Noem accused Pritzker of having a political agenda. “Gov. Pritzker in Illinois is putting his people in danger every day by going against us and not working with us to make sure that we’re detaining individuals who have criminal charges against them or have been convicted and then rereleasing them out on the streets,” she said.

Several companies are currently evaluating Springfield and Sangamon County for new data center projects, which could employ more than 50 people each and generate up to $50 million in annual property tax revenue. Larger projects could reach $73 million within the first decade.

“The collaboration between multiple law enforcement agencies has been able to really kind of put the brakes on a lot of these crimes that we saw the numbers going through the roof, especially during the pandemic and post-pandemic,” Sheehan explained.

State Sen. Li Arellano Jr., a squad leader in the Army Reserves who previously served in three combat deployments, said governments can’t properly function when they rack up immense debts. “All of those things reveal themselves in the management of our agencies, and the Department of Veterans Affairs is no exception. We have seen the failures in management that aren’t even necessarily money-related at this point,” Arellano said.

Illinois nets a 50.01 total score to place 36th overall in the WalletHub survey of all 50 states. Researchers dissected 52 key indicators across five categories as part of an analysis where Illinois finished 36th in emergency preparedness, 31st in personal and residential safety, 24th in workplace safety and 19th in road safety rank.

Led by G.H. Merritt, the group says its goal isn’t to leave the Union, but to escape what they call political neglect from the state’s urban power base: “Secession is when the southern states just up and left the Union. What we’re doing is legal and constitutional—we need the consent of our legislature and of Congress. We don’t identify with the Confederacy. That was a racist movement, and that’s not what we are.”

By contrast, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi’s two main rivals in the Democratic primary, Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton and Rep. Robin Kelly, have yet to spend a dime on television advertising. And the pair were once again significantly outraised by Krishnamoorthi, whose massive campaign war chest is six times larger than both of theirs combined

Illinois has rolled out a series of tax incentives and other support geared at making locations in the Prairie State even more attractive to data center developers. However, Kouri Marshall, of the Chamber of Progress, a Virginia-based trade group that advocates for many of the country’s biggest tech companies, is warning Illinois lawmakers that such growth in Illinois could be slowed or even endangered – and Illinois could fall behind rival destinations – thanks to a perceived threat of massive lawsuits under BIPA, as it currently stands.

“People are searching for grown-ups willing to step up and lead on both sides, but especially on the left. They want a political ecosystem that yields an America in which people can afford to live. We didn’t need polling to understand that, but it doesn’t hurt to see the numbers bear it out. We hope party leadership is listening.”

Illinois approved a plan this summer to lower the scores needed to be considered proficient in reading and math on state assessments. Instead of addressing low proficiency, the Illinois State Board of Education is minimizing the problem by changing the definition of a struggling student.

The Chicago mayor accused President Donald Trump of wanting a ‘Civil War’ rematch during a No Kings protest. Mayor Brandon Johnson ignited the crowd on Saturday by telling liberals to be ‘ready to defend this democracy’ and to be ‘ready to fight fascism.’ ‘Are you prepared to destroy authoritarianism once and for all? We’ll let the world hear you, no kings!’ he said in

“This unanimous vote to elect her to represent the largest union in the state really speaks to people’s trust in her commitment to children and commitment to her members,” said Rep. Delia Ramirez. At the same time, deep divisions exist in a state where the CTU is viewed as winning favorable contracts in the same period when scores of Chicago schoolchildren lack proficiency in math and reading and enrollment has contracted even as administrative hires have ramped up and buildings remain underutilized.