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Members of the Illinois Freedom Caucus strongly oppose the ideas. Rep. Chris Miller said anti-police rhetoric emboldens criminals and is a slap in the face to the men and women who protect our communities.
Some members of the City Council have pushed back on Johnson’s blame of the budget for the layoff notices, accusing the mayor of scapegoating the council in the battle over how Chicago is allocating its funding.
While an actuarial analysis of HB 4673 has yet to be released, a similar proposal by State Rep. Stephanie Kifowit last year was projected to add $60 billion in liabilities just to implement across the state’s three largest pension systems
Illinoisans are paying just shy of 85 cents per gallon in local, state and federal taxes and fees. The national average is 52 cents, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
In a letter to the Illinois Board of Elections, Republican Reps. Mary Miller, Mike Bost and Darin LaHood question the accuracy of the state’s voter rolls and accuse the state of not complying with the National Voter Registration Act. The letter comes just days before early voting begins for the midterm cycle in Illinois.
The Trump administration has claimed the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua had taken over the building. But new documents make no mention of the gang and reveal federal agents had information about “illegal aliens unlawfully occupying apartments.”
In a December 5 letter requesting David Boykin’s resignation, the two remaining council members wrote that Boykin has been essentially unreachable and has not attended meetings since April 2025. The women wrote that Boykin’s continued absence has “prevented the Council from functioning at full capacity and fulfilling the expectations of the residents we are elected to serve.”
It’s the city’s latest attempt to wring money out of what officials have dubbed “extreme scofflaws,” a string of companies that amassed more than $15 million in unpaid tickets tied to the condition of mostly-vacant lots.
A federal district judge found Jeanne Hedgepeth’s free speech rights fall short when compared against the school district’s interest in minimizing disruption to the learning environment. And that reasoning was upheld on appeal by the Seventh Circuit panel, which agreed District 211 officials did not improperly bow to the demands of activists, students and others when they fired Hedgepeth.
Altogether, the U.S. lost 63,000 manufacturing jobs in 2025, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Over that same period, Illinois lost 7,100 manufacturing jobs, a pace 2.5 times the national rate.
A look at crime by Chicago neighborhood showed the drop in cases was distributed across most of the city, with 88 percent of neighborhoods reporting fewer violent crimes and 89 percent reporting fewer crimes overall. Andersonville, Hyde Park, Jackson Park and Armor Square saw total crime rise to decade highs.
“Some see the information that we grew by a mere 16,108 people as a rosy win for the state, indeed, the Midwest. That despite frigid temperatures, lake-effect snowstorms, job losses, an anti-business climate, traffic gridlock, low birth rates, tornadoes, sky-high taxes, corruption and crime.”
The bill would prohibit the sale of glitter-based personal care products like makeup and hair products, but would not regulate glitter sold for celebrations. Illinois already bans microbeads in personal care products.
Concerns about widespread benefits fraud, government spending, and the reliability of official data took center stage with Dan Proft and Mark Glennon, as new revelations from outside Illinois renewed questions about similar vulnerabilities within the state. Audio link here.
Democratic primary voters will make the call in what’s becoming a pretty heated race for president of the Cook County Board between 14-year veteran Toni Preckwinkle and Chicago Ald. Brendan Reilly, who represents the downtown 42nd Ward.
Eight more states have seen the wisdom of converting their progressive income taxes to a flat tax since Illinoisans voted down Gov. JB Pritzker’s “Fair Tax” Amendment in 2020. Still, Illinois lawmakers continue to push for scrapping the flat tax to give themselves greater power to pick who gets taxed and by how much.
Personnel appointments have proven some of the mayor’s most difficult issues as he’s transitioned from a firebrand union organizer to a chief executive tasked with selecting trustworthy people to advance his progressive agenda.
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