-- Connecting the dots between our economy, government and business --
Top Illinois Stories
Citing the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act, U.S. District Judge Colleen Lawless said, "the State’s strong interest in enforcing its own laws must yield to Congress’s decision more than 50 years ago to expressly preempt 'any and all State laws as they may now or hereafter relate to any employee benefit plan.'”
The bill allows Illinois Treasurer Michael Frerichs to invest in the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust (AFL-CIO HIT).
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.
More Highlighted Illinois Stories
Revenue in August was up $326 million, or 9.2 percent, compared to August 2025. That beat July’s $188 million, or 5 percent, increase. Personal income tax growth was the main driver of that, as it grew by $195 million, or 10.4 percent, compared to the prior year.
Despite overruns on time, Architect of the Capitol Andrea Aggertt said the $350 million project, funded by the Rebuild Illinois capital construction program, is “within that budget” and they “don’t anticipate going over that.”
Funeral home oversight in Illinois is split among multiple government bodies. The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) issues funeral director and embalmer licenses, the comptroller’s office oversees crematoriums, and local health departments regulate sanitation. “I think the problem with having three different entities involved, we’re not necessarily having the type of oversight that we need to have,” state Rep. Diane Blair-Sherlock said.
A spokesperson for Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer noted that invasive carp had recently been found farther up the Illinois River than ever recorded, about 80 miles away from Lake Michigan.
Jim Dey: "The bankruptcy filing represents another embarrassment for the local Democratic Party. Having a county treasurer who files for personal bankruptcy certainly will not build confidence or make a positive impression on voters. At the same time, two other prominent local Democrats — state Rep. Carol Ammons and her husband, county Clerk and Recorder Aaron Ammons — are under federal criminal indictment in connection with the theft of campaign funds and state grant money as well as conspiring to obstruct justice.
The plaintiffs argue the law violates their religious beliefs by forcing them to help terminally ill patients kill themselves, and that Illinois also threatens religious caregivers for speaking a life-affirming message against suicide by imposing a gag order on their care.
In a social media video, Ted Dabrowski said he found multiple closed rest areas while traveling to an event in Effingham and returning north. “Illinois lawmakers are taxing the heck out of us and yet they can’t even keep our public rest stops open,” he said.
"Tax-competitive border states are an easy escape for Illinois residents who want relief from high taxes without straining their connections to family, friends and employment. This should concern Chicago lawmakers, as workers can move to Indiana or Wisconsin and remain within commuting distance of Chicago’s commercial hub."
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.
The University of Illinois College of Medicine renamed its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion office while retaining the same director and four listed staff members. The office continues to link to initiatives involving equity, bias training, and other programs associated with its former DEI structure.
Among other issues, the 106-page report focused on a sample of so-called home safety checklists, which the agency is required to complete before a judge determines a child can return to the custody of a parent or guardian. In that sample of 50 cases, DCFS was unable to provide 329 of the 399 required checklists, amounting to an 82 percent deficiency rate.
And unless Congress acts to reverse those policies before they take full effect, Illinois Health and Hospital Association officials warn, roughly half the hospitals in Illinois could be forced to reduce staff, cut back on services or close altogether.
The pause on any data center development will automatically renew after one year if the council takes no action.
The program has offered $120 million in total to “support local efforts to recruit, prepare, and retain educators through staffing strategies and partnerships tailored to community needs,” since its inception in 2023, according to the state board.
Illinois’ private-sector job growth is in the bottom five states. Such jobs grew by less than 0.1 percent from 2018 to 2025 in Illinois, compared with a national rate of over 6 percent.
Jim Dey: "The question of pretrial release — who’s detained until trial or released after arraignment — has clogged the courts since the SAFE-T Act took effect. The deluge prompted the Illinois Supreme Court to adopt new rules to reduce the volume of appeals. But the bottom line is that any alleged felon is eligible for pretrial release. That has created some embarrassing possibilities."
"Dozens of government plans in the worst-funded states and cities pay shockingly high rates to keep their systems afloat. ... States like Connecticut, Illinois, and Arizona, and cities like Chicago and San Diego, must ante up 50 cents or more for pensions for every dollar laid out in salary—a rate ten times or more than the private-sector average."
The additional tax would bring Springfield's combined hotel tax rate to approximately 17 percent, the second-highest in Illinois behind Chicago. Opponents have also questioned whether increasing lodging costs could make Springfield less attractive to convention organizers when competing against communities including Peoria, Bloomington-Normal, Rockford and the Quad Cities.
"That’s why a month ago, I signed the Children’s Social Media Safety Act, which establishes some of the most comprehensive safeguards against these addictive platforms in the nation."
In 2014, state officials asked the public for help finding old maps of the mines, saying they had records for only about 2,000 out of the 4,000 coal mines that had operated across Illinois over about 160 years.
