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Illinois State Rep. Bill Hauter, a Republican physician and graduate of the University of Illinois College of Medicine, sharply criticized reports that the school is promoting “equitable assessments” in medical education. He called the approach “outrageous,” “unconstitutional,” and dangerous to the medical profession.
The Justice Department said Illinois unconstitutionally discriminates against US citizens who are not afforded the same reduced tuition rates or scholarships. "We lose 50% of our students already; it's actually slightly above 50%, to out-of-state colleges and universities," said Sen. Jason Plummer (R-Edwardsville). "Legislation like this will only increase that number. It will push more of our young minds to other states."
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“It’s a pretty straightforward tax on speech, and a discriminatory one at that,” said Adam Thierer, senior fellow at the R Street Institute. “It basically suggests that it’s alright for government to be singling out types of media or media platforms that it does not like and assessing special taxes accordingly.”
Gregory M. Gilmore was nominated Jan. 13 by President Donald Trump and confirmed May 18 by the U.S. Senate, including by Illinois Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth. Before he became an attorney, Gilmore was an accountant for a big-four accounting firm in Chicago and for the FBI.
“When you’re talking about people getting off of SNAP, we had a 6 percent error rate when the governor started. We’re an over 11 percent right now,” House minority leader Tony McCombie said. “The federal government’s push is to get us at 6 percent, and the people that are getting off of SNAP are being told to get off SNAP is because they recertified and no longer qualify.”
“We need to have a total rewrite of our tax policy in the state,” said state Sen. Dave Koehler. “We have a structural deficit every year. We look at what income taxes coming in with sales taxes coming in, and then we say, well, ‘we can’t fund all the things we want to.’ Like education or social services.”
Dana Incorporated announced plans to close its plant in Robinson, according to the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. The first layoffs were scheduled to begin June 15 and affect more than 80 employees.
Jim Dey: "For starters, a qroup of Democratic legislators in Springfield, including Urbana state Rep. Carol Ammons, has been publicizing its effort to pass legislation reversing state law barring its public pensions from investing in companies that support the BDS (Boycott, Divest, Sanction) movement against Israel. So far, however, all that effort has drawn is a few headlines."
“Every acre of ag land that was taken out of production would be assessed a fee of $67.” said Eliot Clay, of the Association of Illinois Soil and Water Conservation Districts, “That fee would go into an operations fund for soil and water conservation districts and basically create a sustainable funding source.” He said the fee, to be paid by developers, drew support from both sides of the political spectrum.
"For me and millions of others managing conditions ranging from thyroid disorders to severe reproductive health issues, hormonal treatment is a standard necessary medical care," said Sen. Lakesia Collins.
Altogether, Gov. JB Pritzker has said the plan would cost taxpayers about $1 billion. The new prisons will include design features that focus on “creating rehabilitative and gender-responsive spaces with housing, education, programming, medical and mental health, dietary, and recreational areas to support the successful re-entry of individuals into their communities,” according to the statement.
The three biggest spenders in Illinois leveraging the childcare initiative are fathers of young children. State Sen. Ram Villivalam reported more in childcare spending from his campaign account than the total amount advocacy group Vote Mama said was spent by state and local candidates in any other state: roughly $200,000 in such spending since 2021 on his two sons.
“Time will tell if this is truly going to discourage investment. I think that obviously these were very generous tax credits that were driving development,” Rep. Amy Elik told The Center Square.
State legislators passed historic reforms to Illinois’ controversial tax sales, which had led to thousands losing their homes and all of their home equity.
Gotion is the Chinese battery maker with a plant in Manteno, Illinois, subsidized by the state.
State legislation aimed at addressing the issue stalled out in Springfield before lawmakers adjourned for the summer earlier this week. Pritzker once again called on them to address the issue during their fall veto session, under a seven-point regulatory framework that includes a higher electricity rate class for centers to pay, an extended pause on tax breaks and environmental protections.
Right now, students are required to take two years of a foreign language. Senate Bill 3070 would give schools and students the flexibility to choose to take two years of a language, or take two years of “career and technical education” courses.
Though the bills didn’t move this spring, negotiations could continue throughout the summer, allowing lawmakers to move them during the November veto session or January lame duck session.
Why are they allowed to do something clearly prohibited by the state Constitution? Illinois courts adhere to what is known as the “enrolled bill doctrine,” meaning courts defer to state House and Senate leaders to determine whether all procedural requirements for passing a bill have been met.
"It should trouble Illinoisans that not one Republican in the House or Senate voted for this budget. Three Democrats in the Senate voted against the budget. There are some good things in this budget, but we can do better."
Pritzker called on state lawmakers this year to suspend incentives for two years while they hammer out a comprehensive review of the impact centers are having on communities. Pritzker is making the move now after lawmakers did not act.
