J.B. Pritzker wants a third term as Illinois governor, but based on his history of boosting taxes and creating spending records, can Illinois afford him for four more years? Will the state grow even smaller as Illinoisans get fed up and leave?
Red-light cameras on Chicago’s South Side issued more than triple the number of tickets per intersection as on the North Side between June 2024 and May 2025. Fines citywide dropped over $12 million from the previous 12 months.
Climate change education, gender inclusiveness, birth certificates, prostitution privacy, court translators and insulin costs all received attention from the Illinois General Assembly. Laws involving them take effect July 1. Plus, the state gasoline tax goes up.
Illinois students are not learning, but instead of boosting the quality of education state leaders are trying to lower standards so scores don’t look as bad. Blame it on the Chicago Teachers Union and other teachers unions pushing for less accountability.
The average retired career state employee in Illinois was paid $93,558 in pension benefits last year. That’s $24,538 more than the average Illinoisan working to pay for those retirees.
Charter school contracts can be renewed for up to 10 years, but the Chicago Teachers Union has been pressuring for as few as two years. Sowing instability hurts charters and improves CTU’s odds of killing competition for their mediocre product.
For most bills filed in Springfield, taxpayers will have to guess at how much more will be demanded of them. Illinois General Assembly members only worried about costs 10 times for 3,859 of their bright ideas about how to improve the state.
Government unions already hold tremendous power over taxpayers in Illinois. Three bills heading to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s desk will give them even more power by violating worker privacy, thwarting taxpayer protections and blocking schools in emergencies.
Illinois General Assembly members raced the clock to pass legislation. Of the 416 bills sent to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s desk this session, 155 were passed in the final week and 96 of those were on the last day.
6,745 bills were filed in the Illinois General Assembly this session, but only a small fraction passed both houses. Of those, 86% were introduced by Democrats. That big disparity is rooted in Democrats drawing legislative districts that shrink opposition.
Lawmakers quietly added a fund intended to comply with federal rules about pensions for newer state workers. If it works, Illinois taxpayers will have avoided costly federal mandates and a push by public employee unions to expand obligations by $64.5 billion.
At least 52 school districts represented by the Illinois Federation of Teachers – the parent union and chief ally of the Chicago Teachers Union – are up for contract negotiations this year. CTU’s militant social agenda is being spread by IFT to other teachers unions.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker had the power to strike $237 million in pork-barrel projects that benefit only Democratic lawmakers’ districts. He should have vetoed the pork projects to create a responsible state budget that is fair to all Illinois taxpayers.