Funds for the act stem from a diversion of roughly $860 million annually from the state’s Motor Fuel tax, an already in effect 0.25 percent increase in sales tax in the NITA region, and $200 million in its first year and adjusted annually after from the state’s Road Fund.
Political and government leaders in the county have said Four-term elected McLean County Auditor Michelle Anderson’s 18 years in the role has led to unnecessary risk and costs to county taxpayers, especially in recent years.
When people in the audience began protesting loudly, Citizen’s Voluntary Advisory Committee on Data Centers chairman Jerry Stocks said those who were shouting did not understand enough to engage in intelligent debate. “I’m not gonna have my community pirated by people of your ilk that are ill-informed, that seek nothing but the deconstruction of the progress of this community,” Stocks said.
A federal judge ruled the 2024 approval of the project under President Joe Biden violated the Endangered Species Act. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service identified the roughly 70-acre project area as home to the federally protected Indiana bat.
The Illinois House unanimously passed a plan to educate more drivers about vehicles transporting hazardous materials following the tragic accident in Teutopolis that killed five people and left 11 others injured last October. This proposal could require the Secretary of State to include education on hazardous material placards in the Illinois Rules of the Road book students read during driver education courses.
"While Illinois employers have long been required to provide employees with protected time away from work to fulfill jury duty obligations, the new law fundamentally changes who bears the financial burden of that leave. ... As a result, what was previously an operational challenge of covering for an employee's absence will now also become a potentially significant payroll expense."
According to AAA, the average price for a regular unleaded gallon of gasoline in Illinois was $4.29, up in recent days but down 6 cents from a month ago. Despite a rise in cost statewide, fuel prices in Illinois are 5 cents lower than the national average.
Top Chicago Stories
For bankruptcy to work, a city must have enough to work with. It's is unclear if Chicago does.
"The partner school’s own annual plan says it is guided by 'Xi Jinping Thought,' makes strengthening Party leadership its first priority, expands its 'ideological-political classroom,' monitors public opinion and treats ideological control as an institutional responsibility. This is the school now positioned to help shape curriculum and train teachers with a Chicago public high school."
"The challenge for Pritzker and Johnson is therefore to demonstrate that their opposition is based on operational and constitutional concerns rather than partisan politics."
More Highlighted Chicago Area Stories
As New York’s cultural affairs budget increased by 8.1 percent, local arts funding also climbed in the most recent budget cycles in Phoenix (by 2.3 percent) and Los Angeles (by 4.7 percent). In Chicago, funding trended downward in the 2026 budget.
So far, more than 45,000 refunds have been mailed since December, totaling over $59,100,000 according to the Treasurer’s office.
Johnson, who did not directly rule out a property tax hike, said the budget gap is driven in part by $70 million more in the city’s bond payments, $90 million more in pension obligations, cost-of-living adjustments for union workers, and commodity price hikes linked to the U.S. war against Iran, including $32 million more in fuel and energy costs.
"For Chicago, AI offers an unprecedented, generational economic and educational opportunity — one that could rival the transformative impact of the Industrial Age. Unfortunately, recent events suggest that Chicago’s leadership may elect to bypass these opportunities altogether."
This bond refinancing plan is at best a one-time quick fix that is unlikely to generate its promised savings – now or in the future. And even if the city somehow generates its expected $65 to $71 million, it will still have to dip into its $6 to $10 million in remaining ARPA funds and/or reserves in the city’s Grant Management Fund.
Johnson is expected to release his proposal to close the gap in October, kicking off a frenzied stretch as he and the City Council hammer out a final budget that must be approved by the end of the year. The mayor did not reveal his hand on what new and increased taxes he’ll push for this year, but it is expected he’ll return to the head tax.
“We have turned the page on just this incredible, just nasty, deplorable, disinvestment that we’ve seen over decades in this city, and we’re still recovering from that. We know where schools have been closed, where schools have been disinvested in, where teachers – primarily women educators – were laid off, we’ve seen spike in violence, but now these investments have proven to be effective,” Johnson said.
World Business Chicago receives much of its funding from city and state grants. Several alders are requesting the Committee on Ethics and Government Oversight to conduct a hearing to see how its spending public money, as many have said the promotions look like campaign ads.
"As residents watch their property taxes and municipal fees continue to rise, the city’s operational choices signal skewed priorities. While Chicago managed almost $640 million to shelter and support 46,282 new arrivals, the city funds only about 3,000 beds for its broader homeless population and fewer than 150 beds for victims of domestic violence. Meanwhile, the Mayor has delivered fewer than 600 affordable housing units to date, despite promising 10,000."
The White Sox are the biggest surprise of 2026, and part of the solution has been simple: swing harder.
Chicago had 122 murders in June, July and August, according to city and police data posted through Tuesday evening; That’s the lowest summer total since 1965. FBI-classified “index” crimes at CTA locations are down 29 percent this year through Aug. 23, according to police figures. Seven categories, ranging from thefts to shootings, are all down. Two other categories increased: There were 24 sexual assaults and four arson incidents.
