Behind Democrats’ jubilation that they’ve retaken control of Congress is the sobering reality that the Illinois delegation will have the least seniority in recent memory in an institution where seniority means a lot.

Pritzker, who bankrolled many Democrats around the country as he ran for re-election in Illinois, put out a list of 200 policy proposals today.

The largest data center project ever proposed in Illinois is at risk of being scuttled over $1. That’s how much developer PowerHouse Hillwood offered to put up when Commonwealth Edison demanded a financial guarantee of more than half a billion dollars to protect other customers from the costs of supplying electricity to its proposed data center campus in Joliet.

“The early face of the Trump crackdown was top Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino, who swaggered through raids in tactical gear and deployed forces to Los Angeles and Chicago, where he led a helicopter raid on an apartment building.”

“Here we are again, Frankfort residents. Four years later, another government taxing district is asking property owners to reach deeper into their pockets.”

Pritzker is taking out $40 million from his vast personal wealth to boost candidates in contentious races — and building coalitions with Democrats across the country, including in 2028 early primary states. “It’s a terrific strategy,” says former presidential candidate Howard Dean.

Eleven counties are set to vote on non-binding referenda this year to secede from Cook County. If all 11 vote to leave they would join 33 counties that have already approved similar measures.

In a video clip posted on X, the Citadel founder described France as “the dream the left talks about” and said that vision mirrored the conditions he left behind in Chicago. When asked which U.S. politicians he believes are moving in a similar direction, Griffin answered without hesitation: “J.B. Pritzker, Governor of Illinois. Yes, 100%.”

“We do not demand. We’re just friendly asking, if it’s possible, please help us. Just give us permission to work and we will work.”

“Slotkin recently said the quiet part out loud in an interview at my alma mater, the University of Chicago, admitting she wants to deter young people from even considering supporting the Administration… if they know what is good for them. Slotkin seemed to go full Col. Walter Kurtz in the middle of the interview.”

Quigley: “Putting aside the recent law we passed to sanction Russia, in 2022 we passed a law that said that we can not buy energy from Russia,“ said Quigley. “So [Trump’s] violating that law [too].”

“Am I scaring anyone yet? Because the real ghouls children should be dressed up as for Halloween are the politicians who made promises with your money for services and contracts that most Illinoisans cannot afford.”

“Researchers know how to communicate with academic audiences, but not necessarily with the general public. The curriculum makes it plain that not every research conversation needs to be funny in and of itself; but by using the stage savoir-faire explained throughout the workshop to personally engage those they address, researchers can repair the trust lost in some of these communities and walk away with better, clearer data.”

“The policy of Tribune Publishing’s Board of Directors is that we do not formally endorse in this race, nor that of governor…. Stratton is to the far left of her party; Tracy is on the moderate wing of his. But by moderate wing, we don’t want to imply he’d be a Republican revolutionary. And, given where we are at this moment, many will conclude that will just not be enough.”

Some of the lobbyists work for firms that lobby Illinois’ state government, overseen by her political ally and benefactor, Gov. JB Pritzker. Others work for firms that lobby Congress and other arms of the federal government.

Comment: For a very different viewpoint on what Frerichs is doing, see our own recent column here.

“Last year, I welcomed a group of Texas legislators to Illinois. … I invited them to Illinois because I wanted to support them in their fight [against gerrymandering], and when they came, I was proud to host them.”

The censors who walk sanctimoniously among us are not conservatives—not by a long shot. The censors are the ones who lie through their teeth as the claim to “honor all voices,” delight in diversity, treasure inclusion, and cherish “representation.”

Former Illinois House Republican Leader Jim Durkin’s endorsement of Democrat Gov. JB Pritzker echoes Kirk Dillard’s 2007 turn in an Obama ad, and it raises the question of what Durkin gets in return.

A federal judge sided with Kalshi, finding that prediction markets are more like financial swaps, which are federally regulated, than gambling, which is subject to state oversight.

Dennis Hastert, whose rise to US House speaker in 1996 was as unexpected as the criminal conviction that sullied his reputation and sent him to prison years later, has died. He was 84.

Actual students have become irrelevant to budgets. In Chicago, there are schools that remain open despite 80 percent vacancy rates. Chicago Teachers Union spent a record $4.2 million on politics and lobbying but less than 18 percent on representing teachers.

Back in the Windy City, kudos to the Tribune editorial board for explaining the opportunity cost of driving away the state’s most successful people: “After all, persons who are willing to donate $3 billion to an institution of higher education are not to be found on every street corner.”

Democrat Julianna Stratton said she supports eliminating the filibuster. “There’s so many issues that we’ve been able to tackle here in Illinois and get done that have been held up in Washington, D.C.,” Stratton told The Center Square. “I want to see us be able to move past that.” Her Republican opponent, Don Tracy, says he would keep it.

For the most part, it’s legal conduct. But campaigns not disclosing influencers’ official campaign involvement appears to be illegal under current state law, which we will get to in a bit. And since the state statute doesn’t specifically mention “influencers,” some folks want to make extra special sure that they’re covered.

A retired couple’s first Indiana tax return shows a $3,827 bill. In Illinois, the same retirement income cost them nothing in state tax.

“We scored all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia on five major education categories (gender and sexuality, “diversity, equity, and inclusion”, parental rights, teacher policies, and foreign influence), and ranked them based on their performance. Tennessee earns the top score in 2026, while Illinois ranks the worst, only over the District of Columbia which takes the 51st spot.”

“The report details how Democrat-controlled Illinois’s radical statewide sanctuary policies ensure criminal aliens are free to reoffend, even after committing brutal crimes against Americans. New, nonpublic documents and data obtained by the Committee and Subcommittee reveal the startling extent to which Chicago and Illinois actively obstruct the enforcement of federal immigration law and shield foreign national criminals from accountability.”

The deal that brought it was negotiated under a nondisclosure agreement that kept the company’s name from the public for more than a year, according to records reviewed by The Epoch Times. Manteno’s residents found out about the Gotion deal as it was being signed.

The big losers: New York, Illinois, Alaska, New Jersey and California.

Illinois school districts across the state have placed a whopping $2.1 billion in bond referendums on the Nov. 3 ballot. That’s the amount Illinois school districts want for renovations, additions, fieldhouses, career centers, and “21st-century learning.” The cost to taxpayers of all those proposals over the next 30 years, if passed, will be nearly $4 billion when interest costs are included.

Protesting Trump outside Medinah Country Club is Arab American Family Services (AAFS) and the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, non-profits raking it in from taxpayers.

Over the past week, Catholic parishes began circulating a letter from Cardinal Blase Cupich, Archbishop of Chicago, urging members to encourage Gov. JB Pritzker to opt Illinois into the new federal Tax Credit Scholarship Program. According to the letter, recent polling says that if Illinois does not opt in, Illinois taxpayers may send as much as $1 billion for educational services in other states.

Danish biopharmaceutical company Lundbeck will leave its U.S. headquarters in Deerfield to relocate in the greater Boston area, where it plans to create a global innovation hub. The move of headquarters out of Lake County is a blow to the Illinois biopharma ecosystem that has lost business to well-established life sciences hubs like Boston, the Bay Area and elsewhere.

California, New York and Illinois continued to hemorrhage taxpayer returns in 2023–the latest year for which data is available. All three have been the biggest losers since 2012.

Mullin and his DHS spokesperson both criticized legislation by Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., a member of the progressive “Squad,” that would dismantle most of the department and abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Florida Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Mark Wilson speaks exclusively to Fox News Digital as they expand their ‘Free Enterprise’ campaign to Chicago, Illinois, naming Gov. Pritzker as runner-up for Florida’s ‘Economic Developer of the Year.’

Growing Muslim populations spark controversy.

Revolution Medicines’ new drug for one of the deadliest forms of cancer traces its molecular origins to a University of Illinois chemistry lab. But for the state’s growing biotech sector, it’s another painful “what could have been” story: The company that turned the research into an FDA-approved drug, catching national headlines in the process, is now in California, not Urbana.

Russia has seized control of an Aptar Group Inc. plant, reportedly handing control of the site to the nephew of the iron-fisted ruler of Chechnya.

