Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she wants Gov. J.B. Pritzker to give city residents more freedom to drink and dine out. Two other Illinois regions were just granted more liberty to do so.
Lame duck session was busy even when House Democrats weren’t focused on replacing Mike Madigan as speaker. Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s small business tax hike died as 23 bills were passed, including one making Chicago’s pension woes worse.
Over the objections of Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who called the legislation “irresponsible,” state lawmakers passed a bill to increase the cost-of-living adjustment for 2,200 Chicago firefighter pensions to 3% from 1.5%. Gov. J.B. Pritzker should veto it.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker could delay the $313 million in raises state workers have yet to receive, but instead he’s considering taking $75 million from their paychecks and leaving taxpayers without their services.
More people again in 2020 became former Illinoisans than new Illinoisans. The new General Assembly has the power to stop the moving vans.
“I went to appeal my property taxes and won. But that same year they increased the levy amount, so my taxes still went up."
Illinois unemployment numbers dropped for a week during the holidays, but they were back up last week as the state's hospitality industry remains out in the cold.
Illinoisans watched the politically impossible become the politically inevitable.
Congress provided tax benefits for business losses in the CARES Act to help offset economic challenges during the pandemic. Gov. J.B. Pritzker wants to undo that relief to raise revenue for Illinois.
Decades of institutionalized financial mismanagement left Illinois with the nation’s worst fiscal health. Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan has been at the center of nearly every bad decision along the way.
With Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan reportedly short of the 60 votes needed to hold on to the speakership, Illinois House members will have to line up behind a new candidate before they can get down to business.
Illinois averaged over one federal public corruption conviction a week during the Madigan era. That is the most convictions per capita among the top 10 most populous states between 1983 and 2018.