Police believe the same crew may be responsible for the break-ins, which all happened between 1:42 a.m. and 2:37 a.m. Police said in each incident, five suspects wearing dark colored clothing broke in through a windowpane or a glass door insert before taking money and leaving in a small grey-colored sedan.
The nonprofit said it would put money from the sale of its former charter school built with $27 million in state grants into an account it cannot access until a judge decides its fate. Previously, Aspira had planned to use some of the proceeds for its own operations. State officials have not responded to questions about whether they will go after the proceeds, nor have their attorneys shown up in court.
Dominique Pollion, 37, had fallen asleep on the train Jan. 10 when a man entered the train — holding a knife and recording with his phone — and stabbed him in his chest and abdomen. A lawsuit filed Monday in Cook County court alleges the CTA and its private security officers failed to respond until the train arrived at the Clark and Lake station. And as first responders tried to revive Pollion, the security guards stood by as his attacker stuck around and continued recording Pollion, according to the suit. He then was able to leave the scene without being
"I find him to be a sorry individual and if he was serious about driving violence down not just in Chicago, but across the country, he would not be engaged in endless illegal wars," Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said.
In the M3 poll, just 28.7 percent of respondents had a favorable view of the mayor, compared with 64 percent viewing him unfavorably. Both Alexi Giannoulias and Susana Mendoza had higher favorable ratings.
"We need to examine the working conditions at some of these delivery centers," said Ald. Julia Ramirez of Amazon and other delivery services. "Are these workers getting the protections that they need?"
Crafted by a local nonprofit, the pledge also calls for eliminating school screen time before third grade and limiting it in later grades. It demands that the district hire a chief privacy officer and ban the collection of student biometric data, such as voice recordings captured by literacy software.
Cook County's sprawling safety net health system is counting on the county board to fill a budget gap of $40 million this year. CCH is projecting it will lose $138 million in patient revenue and shoulder more than $100 million in new charity care costs next year. CCH leaders already instituted a hiring freeze, cut agency staffing and are scaling back ICU and mental health stabilization units.
"While the tension between the executive office and the City Council has been described by some as a historic shift away from Chicago’s traditional 'rubber-stamp' mayoral politics, it is far from it. Rather, it reflects the mayor’s need to scapegoat aldermen who oppose his heedless spending, administrative failures, and fiscal incompetency."
Others leaving City Hall this year include Chicago Board of Ethics Executive Director Steve Berlin, budget director Annette Guzman, acting CFO Steve Mahr, and the heads of the Departments of Human Resources, Sandra Blakemore; Fleet and Facility Management, Julia Hernandez-Tomlin; and Public Health, Dr. Olusimbo "Simbo" Ige.
Saturday night’s shootout at a picnic in Washington Park drove much of this weekend’s total. Fifteen people were shot, including one who died, according to CPD. The incident now ranks in a three-way tie for the second-worst mass shooting in Chicago since at least 2013.
Street takeovers like this happen almost every weekend in Chicago, Ald. Matt O’Shea said, just not frequently within his ward. They have, however, been a problem elsewhere on the Southwest Side, including in West Lawn, where a man was fatally shot in July during a street racing gathering in Ford City Mall’s parking lot, and in McKinley Park, where a retail strip has had to boost security following street takeover events that resulted in property damage.
Cook County, Illinois, is No. 1. It contains 134 incorporated municipalities. Chicago is one of them. The other 133 are separate governments with their own mayors, police budgets, and zoning maps, all stacked inside a single county.
Mayor Brandon Johnson said workplace data was necessary to identify discrimination and criticized the Trump administration's efforts to end federal reporting requirements. "If you want to do business with this city, we want to know whether the people leading your company reflect the diversity of the communities whose tax dollars are paying your contracts," he said.
Wirepoints Research and Commentary
Most of Illinois' local municipal pensions are distressed and hundreds are deeply distressed, imposing a costly drag on the towns and cities that sponsor them. 
There's an irony surrounding the battles over solar farms in Illinois. Residents are being forced – through mandatory surcharges in their electric bills – to pay for the very subsidies that help make solar projects profitable. Their own money is being used to finance solar farms that many residents don’t want. That’s exactly what’s playing out in Effingham today. 
Summary and audio SIGN UP HERE FOR FREE WIREPOINTS DAILY NEWSLETTER
FOLLOW US
WE’RE A NONPROFIT AND YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS ARE DEDUCTIBLE.
MORE WIREPOINTS ORIGINAL STORIES
Much of the routine trade and investment between China and America is entirely appropriate and in America's interest. But inserting the Chinese Communist Party into America's pay-to-play system and its economic development strategy isn't just crossing a line. It's a leap into an abyss of stupidity. 
Illinois paid the price for embracing Fauci's "science." Here's the retrospective. 
Presented without comment. Take a look here 
Recent Comments