“Chicago provides the case study everyone can see and no one is required to act on….” Municipal bond buyers “deserve a ratings framework that says what the numbers say when the numbers say it, not two cycles later. Until the three major agencies publish a timeliness standard, an A1 or A rating on a state carrying a 40% funded pension system means considerably less than the letter suggests.”

Pritzker’s comments drew immediate criticism from Republicans. On X, an account managed by the Republican National Committee said the governor “refuses to condemn Hasan Piker,” as it alleged Piker believes “America deserved (the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks) & America is worse than Al-Qaeda.” On Friday, Emanuel, who most recently served as U.S. ambassador to Japan in President Joe Biden’s administration, noted Piker also said Communist China’s regime is the “model” for America and that the fall of the Soviet Union was “one of the greatest catastrophes of the 20th century.” Emanuel called the “pound for pound” comment “a ridiculous

“Even Ohio and Iowa, after trending Republican for years, are battlegrounds in the midterm elections.”

Canada is the state’s largest foreign trade partner. Illinois companies exported nearly $20 billion in goods to Canada, predominantly chemicals and machinery, in 2024 while importing $64 billion, mostly oil and gas. Illinois refineries process tar sands from Alberta. The state’s nuclear plants also use uranium from Canada.

To reach that goal, the report suggests Illinois will need to enact significant changes across virtually every sector of its economy, including transportation, building construction, manufacturing, agriculture and waste disposal.

“The Democrats have a plan. They want to replace Dick Durbin with a democrat socialist,” Tracy said, referencing Lt. Governor Juliana Stratton. “She is for open borders, open jails and open checkbooks, yours.”

Durbin pointed the finger directly at President Trump. “Why are the prices so high? President Trump knows. He’s responsible for it. He is personally responsible for starting the war in Iran. He didn’t take the case to the American people and argue it that it should be done for national security. He didn’t even take it to Congress,” Durbin said.

Officials say that gun violence costs the state of Illinois $20 billion each year for things like emergency services, funerals and law enforcement. The Responsibility in Firearm Legislation Act(Senate Bill 2279) would require gun makers to contribute to a state fund to offset those costs.

Durbin, D-Ill., was questioned by a reporter in a video circulating online about his support for work permits for people who are in the country unlawfully. “Is that what you call them?” Durbin asked after the reporter referred to “illegal aliens.” “Well yeah, I mean…” the reporter responded. “Oh come on honey, get better. Please don’t be such a hater,” Durbin said.

The eligibility requirements state that participating businesses must be “minority-owned, Black-owned, or women-owned,” while “socially disadvantaged entrepreneurs are prioritized.”

Illinois diesel already sits at $6.50 a gallon and Chicago gasoline at $5.14, leaving consumers little buffer if the outage extends into weeks. A prolonged shutdown could push parts of the Midwest above $6 gasoline while widening refining margins for Exxon and other operating refiners.

The Progressive Policy Institute found eight of the 10 lowest-scoring states for reading had strong labor unions. Maine, New York, Illinois, Hawaii, Washington and Rhode Island, blue states, were among the worst.

“What is really telling is where people want government to step in and protect them. Deepfakes and impersonation top their priority list, cited by 62%, followed by privacy and personal data at 59%. Half want greater oversight of AI in financial decisions, use by children and copyright and creative work. Two in five said the deployment of AI in hiring and employment needs oversight.”

A federal appeals court panel in Chicago sounded at times skeptical during oral arguments today of an Illinois law that requires many nonprofit groups to disclose aggregate data about race, gender and other demographics of their board members and officers.

In Illinois, Nebraska and other states, family farms are colliding with estate- and inheritance-tax thresholds tied to an illiquid asset. Many of the states that tax wealth at death have already built in relief in ways than can inform policymakers still fighting about it.

“In Chicago, radicals gathered for a conference on Marxism during what many view as the heyday of socialism in the United States. The Democratic Socialists of America is now larger and more powerful than at any time in our history…. Speakers in Chicago used the conference to push supporters to the next stage in the movement, including some openly calling for violence and the end to capitalism.”

Rep. Regan Deering said Illinois needs to return to academic fundamentals, including phonics, math skills and higher expectations. “We’ve really just gotten away from the fundamentals,” she said. “And so, I think getting back to that, getting back to having that higher expectation, making extra resources available to our students” is necessary.

mass shooting in Jeanette Taylor’s ward, a federal offer turned down, and the uncomfortable question of whose safety Chicago actually guarantees.

“This was an easy vote and something Democrats could point to and say – ‘Yes, I voted to reject socialism in all its forms.’ They couldn’t do it. Therefore, every Illinois Democrat just proved whose side they are on – the radical Democrat Socialists.”

Nearly half of states registered enrollment declines greater than 10%, including Connecticut (15.7%), Indiana (15.8%), Texas (16.6%), Utah and Illinois (16.7%), Oklahoma (19.6%), Louisiana (21.5%), Florida (22.2%), Nevada (23.1%), Georgia (36.5%) and Arizona (53.8%). As always, the political left is spinning these declines as a human tragedy. Not so. Republicans have merely ended the literal free lunch for able-bodied beneficiaries and states.

Frerichs has scheduled a press conference for Sept. 3, ahead of the Labor Day weekend, where labor leaders will join him to announce the state’s investment in the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust.

Even politicians who have supported data centers are turning. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker once courted data centers but now has turned them a cold shoulder.

The university’s event listing names the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center (GSRC) and Center for the Study of Women, Gender and Sexuality (CSWGS) as hosts and lists Academic Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (ADEI) under “Department.” The GSRC’s Huskie Hub profile says the center uses student leadership, advocacy, campus engagement and professional development to “challenge societal constructs of gender and sexuality norms” and “promote social justice.”

Illinois up 43% in five years.

Taxpayers must add back Section 1202 gains when calculating Illinois taxable income, even if the gains remain fully excluded for federal purposes. Illinois’ decoupling isn’t limited to newly issued stock and applies retroactively to 2026 transactions, including sales completed before the law was enacted.

“CUB’s review of these statistics shows once again that going with an alternative electricity supplier is a gamble. Consumers should beware of bad deals,” Moskowitz said in a statement. “As the losses mount, we urge the Illinois General Assembly to pass reforms to better protect Illinois consumers from rip-offs.”

Fourteen states are projected to shrink, led by Illinois (-649,689) and New York (-456,879).

The median income in Illinois is about $20,000 more per year than what’s needed to cover the monthly payments on a median-priced home in the state, according to an Aug. 17 report from Visual Capitalist. It’s the biggest income surplus of any of the 13 states where the median household income is more than enough to afford a home.

Randi Weingarten calls for a boycott of a company in which its members own millions of shares. Research highlighted by Northwestern University’s Kellogg School found that targeted companies’ share prices fell nearly 1% for each day a boycott received national print-media attention. The financial effects can extend well beyond the boycott itself.

If existing toll revenues have consistently covered the cost of operating and maintaining the system, why are Illinois drivers now being asked to pay even more? Special interests wanted more money

“I can’t wait to see. I know that he believes that magic beans can take care of everything,” Pritzker said. “Every one of the proposals that I’ve seen from him is unrealistic. He doesn’t understand the state budget. He does not understand the challenges of meeting the needs of people, especially the most vulnerable in our state.”

The Anti-Defamation League is sounding an alarm over the Chicago Democratic Socialists of America’s questionnaire for city council candidates. ADL Midwest Senior Regional Director Rebecca Weininger told The Center Square the DSA questionnaire’s first two long-form questions are devoted to Israel instead of how candidates would help Chicago.

Some of the $65 million will go to other candidates and causes. The governor’s campaign last week transferred $1.5 million to the Democratic Party of Illinois, for example. And Pritzker has been known to spread funds, both through individual contributions and his campaign fund, around to local party organizations, legislative and statewide candidates. He’s also made donations at the federal level, though funds from his state account can’t be spent in federal races.

“What we’re going to do is in my first year, we’re going to freeze discretionary spending and then we’re going to put in place common sense accountability measures so we can see where that money’s going, how it’s being spent and where it’s being spent wisely and unwisely.”

JB Pritzker just torpedoed the Illinois startup community. He signed a law that clawed back the QSBS exemption. Now, if the startup you invested in exits, you owe tax to the state of Illinois. 3.95% on the first dollar of profit.

IEA announced its backing of Pritzker and his Lt. Governor running mate, Christian Mitchell, over Republican nominee Darren Bailey.

