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Illinois’ combined state and local taxes are over 50% higher than the national average.
“That reflects the reality of Chicago’s city council: independent on paper, and nominally the branch of government with final control over the pursestrings, the legislature still relies heavily on the mayor’s administration for budget data and analysis.”
According to state Sen.John Curran, there are more than 1,000 homeowners in Cook County who fell victim to property tax eviction with more than 100 seniors losing their homes. He also says the average age for a first-time homebuyer in Illinois is 40.
The District 230 board has joined a coalition of other Cook County school boards in approving a resolution demanding its share of delayed distributions of Cook County property tax revenues, and and that Cook County seek reimbursement from Tyler Technologies for expenses caused by the late payments. A spokesman said the coalition of school boards are also working with a law firm that he said is suited to pursue this kind of class action.
Federal officials noted that baseline data show roughly two CTA workers each week are assaulted severely enough to require ambulance transport or result in death.
A letter from IDFPR Secretary Mario Treto Jr. stated that the agency reduced the average processing time from 7.5 weeks in 2024 to 5.7 weeks in 2025; the average processing time for physician assistant license renewals is 24 hours. State lawmakers suggested last week that physician assistants were going to Iowa to get licensed due to long wait times in Illinois.
Now former Carlyle Police Chief Mark Pingsterhaus spent more than $100,000 of public money intended to combat drug use and support a local fire protection district on personal expenses, including basketball tickets, travel, and diamond engagement ring. The federal indictment further alleged that Pingsterhaus engaged in this fraud for more than eight years, in part, to conceal that personal relationship with a public official in a neighboring county.
The state already struggles with competitiveness, with the fifth-slowest-growing economy in the nation since 2019. More taxes risk further hurt long-term growth.
Many of the plaintiff states also successfully sued over Trump’s tariffs imposed under a different law: the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez, who last week met with Noem and reminded her that her days were numbered, wrote on X, “Good riddance! We still have to impeach her, Melt ICE and dismantle DHS.” Sen. Dick Durbin reacted to Noem’s exit by saying she was “unfit for the job” and accusing her of lying under oath before Congress.
Of that group, about 532 employees work at the Riverwoods location, 69 are Illinois residents who work remotely, and 538 are non-Illinois residents who work remotely but report to the Riverwoods location.
According to police, the incident unfolded around 3:50 p.m. Monday, near the National Teacher’s Academy. Following the incident, the victim was taken to the hospital for unknown injuries. While police have not released the ages or names of the offenders allegedly involved, principal Teneka Brooks described them as “school community members.”
The nearly two dozen tenants claim a prospective buyer for their building plans to rehab it or tear it down altogether. Either way, rent would go up. The building is financed by the Illinois Housing Development Authority, which aims to preserve affordable housing in the state.
He said the agency is nearing $1 billion in revenue solely through online services this year, primarily made available to Illinoisans in recent years.
With these initiatives, the state would simply be trying to offset the costs of its regulatory and fiscal environment by compensating developers to build homes they otherwise choose not to build. If the projects were financially viable, developers would already be building them.
Punish the winners and subsidize the losers? Is that the state strategy for recovering the 13,062 students lost in the past 20 years by the 12 state universities?
According to filings from the FEC, the Pritzker family has donated the vast majority of Stratton’s $6.3 million in contributions to her “Illinois Future PAC.” Records indicate that the family has donated $6.1 million — or 82 percent — of that figure.
Jim Dey: “While personal income-tax revenues have provided a steady source of good news, the other two sources of the Big 3 — corporate income and sales taxes — remain stuck in the mud.”
Intent on electing representatives who will resist further taxes on the gaming industry, American Future, a super PAC bankrolled by DraftKings’ wholly owned subsidiary, DK Crown Holdings, has become the largest outside spender so far in the Illinois state legislative primary slated for March 17. American Future’s biggest beneficiary is Emil Jones III, a state senator who was indicted in 2022 on federal bribery charges.
Citing Wirepoints research, Jason Riley makes the case that the sensible path forward in Chicago would be to change or close the schools that are underperforming, but Mayor Brandon Johnson and his fellow progressives are far more interested in targeting the selective-enrollment school model. See Riley’s column here.
“We don’t need any more of this Republican vs. Democrat talk. We’ve done it to death, and we cannot afford to succumb to false promises any longer — not when our communities have only worsened. … It is far easier to believe in false promises than to look at the cold reality of where most of urban America, including my South Side Chicago neighborhood, stands — at the bottom of the American totem pole.”
House Bill 5112, proposes that businesses charge 10 cents per carryout bag starting in 2027. The tax would be increased by five cents a year until 2030, when it would cap at 25 cents. However, fees would continue to increase by five cents a year until certain goals regarding the reduction of bags are met. This increase would continue until statewide bag usage drops to 90 percent below 2027 levels.
Nearly 55 percent of Illinois voters support the state opting into the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit Program. But it’s up to Gov. JB Pritzker to opt Illinois into the program. More voters supported than opposed it across all ages, regions, races and ideologies.
“A sitting governor shouldn’t be heavy-handing the race. Quite frankly, his behavior in this race won’t soon be forgotten,” Caucus Chair U.S. Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., said.
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