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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."
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 U.S. Attorney's Office said Tatianna Ammons applied for and received unemployment insurance benefits from around October 24, 2020, until around September 10, 2021. Tatianna Ammons is the daughter of State Representative Carol Ammons and Champaign County Clerk Aaron Ammons.
U.S. District Judge Edmond Chang filed the ruling June 1, delivering a mixed bag of results for both sides in the case lodged against the Illinois State Supreme Court by former Cook County Judge James Brown.
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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.
High school student Leo Fiascone: "Illinois captures roughly 80 cents back in federal outlays for every dollar sent. ... Rather, if our political leadership simply stopped treating the federal government as an ideological punching bag and successfully worked toward a break-even balance of payments, the extra $30 to $50 billion annually — an amount that approaches the entire State of Illinois's annual general fund budget — would result in a transformative windfall statewide, and for Chicagoans."
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."
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.
Portions of the law, such as the age requirements to purchase hemp products, will take effect upon the bill being signed into law. Other parts, primarily those focused on hemp product sales and regulation, will take effect at the same time federal regulations do in November.
"In the state budget, there is approximately $150 million labeled as 'surplus' motor fuel sales tax revenue, but this is not surplus in any meaningful sense. It is revenue generated directly from Illinois drivers who are already paying higher prices at the pump. ... At the same time, when examining broader state expenditures, including healthcare services and welcome center programs tied to non-citizen populations, approximately $150 million in spending appears in this category."
“I believe that data centers ought to be paying their fair share and that they ought to be bringing their own energy with them,” Gov. JB Pritzker said after the legislative session ended Monday morning.
In 2023, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that local governments cannot keep excess profit when they seize and sell a home to investors. Illinois did not comply with the ruling for three years.
Nearly 400 bills cleared both chambers of the General Assembly this session, with more than 150 of them moving in the session’s final week.
Gov. JB Pritzker proposed a set of pro-housing reforms that would have reduced red tape and lowered the cost of building, but the General Assembly did not pass them.
Johnson has continued to push for the city's 2024 plan of relying on the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority and its 2 percent hotel tax to help fund a new Bears stadium on the lakefront, along with the team paying for a portion of the construction cost.
Illinois American’s proposal could bump water bills by an average of $168 per year for residential water customers and $336 per year for wastewater customers, according to CUB estimates. Meanwhile, as of April, nearly 47,000 households are already behind on their bills to Illinois American Water, totaling more than $8 million, according to ICC data.
Illinois House Minority Leader Tony McCombie said, in part, "I think (Gov. JB Pritzker) could unpause the data center incentives if he wanted to, just by saying so. He and I actually agree that they should be bringing their own energy. I think the technology is changing, so it helps with protection of water, so we’ll have to see what he decides to do there.”
The bill prohibits social media companies from using a minor’s viewing history or data stored on the device to determine what shows up in their feeds. Instead, feeds for minors will only be allowed to show information the user requested or searched for, or was posted by a creator the user follows.
The budget includes new revenue streams like a social media platform fee, a digital advertising tax, and taxes on cryptocurrency, fantasy sports and prediction markets. It also caps net operating loss deductions for corporations, and decouples from a federal stock exclusion provision of the tax code to allow taxing capital gains at the individual income tax rate.
When President Donald Trump returned to office, he rescinded a 2021 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) policy that had designated schools, hospitals and courthouses as “sensitive locations” where immigration enforcement was generally restricted. And in December 2025, Gov. JB Pritzker signed the Court Access, Safety and Participation Act (CASPA), which bans civil immigration enforcement within 1,000 feet of courthouses. The broader legislation also extends protections to immigrants at universities and day care centers
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."
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." 
"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.
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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."
"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..." 
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."
This will be Mendoza's second run for the fifth floor of City Hall. She also ran in 2019, entering the race a couple of months after Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced he was not seeking a third term. At the time, Mendoza had just been re-elected as state comptroller. She came in fifth in a wide field.
"Mayor Brandon Johnson came to this office with something genuinely rare — authentic credibility in the communities most affected by this crisis. That connection is real, which makes the gap between his instincts and his execution all the more frustrating. ... The snap curfew veto had defensible grounds. But a veto without an alternative is a position, not a solution."
The accused killer of a Chicago police officer was ordered back into custody Tuesday in a separate carjacking case, after the same judge came under fire for releasing the seven-time convicted felon on electronic monitoring before the alleged murder. Authorities said Alphanso Talley was unaccounted for in the electronic monitoring system when he allegedly gunned down Officer John Bartholomew, 28, and gravely injured another police officer at Swedish Hospital April 25.
The mayor’s relationship with leaders of the mainstream Jewish community has been frayed ever since he cast the tie-breaking vote in favor of a nonbinding resolution demanding a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict. It was further strained by the mayor’s refusal to fire his chief lobbyist and remove Ald. Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez as chair of the City Council’s Committee on Health and Human Relations for their social media posts viewed by Jewish leaders as antisemitic. Johnson also refused to remove a display at the Cultural Center that a City Council majority viewed as antisemitic.
The “teen takeover” trend has been prevalent in Chicago in the late stages of spring and has officials debating how to address the issue, and the arrival of such “takeovers” in suburbs has departments on notice. The juveniles in this case were arrested on a variety of charges, including battery, assault, illegal possession of cannabis, obstructing identification, and disobeying peace officers.
"On the to-do list is also to ensure within public schools that we are supporting some of the programming for our queer and LGBTQ students in mental health," said King.
"Mayor Johnson has repeatedly signaled throughout his political career he views aggressive policing and incarceration with deep suspicion. ... If fewer shootings are detected, fewer enter the official statistics. If police are sent to fewer scenes, fewer arrests occur. If fewer arrests occur, activists can claim progress against 'over-policing.' Meanwhile, actual residents of violent neighborhoods continue dodging bullets."
"I’m not saying there’s not value in the program, and if there was money, absolutely, we would love to keep it, but there’s a lot of different factors here that play into why it’s not sustainable," Local School Council Co-Chair Amy Zemnick said. "The main one being we just don’t have the money or the kids."
The District’s debt burden is high compared to peer school districts, and its below-investment-grade credit rating significantly increases borrowing costs. These challenges are driven by a combination of factors, including aging facilities, declining enrollment, recurring structural deficits, and years of difficult fiscal decisions made under significant budget constraints.
"Several years ago, the Walgreens just feet from my church on King Drive in Woodlawn closed its doors too. Across the street, the McDonald’s fled as well. I didn’t blame either of them then, and I don’t blame Walgreens now. I blamed the violence in the community, the rampant theft and the declining sales that made it harder and harder for those businesses to survive. What really bothers me is the people talking about everything except the real issue."
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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