The emergence of a new class of data centers has garnered bipartisan opposition in communities across the state. What was once seen as an avenue for economic growth has become a political issue in Illinois, and one on which candidates from both sides of the aisle are hoping to distinguish themselves.

Multiple drug makers in Illinois are challenging a state law that expands the scope of a federal program under Medicare, arguing Illinois doesn’t have the authority to make changes to the program.

The new law will prohibit not only intentional discrimination in lending and credit card issuance, but also the use of facially neutral underwriting criteria or methodologies that produce discriminatory effects.

“It’s worth poking around the entrails of the returns for the agonizingly close and, given the pre-primary polls, surprising results of recent Democratic primaries in the key swing Midwestern states of Michigan and Wisconsin, with a side look at Minnesota.”

A report from Illinois Auditor General Christopher Meister released Tuesday revealed that the state paid Favorite $78.5 million for workers on standby. Meaning: not actively working.

The automaker announced Friday, Aug. 14, the next-generation Jeep Cherokee, slated to be built in Belvidere, will be the first U.S. vehicle assembled on Stellantis’ new STLA One platform.

“Stakeholders in Illinois are already laying the groundwork for a more responsible path forward. Environmental advocates put forward the POWER Act (S.B. 4016/H.B. 5513), led by two Democrats, state Sen. Ram Villivalam of Chicago

“As Gov. Pritzker and Mayor Johnson push this project through, they are continuing to make the people of Chicago complicit in war crimes across the globe. Do Illinois politicians want this escalation in Big Tech militarism to be their legacy? More importantly, are we as Chicago residents at ease with the unprecedented horrors of quantum and AI warfare coming out of our own backyards?”

Phil Melin, executive director of Illinois Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse, pointed to two issues with the legislation. “It adds a new surcharge on successful, profitable workers’ compensation insurance companies, and then it adds new restrictions on potential liability on employers,” Melin told The Center Square.

Last year, House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch convened working groups on property taxes and pensions. Not much actually changed. Welch’s most recent iteration is a new “culture and accountability” working group. And the wheels are already falling off.

“I’m not advocating here for reducing the term limits to six years or whatever. But what I am saying is that Illinois government will not crash and burn if Welch and Harmon don’t serve their full five two-year General Assemblies as their chambers’ leaders.”

“For 30 years, I wore a badge. Recently, I have observed a coordinated, well-funded misinformation campaign aimed at convincing Americans that automated license plate reader (ALPR) cameras, or “Flock cameras,” constitute illegal surveillance. They are not. It is time for someone with real law enforcement experience to state this clearly.”

Robert Reed: “There aren’t enough ominous adjectives to describe what’s happened at a Far South Side funeral chapel, where authorities found 56 bodies improperly stored and decomposed. Abhorrent, horrific, degrading, disrespectful, even blasphemous don’t go far enough to describe what’s occurred, nor do they gauge the lasting impact this catastrophe will have on the

Tyson Foods on Thursday announced it is closing its beef facility in Joslin, Illinois. The closure will impact more than 2,500 workers, according to area politicians.

A state agency under Gov. JB Pritzker’s purview paid a Kansas-based staffing contractor $78.5 million for time its employees spent on standby rather than actually working, part of a broader failure to properly oversee contractor billing, according to a report issued by a state watchdog.

“The Chicago Teachers Union’s cupidity in enriching itself, and the dismal results of Chicago’s public schools, have drained the public’s reservoir of goodwill. Among the reasons for the CTU’s downfall is a school named for someone who, as a slave, taught himself to read — a skill poorly imparted by Chicago teachers, when they teach.”

An $11 billion Amazon Web Services data center campus

The most recent assessment results show that 53.1% of third- through eighth-grade students met proficiency standards in English language arts on the Illinois Assessment of Readiness in 2025. Just 38.5% were proficient in math. Those rates are troubling on their own. They’re even more concerning because the state lowered the performance levels used on the IAR in 2025.

“Five years of gains, and Illinois’ largest teacher fund still can’t cover half of what it owes,” Rogers writes disdainfully.

On July 24, a federal judge appointed by President Donald Trump struck down parts of three Illinois laws that allowed eligible undocumented students to pay in-state tuition rates at community colleges and public universities and to receive state financial aid.

The Illinois Federation of Teachers is now calling on lawmakers to return for a special session as soon as possible to address the issue.

A group of medical professionals, a nursing home and a Catholic bishop from Illinois are suing two state department heads in an attempt to block a law set to take effect next month they say forces doctors to promote assisted suicide to terminally ill patients.

Numerous welfare programs have steep benefit cliffs, where increased earnings lead to a greater loss of benefits. For example, a worker in Illinois could lose over $25,000 in benefits by accepting a raise from a $54,000 annual salary to $55,000 per year. The federal Upward Mobility Act, sponsored in the House of Representatives by Rep. Blake Moore (R-UT) and in the Senate by Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH), would help address this issue.

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker tells Erin Burnett ‘he did not need to put his staff and those reporters in harm’s way’ after President Trump secretly hid inside a catering truck and switched to a different plane as Air Force One faced a threat from Iran.

Pritzker said he would love to cap property taxes. “Here’s the problem: You have to pay for your parks, your libraries, your schools and your local government,” Pritzker said.

A circuit court judge in Sangamon County threatened Tuesday to begin assessing daily fines against the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services for its repeated failure to appear in court or comply with orders to hand over documents related to the death of a teenager who was in the agency’s care.

The program, dubbed the Illinois Housing Supply Accelerator, will bring local decision-makers and housing stakeholders together to examine barriers to boosting housing supply, such as zoning restrictions, permitting delays, impact fees, infrastructure costs and financing gaps.

Since creation of the Illinois’ Special Prosecution Unit in the 1980s, the unit has been the primary way criminal cases in Illinois are handled when local state’s attorneys are disqualified because of conflicts. Its prosecutors took on more than 1,000 cases in 2024, far more than were pursued through other methods of appointing special prosecutors, including referrals to the state attorney general, private attorneys, or prosecutors from neighboring counties. But an Injustice Watch investigation shows the Special Prosecution Unit has been responsible for miscarriages of justice including withholding evidence and favorable treatment of political insiders, as well as conflicts

Governor JB Pritzker signed House Bill 5487 on August 10, adding Illinois to a growing list of states seeking to preserve lawyers’ professional independence while addressing the rising role of private equity and other investors in the legal industry.

Over half of Illinoisans say they would leave the state if given the opportunity, and among those who would leave, nearly 69% cited high taxes as one of their top two reasons. Many Illinoisans already have one foot out the door as state leaders continue to rack up taxes and increase economic strain on families and businesses. From July 1, 2024, to July 1, 2025, 40,000 residents left Illinois for other states.

For all candidates, it’s a largely unregulated space that opens the door to overly fawning coverage, or even misinformation. Social media platforms do little to help viewers distinguish a campaign’s unpaid supporters from its paid contractors, and some politicians have turned to influencers to get their message out without facing the scrutiny and pesky questions provided by more traditional news outlets.

“I’m not trying to tell anybody how to vote, [but] I’ve seen this play before,” he said of Illinois’ far-left Democrat Gov. JB Pritzker and fellow leftists that control the state’s legislature. “Here’s the thing, what they’ve said in the past is going to be your best judge of what’s going to happen in the future.”

PJM Interconnection, the biggest grid operator in the U.S., has finally settled on a plan to prevent data centers from causing other customers’ utility bills to soar further in its 13-state territory that includes most of Northern Illinois. That plan relies heavily on states themselves, and the utilities they regulate, to force data centers to secure their own power supplies — or face the possibility of getting their power cut off during grid emergencies.

By this logic, Pritzker and Trump also would be demanding any company that raked it in during COVID (there were many) return its profits “to the public.” Ergo, letters should have been sent to Amazon, Microsoft and Zoom, to name three examples of companies who thrived in that health crisis…. Public companies, of course, aren’t in the habit of returning their profits to “the public,” which would not go down well with their shareholders. And neither Pritzker nor Trump mention the government’s share. The state of Illinois currently adds 65.3 cents per gallon while the feds take 18.4

Eileen Burke: “I’m going to be asking you and everybody you know and everybody who’s listening to this to please reach out to your legislators and tell them that you do not believe that violent criminals should be on electronic monitoring.”

