Holiday scratch-off tickets are a popular stocking stuffer. Illinoisans dropped about $2 billion on tickets in a year, and it’s the biggest moneymaker for the Illinois Lottery.
Illinois' unfunded statewide public pension liabilities grew another $1.5 billion in the past year. Better investment returns couldn’t keep up with public worker pensions growing faster than projected.
AAA estimates nearly 120 million people will travel 50 miles or more this holiday season. Most of those will travel by car, so Illinois’ gas taxes will make it an expensive ride for them.
Voters in Homer Township will have the chance to weigh in on public pension reform, federal and state redistricting and unfunded state mandates. Illinois state lawmakers have yet to act on the trio of issues.
The current owners of Kevin McCallister’s house from the “Home Alone” movie will pay nearly $50,000 in property taxes this year. Illinoisans pay more than twice as much as the typical American in property taxes.
A report outlining public education reform in Illinois doesn’t address a core issue facing students: reading proficiency. It also lowers standards for students and threatens to muddle the understanding of students’ progress.
Jackpot justice in Illinois recently drew the ire of two national groups. Cook County was labeled a leading “judicial hellhole.” Lawsuit abuse imposes a $4,281 cost on each Illinois household. State lawmakers, trial lawyers and plaintiff-friendly courts are to blame.
Chicago speed cameras sent drivers $28 million less in tickets through September than during the first nine months of 2023. Annual revenues could spike again under proposals to drop the citywide speed limit or boost the number of cameras.
Illinois saw the third-highest rate of residents moving out in 2024 based on a survey by Atlas Van Lines. Jobs and taxes are among the top reasons people leave Illinois, which is also third in the nation for highest unemployment rate.
NEA has lost nearly 400,000 members since its peak in 2009. It could be because just 9% of the union’s spending is on representing teachers – with the rest on politics, administration and other union leader priorities.
The “gift room” scandal, a botched police raid and a smokestack implosion underscore how the head of Chicago’s Law Department, also known as the corporation counsel, too often lacks independence from the mayor’s office. Chicago’s corporation counsel is appointed by the mayor and can be removed at the mayor’s discretion. Experience in other major cities...