percent.

The same day the federal report was published, U. of I. also separately agreed to a set of “Mutual Understandings” with the Jewish United Fund of Chicago, Hillel International and Illini Hillel. U. of I. senior Jaden Pazol says it’s “a very difficult time to be a Jewish student on campus” because of a rise in antisemitism at his school.

Matt Paprocki, of the Illinois Policy Institute: “Illinois’ pension spending has grown significantly since 2000, outpacing other categories. Since then, pension spending has increased by more than 584 percent, while total spending grew by 21 percent and many vital services to the state’s most vulnerable were cut by 20 percent. Rapidly growing pension spending still can’t keep up with the growing gap in what’s been promised to government retirees.”

Jim Dey: “The back-and-forth constitutes sound and fury foreshadowing massive paper shuffling that won’t change much in the real world. There’s also the little matter of requiring UI students, staff and faculty members to attend re-education camps, where they will be told it’s not acceptable to mistreat others on the basis of race or ethnicity. (In the unlikely event the speaker has a sense of humor, he/she will inform attendees that it is OK to mistreat University of Michigan fans.)”

Normal Mayor Chris Koos said the town would have to cut its budget in unacceptable ways to make up the $2.3 million revenue reduction from losing the grocery tax. In contrast, City of Bloomington leaders have expressed the hope that natural revenue growth would make up the stagger over time and have shown no interest in creating a local tax.

The city will use $2 million to provide an additional annual contribution toward the unfunded liabilities in the police and firefighter pension funds. The city’s pension obligations are expected to account for 100 percent of the property tax levy by 2031 without legislative intervention, city officials have previously said.

Voters in seven counties — Iroquois, Madison, Jersey, Clinton, Calhoun, Greene and Perry — will have a yes or no question on their ballots this fall on whether the state of Illinois should be split in two. In the past three years alone, 26 counties have voted in favor of similar ballot questions, but Illinois has 101 counties.