The firms tied to former Ald. Isaac “Ike” Carothers and former Blagojevich administration official Bamani Obadele have gotten campaign business from Gov. JB Pritzker and in the hotly contested race for Chicago School Board president.

Term limits for governors take different forms in the U.S. Nine have lifetime caps, Virginia prohibits consecutive terms and 27 states allow governors who reach their limits to return only after spending a prescribed period out of office.

“Since I started running,” he said, “I don’t think anybody can look at me and say, you know, I didn’t believe in what I was fighting for, and I didn’t hold true to those values.” He sees such integrity as key to return Illinois to greatness.

Pin Ni, who “appears to still be an active member of the Chinese Communist Party, gave $15,000 to the campaign of Illinois lieutenant governor Juliana Stratton, her state’s Democratic nominee for Senate and $10,000 to the Illinois Democratic Party’s federal account. Ni serves as the chairman of the Chicago chapter of the China General Chamber of Commerce (CGCC), the public-facing arm of the CCP’s united front strategy

This bipartisan law will stop companies from setting restrictions on contracts unless the limit is required by state or federal law.

Detractors of the new laws argue that the rate-approval system makes insurers inflexible in responses to market conditions. They also contend that the new laws don’t do much to alleviate the causes of higher premiums, which include costlier repairs from severe weather.

For the third consecutive year, the number of districts being funded at or above 90% of their “adequacy target” will fall while the overall “adequacy gap” — the amount of additional money it would take to bring all districts up to full adequacy — will increase.

Four coal mine managers were indicted this week, accused of concealing an August 2021 underground fire at a sprawling southern Illinois mining operation, lying about hazardous conditions and obstructing the federal investigation that followed.

A private-sector 401(k) sponsor approving nine new alternative-asset commitments, four to brand-new managers, while carrying a sub-50% funded ratio would be facing a Department of Labor inquiry, not a routine board vote. Public pension trustees answer to no comparable standard. Illinois just showed exactly what that gap looks like in practice.

“Senate Bill 3777 helps preserve an important civil rights framework that allows us to identify and address barriers to opportunity when they disproportionately harm protected communities. This legislation provides clarity, consistency and continued protections for Illinois residents while advancing our shared commitment to fairness and equal opportunity.”

The Liberty Justice Center sent letters to the attorneys general of New York, New Jersey, Illinois and Washington, warning that school districts’ decisions to withhold information regarding students’ purported gender transitions from their parents violate the U.S. Constitution and federal law.

This week, Anthony Fauci sat before the Senate and answered for a diary that contradicts nearly everything he told the public. Wrong on masks. Wrong on the lab. Funded the very research he spent years denying he funded. The country is just getting a taste of a reckoning, five years late. Illinois has yet to get its version of that hearing. It should. Because Illinois had its own Fauci. His name is J.B. Pritzker, and the receipts have been sitting in public records the entire time.

Reducing the income tax will make Missouri more economically competitive with other states in the heartland.

By actuary Mary Pat Campbell.

On July 21, the Illinois State Officers Electoral Board removed independent democratic socialist, Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez, from the November congressional ballot in IL-04. This was a clear, coordinated effort by outgoing Congressman Jesus “Chuy” Garcia to dynastically usher in his own chief of staff, Patty Garcia, hours before the primary filing deadline.

Told to enforce a federal SNAP work requirement for able-bodied adults, the state folded via the FRESH Program — no application, no paperwork, on the working taxpayer’s dime.

At the June 2025 House Oversight hearing on sanctuary states, Rep. Byron Donalds pressed Governor Pritzker on whether Illinois keeps track of the public dollars going to illegal immigrants. Pritzker’s reply, on Medicaid, was: “They do not get Medicaid in Illinois or any state, as far as I know.” That statement was false when he said it — false in a way that depends entirely on nobody in that room, and nobody in the press afterward, thinking through and calling out how the system he runs actually works.

“The Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment, or PPRA, prohibits educational institutions that receive federal funding from requiring students to submit to a survey, analysis or evaluation without the parent’s consent, should such a survey or evaluation ask for sensitive information about the student,” Miller said during a hearing last week.

On July 24, U.S. District Judge David W. Dugan ruled Illinois Democratic lawmakers and Gov. JB Pritzker violated federal law and the U.S. Constitution by enacting laws specifically designed to allow illegal immigrants to attend Illinois public colleges and universities at the same tuition rate normally reserved for U.S. citizens and legal non-citizens who live in Illinois.

“Taxes should be carefully considered, not only for the revenue they produce but for the fairness of those being taxed,” Digital Chamber CEO Cody Carbone said in a statement. “That was not the case here, as the provision slipped into legislation the night before the bill’s final consideration.”

1. CTU controls IFT.
2. IFT spends a disproportionate amount of money on CTU over other affiliates.
3. Less than 28% of the union’s spending is on representing teachers.
4. IFT and its affiliates were the No. 1 funder of Chicago politics in the last municipal election.
5. IFT lies about its membership numbers.
6. IFT lavishes six-figure salaries on its own employees.
7. Teachers can opt out, keep their benefits and get liability insurance elsewhere.

The latest boondoggle from Pritzker is the May 2026 announcement that Richardson Electronics, located in La Fox, Illinois, is partnering with Gotion, Inc. in Manteno to support battery energy storage systems (BESS) production and deployment. None of these deals make sense economically. Grid-scale solar and BESS would not be built without massive taxpayer subsidies and renewable portfolio energy mandates.

Animal rights advocates are calling for legislative action after gaps in Illinois sentencing law allowed a convicted kitten killer to be released from prison after serving less than one day of his four-and-a-half year sentence.

Note: This bill would have enormous implications for hiring processes, as explained in this earlier Forbes column.

“A government can write this year’s check and still be insolvent by any honest measure. Rating agencies have stopped distinguishing between the two, and the municipal bond market has followed them. New Jersey, Illinois, and Chicago are now running three live versions of that gap at once, and none of it has moved a municipal bond spread the way the underlying numbers should.”

Illinois officially tossed out its decades-old process of stripping tax-delinquent property owners of their equity in order to get the tax bill paid, a momentous change that is shadowed by the lingering battle over how to repay those who lost their homes in the past.

“What emerges is a worsening crisis as pensions consume an ever-rising share of funding, but with some significant variation across the country….The results for Illinois were especially stark. In 2023, pension contributions absorbed on average of more than 21% of the portion of expenditures related

“The irony is that Illinois residents already depend on data centers every day. Every text, photo and email exists because physical facilities store and process that information somewhere. For a state that has spent years searching for investment to spur high-income and working class jobs, Illinois lawmakers should re-evaluate their tech policies and punitive tax environment that stifle those opportunities.”

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, for example, has rebranded its Office of the Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion as the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Access, Civil Rights, and Community, but denies that the office’s mission will change. Currently, the office provides training for students on topics related to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and it also organizes programs such as Antiracism Initiatives, LGBTQ support services, and Undocumented Student Ally training.

The Digital Asset Tax Act, signed by Governor J.B. Pritzker as part of a $55.9 billion budget package, makes Illinois the first U.S. state to impose a transaction-level tax on crypto activity.

Political parties split on whether to welcome data centers.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey — Pritzker’s November opponent — has borrowed the tactic that drew vast online and media attention to Spencer Pratt’s recent campaign for Los Angeles mayor.

How Governor J.B. and Penny Pritzker worked with universities, tech companies, and powerful business groups to transform Chicago into a global hub for quantum, and the massive data center that comes with it.

“These are not harmless products that carry real risks for young children and young people,” said Dr. Mark Butterly, the chief medical officer at Advocate Aurora Children’s Hospital. “These products can impair judgments, affecting the developing brain, and send children to our emergency departments.”

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign hosted an all-ages drag tea party at its publicly funded Spurlock Museum during Pride Month, inviting families to attend performances by drag entertainers while encouraging participants to wear Pride-inspired attire.

“Her family exploited birthright citizenship to raise a pathetic excuse for a public official…. She will blast our history using erroneous conclusions from the present, and as a bonus, she even fawns over terrorists.”

“We have to go back to the Reagan rule, where if somebody agrees with us 80% of the time, they’re not a 20% traitor,” Grogan said. “You know, they are actually part of our team, and that our entire Republican team is

In response, White House spokesperson Davis Ingle called Pritzker “a slob and an incompetent governor who pushes blatantly false narratives like this in a desperate attempt to stay relevant.”

