The Sports Betting Alliance reported that data from the Illinois Gaming Board’s November 2025 Sports Wagering Report showed a 15.4 percent decrease in sports bets placed in the state, which totals 6.1 million fewer than those placed in November 2024. The group says similar 15 percent drops were recorded in September and October 2025 after the per‑wager tax took effect, bucking national expectations for record legal betting around the Super Bowl.

There are already four data centers in Champaign County, including the National Petascale Computing Facility at the University of Illinois and Colocation Plus, a.k.a “The Fortress” in Rantoul.

State Sen. Steve McClure said he filed the bill after a Christian County case in which a middle school girl was repeatedly attacked and later sexually assaulted by an older student who was neither expelled nor suspended, despite admitting to the assault.

State Sen. Rachel Ventura was asked how lawmakers could implement their tax measures without driving businesses out of Illinois. “The answer is how can we not. The economy, it’s not going to keep working if we give all of our money away to the rich. That’s not our labor force,” she said.

It’s also one of only three states remaining below 60 percent funding; Last year there were only four. For comparison, 16 states have a funding ratio of over 90 percent, according to Equable Institute.

That’s because the state made commitments to the Nurse Licensure Compact and the Physician Assistant Compact in its application for $193 million annually for the next five years under the Rural Health Transformation Program included in the One Big Beautiful Bill. If it doesn’t comply and health care unions continue blocking the move, the state may have to pay back millions.

Retired Riverside Chief of Police Tom Weitzel: “I believe in second chances and rehabilitation. What I do not believe in is hiding the truth, undermining public safety, and labeling it “reform.” That is exactly what the Illinois Clean Slate Act does.”

Jim Dey: “Like a wheezy car engine that runs in fits and starts, Illinois’ revenue-producing machines generated mixed results in January — up in some areas, down in others, according to state budget analysts.”

According to a Feb. 2 letter sent to the state elections board, Reps. Mike Bost, Mary Miller and Darin LaHood want to ensure that undocumented immigrants, the deceased and individuals who have moved from Illinois to another state are not eligible to vote.

The state’s ranking was driven down by low economic growth, burdensome regulations and persistent corruption by elected leaders.

With the border effectively closed, the populations of states like California, Hawaii, and New Mexico are declining, and they’re stagnating in New York, Illinois, and Massachusetts. The great Scottish Enlightenment thinker Adam Smith once observed that “there is a great deal of ruin in a nation.” Today, you might describe the process as “managed decline.” It’s a feat that many Democratic states are pulling off quite convincingly.

“We need to take the money from these ultra-rich billionaires and make it so less people have to go to a food pantry,” said Sen. Robert Peters. “Let’s make it so a safety net hospital is able to stay open. Let’s make it so people have comfort and a roof over their head.”

Marsha McClary, chair of Moms for Liberty Lake County, said her concerns center on whether organizations involved in administering voter registration in schools would truly remain nonpartisan. McClary pointed to groups such as the League of Women Voters, which are often described as nonpartisan but are widely viewed as left-leaning, raising questions about whether subtle political messaging or influence could accompany the registration process.