“The data center development proposals come at a time when revenue-starved municipalities and counties operating with squeezed budgets need money to improve schools and repair aging roads, bridges and utilities. Local unions often cheer the influx of jobs that come with the construction of the huge data centers. But residents worry that the centers could bring pollution, hurt their home values and jack up their utility bills. And they are concerned, in some instances, that local officials announce the data center projects late in the process, when planning is well underway and the time for public input is short.”

“And (State Rep. Margaret) Croke noted that other Democratic constitutional officers have received campaign contributions from (Gov. JB) Pritzker and nobody is questioning their independence. After she said that, I pointed out that Attorney General Kwame Raoul has received huge contributions from Pritzker (totaling almost $4 million), and Croke asked rhetorically, ‘And then do we question what cases Kwame decides to bring or not bring because of that?’ Good point.”

A report from the Illinois African Descent-Citizens Reparations Commission (ADCRC), titled “Taking Account: A History of Racial Harm & Injustice Against Black Illinoisans,” was described as Illinois’ first comprehensive, evidence-based report examining how slavery and its vestiges produced historical harms and how they continue to generate inequities for Black people in the state.

State Sen. Chapin Rose, said physician assistants recently told him they were going to Iowa to get licensed, because the process took six months in Illinois. “That’s six months of lost wages to those individuals. It’s also six months of lost productivity to the state of Illinois. It’s six months of lost tax revenues to the state of Illinois. If they go to Iowa, we’ll never get them back.”

On Feb. 2 and Feb. 6, CTU’s political action committee donated a total of $72,500 to state Sen. Graciela Guzman’s campaign committee. And on Feb. 6, Guzman filed Senate Bill 3966, which would prohibit the state from adopting the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit program, which provides extra education funding to eligible kids statewide.

While no one has calculated exactly how many federal and state dollars both Republican and Democratic elected officials have sent to that green sector, experts RealClearInvestigations consulted fixed the total north of $100 billion. Currently, Rivian builds its EVs at an Illinois plant, but the company has been losing roughly $39,000 per EV it sells.

The issue for other property taxpayers comes in a technical clause in the bill that allows local governments to count the cash value of the megaproject toward its tax base even though the entity is receiving a lower negotiated payment. Illinois has a 5 percent cap on property tax increases, but by counting the value of a megaproject in the tax base without receiving the corresponding property tax payment, other taxpayers could see property tax bill increases that far exceed the 5 percent cap.

State Rep. Martin McLaughlin criticized Gov. JB Pritzker and his staff for not letting suburban officials know about the proposal before he unveiled it in his speech. The opposition to the bill isn’t partisan, McLaughlin said. “Zoning is one of the great protectors we have for investment,” he said. “Zoning is not (there) to exclude. Zoning is to protect.”

Some of the outgoing Democrats faced criticism for staying in office too long, with one for boosting an heir apparent. Another ambitious set found an opportunity to launch their long-plotted runs for higher office, leaving six highly coveted seats open in a rare game of political musical chairs.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of five named plaintiffs, all identified as Illinois residents. However, the plaintiffs said they are seeking to expand the action to potentially include “many thousands or tens of thousands” of others who have videoconferenced on Microsoft Teams.

A recent Citizen Action report found that Illinois could save $192 million on state health plan spending in the first year with a PDAB through automatically adopting the first 10 federally negotiated Medicare drug prices.

Despite Illinois providing $24,562 per student in state funding for four-year public universities, second-highest in the nation and more than double the national average, in-state tuition is among the most expensive in the nation.

Lawmakers voted to pass House Bill 598 Thursday, which would delay the annual Cook County property tax debt sale from March 10 to Dec. 1, 2026, and pause accruing interest on the debt. However, the delay leaves county treasurers open to a growing number of lawsuits that could put them on the hook for millions of dollars in damages.