With more than 400,000 lead water service lines, Chicago has the largest known inventory of lead pipes of any city in the country. Officials say replacing each one costs about $31,000 on average — more than six times the Environmental Protection Agency’s national estimate of $4,700 a line.

Illinois prosecutors have agreed not to bring enforcement actions against Kalshi for violating a new law that taxes contracts traded on prediction markets until the case challenging the recently enacted statute can be settled in court.

Republic National Distributing Company has said it expects to close its facilities in Illinois with “no financing available” to keep them running.

“It is an utter disgrace for these states and another manifestation of our age of rage.”

Illinois Democratic leaders Governor JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson are slammed for weaponizing a Chicago cross burning incident by blaming former President Trump. Despite the suspect, Murlin Lue, admitting his motive was to protest Trump, not racism, Pritzker and Johnson doubled down.

“He wants to be angry at Democrats without hurting their feelings, good at governing without the track record to prove it, and a progressive who happens to be a billionaire political moderate. He also wants to be president.”

Democrats in Springfield like these digital taxes because they apply to activity that is less mobile than income or corporate taxes. They also figure that most voters won’t notice since they will occur on transactions mediated by business. But they tell you what Mr. Pritzker’s priorities are as he prepares to argue that Illinois policies are right for the entire country.

“Illinois cannot afford that sleight of hand. If the minimum compliance fix is needed, enact the narrow salary-cap alignment after seeking IRS confirmation.”

“Of course, few know what’s up, because even fewer understand the budget process, and even fewer than that care. In the end, of course, the people pay for the budgetary sleight of hand.”

“One of the most anti-crypto laws in the U.S.,” says one critic.

By actuary Mary Pat Campbell.

A little-noticed bill awaiting action from Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker could become one of the most consequential employment discrimination laws of 2026.

State Rep. Norma Hernandez, D-Melrose Park and State Sen. Robert Peters, D-Chicago: “On May 31, the legislature enacted a tax on digital advertising…. Through this tax — which will bring in hundreds of millions of dollars per year — our state can claw back some of the huge corporate tax breaks that Musk and his billionaire buddies are getting from Trump, and use that money to soften the blow of some of Trump’s cruel cuts to healthcare and other public services. This tax will raise revenue from Musk’s social media platform X, which brings in vast amounts of advertising revenue.”

Illinois based Liberty Justice Center lost donors because it successfully challenged the president’s global tariffs.

The First Amendment strictly prohibits taxes that single out content the state doesn’t like. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what Illinois’ new state spending plan does, and it’s poised to soon be signed by Governor Pritzker.

Under this leadership, the $18 billion state employee pension fund divested from hedge funds investments, with Levine arguing that hedge fund “returns are terrible, and the costs are enormous.”

The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed legislation sponsored by U.S. Rep. Mary Miller, R-Ill., aimed at strengthening oversight of federal childcare assistance programs and cracking down on fraud.

Illinois is still the only state that doesn’t aim to fully fund its pension obligations; it sets a statutory 90% funded target as opposed to the actuarially recommended 100% funded target. While Pritzker didn’t achieve passage of his plan to fully fund the state’s pension system by 2048, he did get other pieces of his proposal across the finish line: an extension of the state’s pension acceleration or buyout program, and a redirection of surplus revenues to reduce pension debt.

“Like a sleazy used car salesman, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and his Democrat allies are taking a victory lap over the state’s supposedly ‘balanced’ budget. But a quick look under the hood reveals that the Land of Lincoln is far from the model of fiscal responsibility that Pritzker is making it out to be. In reality, the state is barreling toward disaster – and Democrats are trying to sell a lemon of a state as a model of good governance.”

“Then, there is Illinois. While valuations in the Prairie State are much lower on average than in Northeast states, this Midwest state has the highest effective tax rate at 1.84%. So it’s no shocker that Illinois is one of the states revolting.”

“Time will tell if this is truly going to discourage investment. I think that obviously these were very generous tax credits that were driving development,” Rep. Amy Elik told The Center Square.

State legislators passed historic reforms to Illinois’ controversial tax sales, which had led to thousands losing their homes and all of their home equity.

Illinois State Rep. Bill Hauter, a Republican physician and graduate of the University of Illinois College of Medicine, sharply criticized reports that the school is promoting “equitable assessments” in medical education. He called the approach “outrageous,” “unconstitutional,” and dangerous to the medical profession.

The Justice Department said Illinois unconstitutionally discriminates against US citizens who are not afforded the same reduced tuition rates or scholarships. “We lose 50% of our students already; it’s actually slightly above 50%, to out-of-state colleges and universities,” said Sen. Jason Plummer (R-Edwardsville). “Legislation like this will only increase that number. It will push more of our young minds to other states.”

Free speech is under assault in many places these days, but traffic court? Leave it to Illinois, where the state Supreme Court kicked a Cook County judge off the bench over an article he wrote while a private citizen.

Gotion is the Chinese battery maker with a plant in Manteno, Illinois, subsidized by the state.

The budget includes new revenue streams like a social media platform fee, a digital advertising tax, and taxes on cryptocurrency, fantasy sports and prediction markets. It also caps net operating loss deductions for corporations, and decouples from a federal stock exclusion provision of the tax code to allow taxing capital gains at the individual income tax rate.

Federal grants to Illinois increased 75% from 2019 to 2024, the 8th highest percentage growth in the nation.

“In reality, the bills do nothing to address the factors contributing to higher premiums, such as higher repair costs, more severe weather, and legal system abuse,” the lobbying groups said in a statement. “Instead, the bills implement a fundamental shift in Illinois’ regulatory environment and move the state towards a more rigid rate-approval system similar to struggling insurance markets like California. This shift will make it harder for insurers to respond in real-time to market conditions and adjust rates up or down based on actual claims experience.”

A sweeping Illinois bill to water down audit requirements is on pause, but its backers have secured the support of the Democratic nominee for state comptroller and hope to push the legislation through next session.

Seth Lewis, budgeteer for the Senate Republican Caucus: “We need stronger leadership from the governor to protect the economic tools that help create jobs and attract investment. Especially as the progressive socialist wing of the Democratic Party continues to push a narrative that economic growth equals corporate greed, we need our governor to boldly and decisively push back against efforts to eliminate or weaken tools that have helped create thousands of jobs and attract billions in investment.”

“The fight over who gets to decide where renewable energy goes is far from over.”

The University of Illinois College of Medicine is promoting a web page that encourages professors to adopt “Equitable Assessments & Grading Practices.” “Equitable assessments and grading practices emphasize the process of learning versus performance outcomes and the attainment of grades,” the page, linked on the college’s website emphasizes. One of the listed benefits of grading according to equity is that the practice allows professors to “respect the diversity of students’ social identities as well as the diversity of student interests.

Ten things to know about the 556-page bill.

Chicago developer Mike Reschke is poised to buy a mostly empty downtown office tower at 55 West Monroe St. at a staggering 90% discount from its 2014 sale price, reinforcing both the financial carnage in the local office market and his status as a big bettor on the Loop’s post-pandemic recovery.

“Illinois can’t tax or subsidize its way out of decline; the state’s survival depends on reversing mass immigration and restoring an American majority.”

In a report provided exclusively to The Center Square, The Oversight Project explains it started looking into a contract Oak Brook, Illinois entered with Fusus police technology after reviewing an inspector general report from Atlanta that included more than a dozen other cities.

Rep. Steve McClure revealed that IDHS was allegedly sending packets to noncitizens that included voter registration applications already addressed to county clerk offices. He warned that such practices create confusion and could open the door to unlawful voter registration.

The governor and his allies in the statehouse have introduced legislation that would remove some zoning control from municipalities to clear a path for faster development of multiunit housing. They are facing opposition from a group of cities and towns.

“Residents express concerns about state control over local zoning, and voters rejected policies that would increase density and permanently alter our neighborhoods. These results should matter to every legislator considering this bill,” Roselle Mayor David Pileski said.

The lawsuit seeks to declare the Illinois Voting Rights Act as violative of the Fifteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution, which would essentially cause the current map to be redrawn in compliance with the Fifteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. Former State Representative Jeanne Ives filed this lawsuit.

