One complaint cited a series of expenditures by Jones’ campaigns, including for outings to Chicago White Sox and Chicago Cubs games, and nearly $7,000 spent at a south suburban Hooters restaurant. Democratic election attorney Michael Kasper argued it was “not unusual” to spend that much money at a Hooters across nearly three years.

In recent months, the government sector saw the highest boost in jobs, with 4,500 positions, followed by transportation and healthcare. However, IT and financial sector jobs saw a decrease in payrolls.

The IHSA response came a month after Republicans asked for answers following Trump’s “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” executive order.

Agricultural products like soybeans, corn and pork made up the majority of Illinois’ exports to China last year, comprising nearly $1.5 billion. According to the USDA Global Agricultural Trade System, in 2024 Illinois accounted for over $12.4 billion of agricultural product exports, including $3.6 billion worth of products to Mexico ($2.5 billion) and Canada ($2.1 billion).

Taking part in a conference for New Illinois, Illinois state Rep. Brad Halbrook said Indiana making their moves gives potential for momentum to build in other directions.

In Fiscal Year 2019, the year Raoul took office, the attorney general’s budget totaled $87.7 million, according to state budget records. Since then, the attorney general’s office has more than doubled. For the current fiscal year, the total budget stands at more than $193.7 million, including $105.5 million in general revenue funds and $74.9 million in “other state funds.” Federal funds are projected at $13.5 million.

The Good Food Purchasing Law (GFPL), proposed by Rep. Sonya Harper, would reestablish the Good Food Purchasing Policy Task Force with a new mandate to find between one and three Illinois-run institutions (public colleges, for example) that would begin purchasing from small local farmers.

She said, in part, “But look at what we’ve done here in Illinois. We wiped away medical debt and we’re making it easier for folks to get health care. So I think that you’ll just continue to see this contrast, and it’s why people are saying, I’m so proud to live in this state.”

Retired Police Chief Tom Weitzel: “Teachers are entrusted with the safety of the children they oversee. … Any school district that fails to perform a proper teaching background investigation has the potential to hire unfit and unqualified teachers, potentially placing children at risk.”

“We want a better sense of their water and energy usage and how it will impact costs, consumer prices and consumption,” said state Sen. Steve Stadelman. “There really hasn’t been a lot of insight into this because it’s still a relatively new trend.” He’s sponsoring Senate Bill 2181, which would require greater energy and water transparency. It’s expected to be included in an omnibus energy package in Springfield next month along with another measure instituting “build your own new clean energy” provisions, or B-YONCE, for new data centers.

“‘Most people do not look at universities and ask, ‘Are they too ideological in this way, or are they doing too much of this kind of teaching?’’ Public Agenda President Andrew Seligsohn said. “They’re asking the question: ‘Will pursuing a degree advance my interests? Will it help move my family forward? Will it give me a leg up in employment and in opportunities to live the kind of life I’d like to?’” The results are based on a survey of 2,062 Illinois adults aged 18 or older conducted in January.

“I’m not sure if this isn’t some kind of a power-play to try to get students from the universities into the community or junior colleges, which I think is really anti-productive. The whole idea of having the community or junior college is to provide education for things that communities need,” said state Rep. Paul Jacobs, who serves on the House Appropriations-Higher Education Committee.

It could be because just 21 cents of every dollar the union spends is on representing workers – what should be its core priority. It could be the millions of dollars AFSCME Council 31 spends on politics, or the exorbitant six-figure salaries it pays its bosses. And it could be the union’s questionable spending on restaurants and hotels.

The proposals from Democrats who control both chambers of the legislature include financial regulation and workplace protections as well as enhancements to abortion rights and immigration policy. Republican lawmakers have dismissed those efforts as political stunts that in some cases could do more harm than good.

Alexander Dunn, of the Illinois Council of Police labor union: “There are bills in the Illinois legislature right now that are going to make this situation worse. One proposal, House Bill 3458, would allow people charged with aggravated battery to a police officer to claim they were having a mental health episode. The legislature is also considering a bill to make it easier to decertify police officers. These types of bills are killing morale in law enforcement.”

Billionaire Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois is one of the top Democrats being watched as the party searches for a way out of the political wilderness

Several states are promising to resist the Trump administration’s effort to root out divisive diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives from schools.