A new economic development plan for downtown Springfield would create the Capital Area Tourism Authority and would help expand the BOS Center and build a new hotel. Creation of the five-member board (three appointees from the Sangamon County Board, one from the City of Springfield, and one from the Springfield Metropolitan Exposition and Auditorium Authority (SMEAA) was was recently added to House Bill 910, which is also the megaprojects bill.

Jim Dey: “In a Monday committee meeting, the Urbana City Council approved a new ‘Ethical Investments’ policy that excludes ‘investments in organizations that make war.’ But council member Chris Evans later characterized a specific reason for the list of companies to be boycotted as ‘the Gaza genocide.’”

A city employee fell for the scam and disclosed “sensitive account information” April 29 when they received a phone call from someone impersonating a bank representative, city officials said.

The Centralia facility, which opened in 2012 with just 12 employees, has expanded nearly fourfold in square footage and now employs 141 people; employment at the Centralia site is expected to reach approximately 201 employees by the end of 2028. The $15.3 million investment from Intermountain Electronics is supported by a Reimagining Energy and Vehicles (REV Illinois) agreement with the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.

Advisory referendums supporting some form of separation have passed in 33 of Illinois’ 102 counties, largely in rural and downstate areas frustrated by Democratic dominance in Springfield. But Saturday’s meeting in Barrington highlights growing interest in some suburban communities as well.

“We have been on a spending spree, and it’s time to use this year as an austerity year to be mindful of the working families in the state that say ‘Boy, We pay a lot of taxes in Illinois,’” state Rep. Ryan Spain said.

Few issues have drawn more ink than a megaprojects bill aimed at keeping the Chicago Bears in Illinois. They want to build a domed stadium and mixed-use site in Arlington Heights, but they also want property tax certainty. The 40-page original bill passed by the House now is nearly 400 pages.

Sen. Dave Syverson noted that those who support public schools often also choose alternative education for their own families. “(The Education Freedom Tax Credit) just gives families, most of those low-income, the same educational choices and options that educators get, that legislators get, that the governor gets, that we should believe they should get as well,” Syverson said.

Gov. JB Pritzker’s record-high $56 billion proposed budget for fiscal 2027 relies on an additional $1 billion in revenue that may or may not materialize and $589 million in not-yet-approved tax hikes.