“While Northwestern president, Schapiro pandered to the left and showed little support for free speech on campus…. Now the mob has come for Schapiro.”

The city is in a tough spot, and it’s a warning sign for other cities that could be on the brink of the same. The state must provide cities the tools they need, not stand in the way.

Illinois suffered the worst decrease in inventory since the pandemic of all states — down 75%.

The bill, the “Living Wage for All Act,” was introduced by Reps. Delia Ramirez and Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, both Democrats from Illinois, along with Reps. Analilia Mejia (D‑N.J.) and Lateefah Simon (D-Cali.). If enacted, the bill would raise the federal minimum wage to $25 an hour, would more than triple the current federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour.

The bill now under consideration in the Illinois House of Representatives would allow workers to begin receiving unemployment benefits after two

Nico Tsatsoulis the Libertarian candidate for Cook County Assessor: “The solution is clear: Illinois must adopt a model based on California’s Proposition 13. This policy caps property taxes on residential and commercial properties at 1% of the purchase price and limits reassessments until a property is sold. Since its adoption in 1978, it has provided the stability that families and businesses need to thrive.”

The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency proposed a rule protecting federally chartered banks from the controversial swipe fee law set for implementation in Illinois this summer.

“Anyone who’s watched a Three Stooges short gets a laugh when Moe, Larry and Curly run for a doorway only to get stuck — but, minus the sound effects, it’s a lot less entertaining when the players are the people we’ve entrusted to run this state. Sure, democracy is messy.”

In its current form, the HB 910 mega-project bill allows developers to pay a small “special payment” in exchange for lucrative 45-year property tax breaks and allows local governments to shift every dollar of lost tax revenue onto unsuspecting taxpayers.

“Bottom line: To reduce property taxes in any meaningful way, the state needs enough new tax revenue to allow it to assume the primary role in funding education.”

Her status as an investor in Semafor is not disclosed in the program, which is available on Apple podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and Amazon Music.

“Economic policy is destiny.”

“The scale of the climate policy disaster authored by Gov. JB Pritzker (D., Ill.) is perhaps best measured by the effort and expense companies are willing to bear to liberate useful assets from the Land of Lincoln.”

Community colleges in Illinois could soon offer Bachelor’s degree programs to Illinois residents. Officials, lawmakers and students all say the initiative would make higher education more accessible, affordable and benefit the state’s economy.

IBM and U of I’s Grainger College of Engineering at Urbana-Champaign launched a decade-long, $200 million research partnership called IBM-Illinois Discovery Accelerator Institute in 2021, focused on artificial intelligence, supercomputing and materials research. Since then, IBM has collaborated with U of I to launch the National Quantum Algorithm Center, which will be a tenant at of the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park in Chicago that’s being built at the former US Steel factory site on the Far South Side. IBM plans to build a team of up to 50 researchers in Chicago.

“The sad truth is that if President Trump is for it, JB Pritzker will always be against it.”

Among the key drivers of the health care affordability crisis is the federal 340B Drug Pricing Program. The 340B program was created in 1992 to help safety-net hospitals and clinics stretch limited resources by purchasing outpatient drugs at deep discounts. In theory, those savings would be used to expand care for low-income and uninsured patients. In practice, the program has evolved into something different — and much more costly.

Lawmakers are considering House Bill 1429. The proposal would ban local governments from arresting or fining homeless people who are doing things like sleeping, eating or resting outdoors, or anything considered to be a life-sustaining activity. Local governments would also be required to provide social services to anyone being removed if possible.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said on Thursday in a news release it was still moving forward with the construction of deterrents near Joliet to block the path of the carp, but would move management of the project to Michigan.

“Look beneath the surface of this bill. You will find a troubling set of facts: a sitting state senator who is simultaneously the sole officer of a private consulting corporation and a founding board officer of a nonprofit that lobbies for the very industry her legislation is designed to expand — and a network of multimillion-dollar behavioral health organizations positioned to profit from every referral the system generates.”

Data centers have been popping up in the suburbs from Aurora to Hoffman Estates.

GOP candidate for lieutenant governor Aaron Del Mar said it’s important to support the Constitution and a free press, but taxpayer dollars should not support outlets like some in Chicago that only show one side of issues.

The highest effective tax rates were concentrated in the Northeast and Midwest, led by Illinois (1.84 percent), New Jersey (1.58 percent), Vermont (1.4 percent), Connecticut (1.36 percent), and Ohio (1.32 percent).

Economist James Bohn recently documented the breathtaking resultsof that experiment in which Wisconsin — for a century a high-tax, high-regulation state atrophying in a straitjacket of antique progressivism

Cook County, IL was the second biggest loser. But blue counties lost population even in states that had big gains. Of the 50 counties with the biggest net gain of population, all but four voted for Trump in the past three elections.

Politicians in Michigan and Illinois are pushing for help to build barriers and blast annoying sounds to repel the fish. Meanwhile, boaters are taking matters into their own hands.

Pritzker: “This is not foreign policy, it’s a deranged mad man threatening to wipe out an entire country. It’s past time. The 25th Amendment must be invoked.”

llinois’ bond sales would total $3.2 billion in fiscal year 2027 under provisions of Gov. JB Pritzker’s executive budget, the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability found in its analysis of the spending plan. The state’s outstanding principal would climb to $29.9 billion and debt service would hit $3.8 billion for general obligation bonds and $435 million for Build Illinois bonds, CGFA said in its analysis, released last week.

Illinois consumers who bought health insurance on the state’s Affordable Care Act exchange are paying 26% more for coverage, on average, than they did last year, and the number of people who enrolled in the plans dropped nearly 4%, according to the state. Though that 26% average increase in monthly premiums is surely tough for many, it’s a far cry from the 78% average jump that state regulators previously said could occur if the federal government didn’t renew enhanced premium tax credits and people stayed on their plans from last year.

Since 2020, the state has gotten $15.6 billion in federal aid related to the COVID-19 pandemic. While that funding was temporary, Illinois has permanently increased what it spends. That has caused a fiscal problem for the state, with projected budget deficits totaling nearly $21 billion during the next five years. Expenditures are forecasted to grow nearly 20 percent in that time, but revenues only 11 percent in that time.

House Bill 5408 would take advantage of an under-used provision of the Affordable Care Act that requires insurance plans that offer coverage for abortions in instances that go beyond rape, incest and life of the mother to collect at least $1 a month from enrollees to cover the cost of abortion claims.

“Senate Bill 4175 would allow municipalities to establish OPEB trusts to fund retiree fringe benefits. These trusts allow municipalities to invest the funds more broadly than typical municipal accounts and can help improve credit ratings. I’ve worked to put guardrails in place to protect municipalities, ensuring financial responsibility is a priority,” Sen. Suzy Glowiak Hilton, D-Western Springs, told The Center Square.

Now another virus is on the rise in Chicago, and this time it’s HIV. Infections rates grew nearly 30 percent between 2022 and 2024, and it’s likely thanks once again to the Democrats’ love of illegal immigration.

March turned out to be another good month for state revenue collectors. Driven by increases in personal income and sales tax payments, the March totals jumped by $233 million (4.8 percent) over the same month in 2025. That makes two consecutive months of increased revenue after a bad start in January. February revenues increased by 9 percent.

“The hardest part about Friday was to see all those people there, and the tears were because they knew it was over; they go back to the life they had before,” said Yvette Ewing, executive director at The Community Works, a nonprofit that helps recruit candidates for the CEJA hubs. “The hardest part, I’ll be honest, is knowing that there’s no job at the end specific to clean energy.

Illinois lawmakers are advancing legislation that would significantly curtail where federal immigration detention facilities may operate in the state, further demonstrating the state’s willingness to obstruct federal law enforcement operations. The proposal, House Bill (HB) 5024, would prohibit immigration detention centers from being located within 1,500 feet of residential areas and numerous community locations, including schools, parks, daycare centers, forest preserves, cemeteries, and places of worship.

Read that again. A Walmart General Manager is the top leader at a facility responsible for billions of dollars in inventory and hundreds of employees. That person earns $218,317, which is at the high end for that role. Meanwhile, the Vice President of Operations at the Greater Chicago Food Depository—who has a much less demanding logistical role—earns $353,845. That’s

The report, authored by ILEPI’s Frank Manzo and UIUC professor Robert Bruno, found that a 3% surcharge on income over $1 million would generate $3.8 billion in its first full year and $4.2 billion by 2030 — revenue estimates the researchers labeled as “conservative.”