The Pretrial Accountability Task Force will be responsible for examining the use of pretrial electronic monitoring, "including the types of cases and charges for which the monitoring is ordered as a condition of pretrial release," according to the release. The Task Force will issue its report to the Supreme Court within 45 days, according to the release.
The plan doesn't raise the state's sales or income tax rates. But it does rely on a series of new taxes and tweaks to be balanced, while also reviving some temporary election-year tax breaks Democrats last deployed in 2022, when Gov. JB Pritzker was seeking a second term.
ComEd CEO Gil Quiniones said, in part, "We introduced a tariff. It was approved by the Illinois Commerce Commission to make sure that the cost imposed by data centers on our transmission and distribution system is paid for by those data centers, to make sure that those extra costs are not passed through the rest of our customers.”
According to police in suburban Plainfield, deputies were called to a home May 22 at approximately 12:50 p.m. for reports of a “male suicidal suspect.” The teen admitted to the intended attack to police at the scene according to officials. Officers collected a handgun, multiple loaded magazines, knives, an accelerant and gloves from the residence.
According to the Tax Foundation, 0.5 a percentlcohol-by-volume bourbon-infused ice cream would be taxed more than 1,000 times as much as alcohol in 14 percent ABV beer under the proposed amendments.
Top Chicago Stories
"A 76% discount from the tower’s 2006 sale price and a staggering example of the post-pandemic pain for downtown office buildings."
"The worst of the Johnson administration's ideas therein is to compel landlords to pay thousands to tenants when their leases aren't renewed or are forced to move due to an 'unconscionable' rent increase. 'Unconscionable,' as far as we know, isn't a legal term."
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Among the possible leverage points some are considering is a clause in the meter deal that allows the council to consider "the background and reputation" of the proposed operator. Buyer Stonepeak Partners, aldermen have noted, owns an air freight company with a subsidiary that carries out deportation flights for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. That background puts the company starkly at odds, they argue, with policies and values in Chicago that seek to oppose ICE activities.
“We need to ask ourselves as the adults in the community: Where are their parents? Where are the role models? Why are children out at night when, quite honestly, they should be home and in bed? How are we failing our youth? Parents must be accountable,” she said in the letter.
"There will always be something profoundly odd about the windowless — by design — exhibition spaces occupying a large swath of the tower. This isn’t really what Sullivan had in mind when he dictated 'form follows function.' The image of the tower is clearly not meant to be easy, in the same way that American democracy isn’t easy in the 21st century."
"Every election season, lawyers trained in the dark arts of signature challenges spend weeks in the basement of the Chicago Board of Elections, working to kick candidates off the ballot."
"Moving a stadium location within a state pits Illinois municipalities against each other, and you don’t want to do that 'particularly when the municipality on the losing side has way more members (in the legislature) than any other municipality in the state.'"
"But the pope was not interested in policy debates. He wanted to know how people 'back home' were doing. One of the first questions he asked me was how immigrant families have coped with aggressive enforcement actions? He asked how communities are confronting violence and unemployment. He asked how working families are managing amid rising costs and growing uncertainty." 
While the Save A Lot stores are still operating, Canfield’s sudden death has triggered a default in their redevelopment agreement with the city, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned.
While licenses for short-term rentals have declined citywide since 2019, they have increased by 46 percent in the 20th Ward, which includes most of the Woodlawn community just west of the Obama Presidential Center. Airbnb “Superhost” Kristy Ramsey says she usually makes around $60 a night, with people paying close to $80 for cleaning and Airbnb fees. But with the Obama Presidential Center opening, Airbnb allowed her to raise her nightly rate by about $30.
According to the Chicago Police Department, there were 36 homicides throughout last month, two fewer than were recorded during May 2025. Last month’s total was fewer than any other May in Chicago since 2007, when there were 35 homicides recorded, per CPD data. But the number of shootings (127) and shooting victims (165) in May were up 1 percent and 4 percent, respectively over last year.
Said Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, "Without a final site selection, until we see shovels in the ground in Hammond, the City will continue to engage in discussions grounded in the interests of our residents."
Indiana Gov. Mike Braun issued the following statement: “Hoosiers, help me welcome the Chicago Bears to our great state! We look forward to building a partnership as strong as the ’85 Bears defense, creating opportunities and economic growth that will benefit our state and the Bears organization for decades to come."
"Getting in and out of Soldier Field is an absolute nightmare. Let me tell you how bad it is. Bears vs. (Green Bay) Packers; I’m at the game, we’re losing. I decide to leave to beat the traffic," Brandon Johnson said. "Before I get out of the footprint, the Bears had come back to win."
Police said two male suspects approached a group of people standing outside and fired multiple shots into the crowd before fleeing.
