Alternative tax-hike ideas emerge to fund Illinois public transit | Illinois
(The Center Square) – Illinois lawmakers are proposing more options to address a $770 million fiscal cliff for public transit. After a funding package that included a $1.50 retail delivery tax and real-estate transfer taxes failed to clear the Illinois House during the 2025 spring legislative session, state Rep. Kam Buckner, D-Chicago, suggested a special-event […]
Legislator warns bad Illinois policy continues to hurt business investment | Illinois
(The Center Square) – With businesses in Illinois now suffering on multiple levels, state Rep. Brad Halbrook argues it’s clear the state has become its own worst enemy when it comes to charting a clearer pathway. U.S. Census Bureau statistics show only 5.6% of business applications across the state ultimately turned into establishments open for […]
Op-Ed: Chicago-area transit needs an intervention, not another fix | Opinion
If Illinois were a family, it would have 1,313 siblings – its cities, towns and villages. One of them is a trainwreck, repeatedly in crisis, addicted and constantly asking the rest of the family for help. Not hard to guess: the black sheep is Chicago. The city’s schools think they are entitled to $1.6 billion […]
Illinois quick hits: Mine manager pleads guilty; Johnson issues food executive order | Illinois
Mine manager pleads guilty A former Franklin County mine manager has pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration in relation to an underground fire in August 2021. Prosecutors say Timothy Brandon Parsons, 38, of Louisa, Kentucky, and co-conspirators agreed not to evacuate miners over the course of three shifts […]
WATCH: Pritzker claims Trump plans election interference with troop deployment | Illinois
(The Center Square) – Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker says President Donald Trump only wants troops on the ground to interfere in next year’s elections, not address public safety as the president insists. Trump border czar Tom Homan on Thursday confirmed some kind of staging area is planned at Naval Station Great Lakes, but didn’t disclose […]
Illinois quick hits: Gun ban challengers petition SCOTUS; man sentenced for COVID fraud | Illinois
Gun ban challengers petition SCOTUS The Second Amendment Foundation is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to take a challenge to Cook County’s ban on semi-automatic firearms. Originally filed in 2021, the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals sided with the county, upholding the ban in June of this year. In 2023, the state enacted a […]
Illinois quick hits: Record hotel tax revenues reported; grocer sentenced for SNAP, WIC fraud | Illinois
Record hotel tax revenues reported Illinois tourism numbers for 2024 saw an all-time high for hotel tax revenue. The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity’s Office of Tourism announced the state welcomed 113 million domestic and international visitors who spent more than $48 billion. Total hotel tax revenue came in at $367 million, a […]
Former Transportation Secretary urges state taxpayer funding for Chicago transit | Illinois
(The Center Square) – A former U.S. transportation secretary says Downstate Illinois residents should help fund Chicago transit, but a Metro East lawmaker disagrees. The Illinois General Assembly is expected to address a regional transit fiscal cliff of at least $760 million during the fall veto session scheduled in October. Former Illinois Congressman and U.S. […]
Trump plans to clean up Democrat-run cities over local objections | National
(The Center Square) – President Donald Trump plans to clean up major U.S. cities that he says are plagued by crime. Democrats see his plans to use military troops as a political power grab. Trump has long decried the crime and conditions inside large U.S. cities, including Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, and Washington D.C. […]
WATCH: Trump says ‘dangerous’ Chicago next after addressing crime in D.C. | Illinois
(The Center Square) – President Donald Trump says Chicago is next on his list of cities to focus on cleaning up crime. In December, after Trump was elected to a second non-consecutive term, Danielle Carter-Walters used public comments at a Chicago City Council meeting to call for the Trump administration to come to Chicago and […]