State general revenues top $50 billion for first time in FY 2022

SPRINGFIELD – State tax revenues grew by $5.5 billion in the fiscal year that concluded on June 30, exceeding $50 billion for the first time in Illinois’ history, according to a new report from a state budgeting agency. The 12 percent base revenue growth in Fiscal Year 2022 gave lawmakers near-unprecedented flexibility in the current budget year. […]
Major fundraising underdogs among challengers to unseat incumbents

SPRINGFIELD – Four months before the general election, six incumbent state lawmakers appeared primed for an early rejection by voters based on unofficial tallies this week. The longest-serving of the incumbents to lose their primary election was Democratic Rep. Mike Zalewski, of Riverside, a founding member of the House’s “Mod Squad” of moderate Democrats. He […]
FOID, red flags and restraining orders: How state laws regulate firearm purchases

A mass shooting in Highland Park at a Fourth of July parade prompted questions about how the suspect was able to obtain a gun in a state with some of the strictest gun laws in the nation. Law enforcement officials have said that the Highland Park shooting suspect, Robert Crimo III, 21, legally purchased and […]
Economist weighs in on Gov. Pritzker’s plan to address high inflation

On July 1, Governor J.B. Pritzker froze a proposed gas tax hike, while suspending the grocery tax on certain items. These were two of many initiatives meant to quell rising inflation. Dean Baker, a senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, described inflation as a time when “most prices are rising,” as […]
217 Today: When children with sickle cell disease grow up, they face a system not designed for them

Monday, July 11, 2022 Today’s headlines: An Illinois lawmaker wants to prevent minors who have hurt themselves or others — or tried to — from legally buying guns. Illinois is receiving nearly five thousand doses of the Jynneos monkeypox vaccine from the national stockpile. A new coal mine planned for southeast Champaign County is no […]