Illinois-based providers performed nearly one out of every four abortions for patients seeking the procedure outside of their home state, often as a result of outright abortion bans or prohibitive restrictions where they live.

Fat salaries, taxpayer funded.

The “Adequate and Equitable Public University Funding Act,” proposes a yearly increase over 15 years of $135 million to state university funding, each public university getting a specific percentage, with priority given to universities that are the most in need.

An Illinois state senator, responding to an investigation by The Center Square, suggested Wednesday that the state’s highly paid diversity commissioners should be required to work full time in light of their poor job performances.

Illinois lawmakers failed this year to advance a bill that would have forced fossil fuel companies to pay for climate resilience after a coalition of business and labor groups lined up against it.

Pending class action lawsuits under Illinois’ stringent biometrics privacy law may have become significantly less lucrative, after a federal appeals court declared reforms enacted to limit financial payouts under the law don’t just apply to the lawsuits filed since the reforms took effect a little less than two years ago.

“With record investments and job creation already underway in 2026, Illinois is building on its momentum—proving that a focus on fiscal responsibility, economic growth, and opportunity is driving businesses to choose Illinois.”

Pritzker’s BUILD plan would establish statewide zoning laws — limiting the ability of local governments to intervene, hold public forums on zoning issues, or act on local residents’ objections.

Illinois business leaders pressured Illinois lawmakers Tuesday to approve billions of dollars in taxpayer‑funded child care investments, arguing that without more public spending, families and small businesses will continue to shoulder the burden of a system they say is already stretched thin.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker says property taxes are a local issue, but a county treasurer’s report says hefty tax increases are allowed by state law.

“The Republican nominee for governor won’t win, but Downstate will have a champion in its war against Chicago’s political influence over Illinois.”

Legislation in the Illinois Capitol could allow for more lax rules regarding some hormone medications. Republicans say the bill was quietly snuck through with vague language that would allow pharmacists to prescribe a 12-month supply of hormone therapy medication to minors.

The chair of the Illinois Republican Party is speaking out after a “disturbing act of vandalism” targeting a suburban GOP office, calling it a “symptom of escalating political hostility.”

The state should implement long-term saving measures, such as a spending cap. Under such a cap, annual spending cannot increase more than the 10-year average growth of the state’s nominal gross domestic product. That way, increases in spending are tied to growth in the tax base, which could mean limited tax increases.

Property taxes in Cook County soared at double the rate of inflation between 1995 and 2024, according to a new report from Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas.

“In the Midwest, Illinois stands out at $4.21 per gallon, while much of the region remains closer to the mid-$3 range.”

Blue-state leaders are swapping executive orders, legislative strategies and public warnings.

The Act imposes a range of pay and benefit requirements for covered temporary workers.

Imposing higher taxes requires having enough people to tax. It’s a balancing act that requires ensuring that those who pay the most feel they’re getting their money’s worth. Illinois apparently is failing that test, and the consequences are severe.

States with the highest taxes continue to lose the most income to other states. California lost on net $11.9 billion, mostly to Texas, Nevada and Arizona. Other big losers include New York ($9.9 billion), Illinois ($6 billion), Massachusetts ($4 billion), New Jersey ($2.6 billion), Maryland ($1.8 billion) and Minnesota ($1.5 billion).

Former Dolton mayor and Thornton Township supervisor Tiffany Henyard urged Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson to accept federal assistance to help clean up crime, noting in a statement that her father had become a gun violence victim.

The plug-in solar bill allows people to install small solar panel systems that can be plugged into normal wall outlets for personal use. Instead of a rooftop, the panels could be set up on a balcony, in a yard, or on a porch or patio.

In a news conference, State Sens. Seth Lewis, R-Carol Stream, Dave Syverson, R-Cherry Valley, and Craig Wilcox, R-Woodstock, said they want to make Illinois a place where people want to live, instead of leave, by creating thoughtful policies to support businesses and individuals.

A proposal to create a new energy commission has renewed policy debate over the economic and environmental impact of state policies.

House Bill 4743 would allow the more than 100,000 contract employees of ride-share services – such as Uber and Lyft – in the state to organize, requiring a minimum of 10% of active drivers to begin the process. The bill also sets a threshold of 30% of active drivers signing union authorization cards to begin any negotiations with the ride-share industry.

The Chicago Bears will have to wait until at least April for action on a property tax measure that would boost their efforts to build a domed stadium in Arlington Heights. State Rep. Kam Buckner, D-Chicago, the top House Democratic negotiator, confirmed to Capitol News Illinois that the bill won’t move before the House adjourns Friday.

Aaron Del Mar is stepping down as the Palatine Township Republican committeeman and Cook County GOP chairman to focus on his run for lieutenant governor.

“When leaders become dependent on outrage, solutions become threats to their power. Chicago, the adopted hometown of both Jackson and Mr. Obama, proves the point. Jackson rose in a political culture of entrenched corruption, where moral accountability was too often weakened by ethnic loyalty and party interest. Rather than resist this culture, Jackson and other civil-rights veterans were absorbed by it.”

After decades of drift, the troubled city has a chance to restore public order and competitiveness.

He has also come out squarely against federal immigration agents in Cook County, a stance likely to resonate with voters following last fall’s “Operation Midway Blitz. “The whole ICE situation should’ve looked a lot different and better coordinated,” Bailey said. “And I’ll even go so far as to say there shouldn’t be federal agents in Cook County doing this work.”

Jim Dey: “A quarter-cent hike isn’t much, but voters wanted nothing to do with it then and even less to do with any more tax hikes now. … A second (referendum) involving property taxes went down by a margin of 10,199 to 6,042.”

“This all began because of my family,” he said. “When I began to crack open some of my son’s information, his computer, I got his passwords. Unbeknownst to us, when we got into his computer, we discovered emails, he was considering a run as a state representative. When I saw that, I realized, he got it.” He went on to say he had to run for Zach.

Illinois will return to market with about $1.4 billion of general obligation bonds next week, with proceeds funding accelerated pension benefit payments, Rebuild Illinois capital expenditures, information technology projects and other capital projects.

Illinois, Kentucky, and New Jersey are the states with the poorest pension funding, all having saved up only about half of the assets needed to pay for promised benefits.

Voters showed their support for school choice, and the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) had a bad night.

With barely 24 hours to go before Republican voters in Illinois choose a nominee for governor from four candidates, one thing they agree on is that he must be able to defeat two-term Democrat incumbent JB Pritzker.

Financed in part by malign foreign powers who seek to defeat the United States, radical left activists have co-opted the Democratic Party. Rep. Brad Schneider of Illinois, head of the supposedly centrist New Democrat Coalition, typifies the illogic.

No one has ever bothered to study the way 1,396 localities authorized by the state to enact zoning actually deploy that zoning authority. In other words, Governor Pritzker and the supporters of the BUILD Plan are missing key information that could help them show why their Plan is sorely needed—or how it would play out on the ground. As it stands today, they can’t even tell their constituents whether these localities have chosen to enact zoning—much less whether they allow accessory dwellings or duplexes, impose large lot sizes, or issue parking mandates.

Foundation officials told Fox News Digital the volunteers will complement about 300 full- and part-time employees at the long-delayed center, which the organization is promoting as a $3.1 billion economic catalyst for the Windy City’s South Side.

Former gun store owner Jeff Regnier and wife Greta Keranen say prosecutors abused their power when they used Illinois’s civil asset forfeiture laws to try to take ownership of their property even though they weren’t convicted of crimes. A judge called the tactics “authoritarian,” but prosecutors say they were following the law.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s deep financial involvement in his state’s U.S. Senate primary on Tuesday has angered potential allies for his possible 2028 presidential bid.

With a few days left until the 2026 Primary Election, the Bailey/Del Mar campaign bus made a stop in Metropolis on Thursday, March 12. While Darren Bailey, a Republican candidate for the office of Illinois governor, was unable to attend due to family matters, his lieutenant governor running mate Aaron Del Mar met with voters at La Pizza di Shane.

