FAQ: How the federal scholarship program would help Illinois students

03/17/2026

Illinois students could soon benefit from scholarship money to help them find a tutor, attend ACT or SAT prep sessions, pay tuition, get special education services or assist with other academic needs. That will happen in Illinois only if Gov. J.B. Pritzker lets the state’s schoolchildren benefit from the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit program, established...

Unlocking Opportunity: How Occupational Licensing Reform Would Promote Equitable Empowerment in Illinois

By Josh Bandoch, Larry Han

10/16/2024

Published Oct. 16, 2024 Illinois finds itself at a crossroads: will it empower minorities and poor people to unleash their potential, or will it perpetuate an inequitable status quo? For far too many Illinoisans, opportunity is unfairly and unnecessarily out of reach. Illinois ranks in the bottom ten among all states in social mobility and...

Illinois bans fluorescent lighting starting in 2026

By Dylan Sharkey

09/12/2024

Starting in 2026, you won’t be buying any compact fluorescent light bulbs to replace that burned out one in Illinois. Tubes go away in 2027. Gov. J.B. Pritzker is banning the same light bulbs Illinois’ former senator and president championed 15 years ago.

Chicago Teachers Union school closures, strikes hold back K-12 chess champs

07/05/2022

Students on Joe Ocol’s chess teams already face life challenges, but the Chicago Teachers Union adds to them by repeatedly threatening their historic successes. Voters face a choice Nov. 8 to either strengthen union militancy or put students first.

TAGS: Amendment 1, CTU: Chicago Teachers Union, Illinois Constitution

4 of Illinois’ past 10 governors went to prison

By Hannah Schmid

04/11/2022

Four of the past 10 former Illinois governors are among the public officials who have been convicted of offenses in Illinois. The state needs stricter ethics reforms to change its culture of corruption.

TAGS: corruption, governors, Illinois, prison

Rod Blagojevich sues so he can again seek election

By Noah Shaar

08/04/2021

Rod Blagojevich is out of federal prison, and now wants to be back on the ballot. Illinois’ former governor sued Aug. 2 for the right to run for public office again despite his conviction for public corruption.

TAGS: corruption, Illinois, Rod Blagojevich

Got patriotism? Not in Illinois, WalletHub ranking claims

By Noah Shaar

06/25/2021

WalletHub just ranked U.S. states for patriotism and put Illinois at No. 45. Voter turnout, number of veterans and volunteerism were among the measures used to rate Illinois so low.

TAGS: Illinois, patriotism

Democrats’ legislative maps slam GOP after Pritzker breaks veto promise

By Brad Weisenstein

05/24/2021

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker gave fellow Democrats a very clear signal to gerrymander state legislative maps when he backed off his veto threat and said he trusted them to be fair. Mike Madigan-style maps place 23 Republicans into races against other incumbents.

TAGS: Democratic Party, gerrymandering, JB Pritzker, legislative map

Illinois House speaker unwilling to take voters’ ‘no’ on ‘fair tax’ for an answer

By Adam Schuster

02/25/2021

Just more than three months after voters soundly rejected a progressive state income tax, new Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch is trying to revive the idea as a fix for state pensions. There is a better solution than the failed ‘fair tax’ scheme.

TAGS: Chris Welch, progressive income tax

Official Illinois progressive tax explainer ranges from misleading to wrong

By Adam Schuster

09/18/2020

Progressive income tax proponents put factually inaccurate and misleading claims into a constitutionally required pamphlet intended to inform voters about a proposed amendment.

TAGS: constitutional amendment, fair tax, JB Pritzker, progressive tax

Barack Obama

FAQ: How the federal scholarship program would help Illinois students

Unlocking Opportunity: How Occupational Licensing Reform Would Promote Equitable Empowerment in Illinois

Illinois bans fluorescent lighting starting in 2026

Chicago Teachers Union school closures, strikes hold back K-12 chess champs

4 of Illinois’ past 10 governors went to prison

Rod Blagojevich sues so he can again seek election

Got patriotism? Not in Illinois, WalletHub ranking claims

Democrats’ legislative maps slam GOP after Pritzker breaks veto promise

Illinois House speaker unwilling to take voters’ ‘no’ on ‘fair tax’ for an answer

Official Illinois progressive tax explainer ranges from misleading to wrong

FAQ: How the federal scholarship program would help Illinois students

Report Archive

Diana Graham

Process for unionizing non-state workers raises red flags

CBS Chicago: Illinois’ highest-paid superintendent receives $400K per year to oversee 1,200 students