Among them: data center developments approved by the state and governed by a memorandum of understanding receive substantial sales tax exemptions and other benefits for up to 20 years, issued in renewable five-year increments as long as compliance requirements are met. These incentives, intended to attract large-scale investment, shift costs to taxpayers.

The resistance isn’t limited to a handful of affluent enclaves. The Metropolitan Mayors Caucus, which represents 275 municipalities across northeast Illinois, recently called for a housing task force to vet concerns before any legislation advances. Executive Director Neil James said communities vary widely in geography, infrastructure and housing demand, making one-size-fits-all mandates problematic.

“It’s absolutely stomach-churning and awful to see what these survivors have been through, and to let the wheels of justice fall off at the federal level is an abomination,” said Rep. Anne Stava, D-Naperville. “It’s often said ‘the wheel of justice turns slowly.’ In this case, we need to speed that up.”

Each commissioner makes about $150,000 a year but have lax schedules and fewer responsibilities compared with their counterparts elsewhere in state government. Further, they are allowed by law to work other paid jobs, unlike other state board members.

Senate Bill 2111, which passed in the final hours of the last day of the session, redirects a projected $860 million in sales tax revenue charged on motor fuels from the Illinois Road Fund to public transportation operations. The bill distributes 85 percent of the diverted funds to Chicago-area transit and 15 percent to downstate transit agencies, and raises a sales tax in the Chicago area.

“Illinois is what happens when you ignore the early warning signs for three decades straight. The state has shed 1.6 million people since 2000 — third worst in America, keeping distinguished company alongside California and New York. Chicago’s population hovers near a century-long low. The state has added 28,000 government jobs since 2019 and lost 1,900 private-sector ones. It ranks first nationwide in taxes, extracts the most, and produces the least — a remarkable achievement in reverse-engineering prosperity.”

The local leaders, mostly Democrats who have routinely opposed the Trump administration’s policies on nearly every front, argued the strikes against Iran were not legally justified and circumvented congressional authority for war.