David Greising, of the Better Government Association: "An Arlington Heights authority would have a credit rating linked to the village, with its high investment-grade credit rating. For Chicago, that would mean the city of Chicago, where the credit rating hovers just a few notches above junk status, and is at risk of going lower. In Arlington Heights, borrowing would cost less. A strong village balance sheet might mean that other financing or revenue sharing options are available to the village that Chicago might not be able to offer. Disadvantage, Chicago."
"How can the Bears, or any major enterprise planning a significant project or expansion in Chicago and relying for a time on discretion from the fifth floor, do business with a mayor who's shown he's willing to betray confidences to further his political ends? Perhaps all is fair in love, war and politics."
Hall is proposing a city-run Office of Pharmacy Access. The idea is straightforward: 77 access points, one in each of Chicago’s 77 neighborhoods, where residents can fill prescriptions and pick up medications close to home. The city would act as landlord. Independent pharmacists would move in without the overhead costs that typically push small pharmacies out of business.
"A data analysis ... revealed the Sheriff’s Office failed to serve 75 percent of the orders of protection issued between 2021 and 2023, leaving thousands of domestic violence victims vulnerable. Furthermore, the office recently finalized a massive $31 million settlement with over 560 women to resolve a historic sexual harassment lawsuit. Compounding these crises, the jail recorded 18 inmate deaths in 2023 — several linked to violence and an influx of drug-laced paper smuggled behind bars."
“Unfortunately, the same way the administration has been dealing with this, by bypassing and not dealing with it, is what they told their colleagues here to say, ‘Hey, let’s call quorum. Let’s end the meeting so we don’t have to deal with this,'” Ald. Gilbert Villegas said.
The citywide elections will take place early next year, and while there will be plenty of buzz around the mayoral race, the city’s 50 City Council seats will also be on the ballot, as will a series of referendums and other items for voters to weigh and consider.
"No one knows — not even the city of Chicago —who these kids are. Within the last decade, including the devastating COVID-19 pandemic, Chicago Public Schools lost 70,000 students. Some may have moved. Some may have gone to private schools. But the number of CPS middle and high schoolers missing 18 days or more of school shot up during the pandemic and has remained high..." 
"Some of the cases stagger the imagination.... The U.S. justice system isn’t perfect, and wrongful convictions do happen. But the powerful political and financial incentives to recast contested convictions as cases of racially motivated corruption should give taxpayers pause before footing yet another multimillion-dollar settlement. When facts become subordinate to politics and payouts, justice is the loser."
“Last year, the district's budget was about $10 billion, and it picked up about $300 million in pension costs,” said Danny Vesecky, senior research and policy associate at the Civic Federation.
DHS said a crowd it described as "anti-ICE agitators" surrounded officers during the operation. The agency alleges one person spray-painted an ICE vehicle before fleeing and striking a streetlight pole. Chicago Ald. Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez also attended the protest and spoke about the importance of supporting community members who are concerned about immigration enforcement efforts.
Last June, Chicago police arrested 16-year-old Rogelio Galindo while he allegedly carried an AR-style pistol loaded with a 40-round magazine that bore no serial number or manufacturer markings. A juvenile court judge placed Galindo on electronic monitoring. Prosecutors said the monitor was removed about a month later. He is the 24th person charged with killing or trying to kill someone in the city last year while on felony pretrial release.
"If Gov. Pritzker wants to show he is serious about helping the neediest children and willing to stand up to his union allies when policy — not politics — demands it, opting into the federal tax‑credit scholarship program would be direct, consequential, and politically bold."
"Beyond the neighbouring public housing, you can also see a clutch of new luxury apartment towers that have shot up in the last decade – a result of the Obama gentrification effect that local residents accurately feared the new centre would bring. ... Just like his presidency, the Obama campus was no doubt conceived with the best of intentions. And, as with his time in office, the impact of this mighty stone monument to hope looks set to be equally mixed."
Wirepoints Research and Commentary
With $162 billion more from taxpayers, couldn't you deliver a few bond upgrades, too 
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A largely unasked question is becoming glaring: Is Illinois doing all it should to use artificial intelligence to make government cost less and work better? So far, the evidence says no. SIGN UP HERE FOR FREE WIREPOINTS DAILY NEWSLETTER
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Everybody needs a side hustle these days, and mine is Ukraine, where I am now.
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If this bill passes, say goodbye to local control over all Illinois parks and expect to see open drug and alcohol use, needles, no sanitation and fire hazards, but no ordinary park users.
Chicago’s political leadership is floating a pension buyout program as evidence it is seriously addressing the city’s thirty-six-billion-dollar unfunded pension liability, but Mark Glennon, founder of the Illinois policy research organization Wirepoints, said that the proposal moves debt from one column to another rather than reducing it, and that the broader fiscal picture facing the city continues to deteriorate across every measurable dimension. Audio here.
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