Illinois Democrats have a rare opportunity to help send a Black woman to the Senate this year — though it’s an opportunity that may be blocked by a splintering electorate and competing political loyalties.

“In a state dominated by one party and one powerful incumbent, an opposition candidate must be able to turn the campaign into a referendum on governance itself.”

The model used in the study indicated a more than 25 percent increase in the frequency of large hailstones of at least 1.8 inches if planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions from human activities do not significantly reduce by mid-century.

Interview starts at the 15:00 mark.

“September 2025 incident in Chicago deserves an explanation.”

The legislative forecaster expects the state to end the year with revenue $755 million higher than the last estimate released by Pritzker’s budget office. The growth may be short-lived, however. COGFA projects FY27 revenue will decline $458 million from the current year.

The danger is that politicians will react predictably and try to subsidize jobs that are no longer viable and industries that are being dramatically downsized. At the same time, they are likely to expand model programs in Democratic cities for universal basic or guaranteed income. Democrats have moved forward with more than 60 bills creating such programs, and this week, Cook County, Ill. (the second-largest county in the U.S.) made permanent the universal basic income program it had originally launched with federal COVID-19 relief funds.

“With a well-known name statewide and a new campaign message, Darren Bailey is ahead in the four-way Republican primary race for Governor. Bailey has little to say about his opponents, instead looking ahead to November and what would be a rematch of the 2022 contest. This time, Bailey hopes for a different outcome.”

“With virtually no financial support this time, and unwilling to appear for GOP debates, Bailey will carry the Republican banner straight to the garbage heap in November if he prevails in the GOP primary.”

“There is one candidate whose particular identity, politics, and prominence put him above all the others on this issue: Illinois Governor JB Pritzker.”

Illinois’ combined state and local taxes are over 50% higher than the national average.

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.

Illinois recently expanded the state’s prohibitions on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in employment. In 2020, Illinois enacted the Artificial Intelligence Video Interview Act (AIVIA), which regulates employers’ use of AI in the interview and hiring process. Under this Act, employers are obligated to inform applicants when AI technology is used during the course of a video interview, provide an explanation of the AI technology’s mechanics, and obtain prior consent from the applicant.

The Passenger Rail Planning Act was introduced in January by state Reps. Rita Mayfield (D-Waukegan) and Kam Buckner (D-Chicago). It does not include funding for expanded service or infrastructure, but seeks to define the plan for more frequent operations.

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.

“For Illinois, the strong-arm approach by Trump has meant regular threats to a range of federal funding streams, which add up to a minimum of $61.5 billion over the coming decade, according to a review by Crain’s of both threats to cut funding and actual cuts implemented under the Trump administration.”

Illinois is worst, with lots of detail by city and county.

The ad is here.

“Ted Dabrowski knows how the state got off track, but he’s the underdog in the GOP primary for governor…. Mr. Pritzker has been a frequent target of Wirepoints’ unflattering statistics, and he once lashed out at Mr. Dabrowski’s firm, calling it a ‘carnival-barker organization’—a phrase that drew a rebuke from the people of the circus and carnival culture.”

“F— Trump, vote Juliana,” one person after another says in the new TV ad. The ad also features Gov. JB Pritzker and U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth.

Darren Bailey’s campaign faces scrutiny in some Republican circles over its response to an incident where a woman was hospitalized and filed a police report after attending his launch event.

After his name was printed incorrectly on primary election ballots in Champaign County, Illinois Republican gubernatorial candidate Ted Dabrowski has filed a lawsuit against the county clerk and called out ballot errors in at least five other counties around the state.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey denounced a social media post made by his party last week that denigrated Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker.

JB Pritzker will propose a plan during his State of the State address to drastically limit local governments’ authority to restrict the types of structures that can be built on property zoned residential.

Update: Dabrowski has now filed a lawsuit over the error in his name on the Champaign County ballot. Details coming.

Illinois is fifth worst.

“Rather than having a nuanced discussion on ICE tactics, the left’s position is to abolish ICE and reward illegal immigration. Here’s what Pritzker Democrats won’t tell American voters: If Illinois, Minnesota, and other states had simply cooperated with ICE and other federal agencies, they could have deported the worst criminal offenders in a matter of weeks, and then they could have left.”

“Polling released last month could show that Bailey is one of the most recognizable names in Republican politics, but he lost to Pritzker by 12 percentage points in 2022 — leaving Republican voters with a key question on March 17: Should they renominate Bailey or choose a political newcomer to take on Pritzker in November?”

The debate will air live on Feb. 24 at 6 p.m. and you can watch on Fox Chicago, Fox32Chicago.com, and on the FOX LOCAL app.

“My home state of Illinois, and others across our country, have failed to properly maintain their voter rolls and implement basic election security practices such as requiring voter ID. By establishing clear, consistent standards to verify voter eligibility, this legislation helps ensure that only the American people decide our elections,” U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood said.

“If Illinois politicians truly wanted to reduce overtime, they would hire more officers. They don’t. Because overtime isn’t the problem — honesty is.”

“It’s one thing for purple-state governors to remain on the fence. But when even California, New York and Illinois are debating whether to give their parents access to choice dollars—in a nod to the danger of giving the GOP a wedge issue—the unions have a big problem.”

The word “threshold” matters: It’s not a true exemption. If an estate is valued at $4 million or less, there is no Illinois estate tax. But if the value exceeds $4 million by even a single dollar, Illinois will tax the entire estate, not just the amount above the threshold. This is known as the Illinois “cliff tax.” At an estate value of exactly $4 million, the tax is zero. But at $4 million plus $1, the entire estate is taxable.

Since launching his campaign in earnest last month, Heidner has worked to position himself as the MAGA candidate in the race. His first campaign ad even branded himself a “Trump Republican for governor.”

Change Research, a respected national polling firm for progressive causes, recently conducted a statewide survey that shows 75% of voters would vote yes on the amendment and just 10% would vote no, with the remaining voters undecided, they said.

Trump: “I even invited the SLOB of a Governor, JB Pritzker, and horrendous California Governor, Gavin Newscum, to the Dinner, despite the terrible job that they are doing.”

He’s the second GOP candidate for governor to sit for Capitol News Illinois’ election podcast series. Capitol News Illinois will publish a feature and full interview with each of the four GOP governor candidates in the coming weeks.

From McLean County Republican Party press release: Illinois State University is reported to have maintained an agreement with NSLVE similar to the one currently under review at Tufts University. U.S. Reps. Mary Miller, Darin LaHood and Mike Bost are introducing legislation aimed at preventing third-party organizations, such as NSLVE, from having unrestricted access to private student data.

Pritzker is calling for additional funds for Tier 2 public employees, those hired on or after Jan. 1, 2011. Some have suggested that the so-called Tier 2 pension benefits fall short of federal safe-harbor requirements because they may be less than those provided by Social Security. But no one has proved that Tier 2 benefits fall short of Social Security, or by how much. Better to answer those questions than commit major funds to solve a problem that does not exist.

Those wanting to see a review of Gotion Illinois by the United States Treasury’s Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) were disappointed after Manteno trustees voted against the request at the January 20 village board meeting.

LaHood expressed reservations about some enforcement activities in urban areas such as Minneapolis and Chicago but said, “I think we’re headed in the right direction in terms of some of those problems we’ve seen in the past.”

Buyer wants to reorient the paper toward the political middle.

“For years, Ted Dabrowski wielded influence behind the scenes in Illinois Republican circles, serving as a go-to source for conservative research and commentary through his stewardship of thinktanks Wirepoints and the Illinois Policy Institute. With Republicans largely relegated to the policymaking sidelines in Democrat-dominated Springfield, Dabrowski’s efforts have mostly proven an academic exercise. That could change this year.”

6,000 at U of I; 300,000 nationally.

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.

If recent trends in population growth and migration continue, the Brennan Center projects that Texas would gain four seats, Florida three, and Georgia, Arizona, Utah, North Carolina and Idaho one each in the reapportionment after the 2030 Census. California would lose four, and New York two. Oregon, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island would give up one apiece.

Former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot also announced that she is spearheading a project to reveal the names, personal information, and locations of ICE officers while pro-migration activists are trying to block law enforcement operations. Also in Illinois, Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias has warned ICE officers and other federal law enforcement not to remove or obscure the license plates on official vehicles because he claims it is a violation of state vehicle operating laws.