Holiday travel expected to be second-busiest ever

By Dylan Sharkey

12/18/2023

Holiday travel this year is expected to be the second-busiest since AAA started tracking it in 2000. For Illinoisans, it means driving across a state line could avoid the nation’s second-highest gas taxes.

Illinois again seeing one of most-contested elections in 2 decades

By Joe Tabor, Perry Zhao

12/12/2023

Illinois politicians have worked hard to protect incumbent state lawmakers and discourage newcomers. But that is changing for the second election cycle in a row as more Illinoisans work to get into the Illinois General Assembly.

5 jobs Illinois imposes heaviest licensing burdens on

By Joe Tabor

12/04/2023

Employment is the clearest path out of poverty, but these five low-income professions face more occupational licensing burdens than others in Illinois.

Illinois’ excessive job licensing keeps Chicagoans in poverty

By Joe Tabor

12/01/2023

Occupational licensing is more burdensome in Illinois than in neighboring states for many professions. Those barriers are unreasonably keeping poor Illinoisans and Chicagoans from finding work.

TAGS: occupational licensing

Illinois licensing makes escaping poverty harder than in other Midwestern states

By Joe Tabor

11/27/2023

Illinois could make it easier to escape poverty by letting more people work without first getting a license. Six neighboring states do a better job of easing occupational licensing on low-income professions.

Illinois’ 2nd-highest gas taxes drive up Thanksgiving travel costs

By Dylan Sharkey

11/20/2023

More than 55 million people are traveling for Thanksgiving this year, according to AAA. Illinois motorists can avoid the nation’s second-highest gas taxes by filling up in other states.

TAGS: JB Pritzker, taxes, Thanksgiving

Census: 97% of Illinoisans moving out head to lower-tax states

By Bryce Hill

11/01/2023

State-to-state migration estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau showed Illinois lost residents to 36 states and Washington, D.C. Nearly all the former Illinoisans moved to lower-tax states.

Illinois city outlaws trick-or-treating beyond age 12

By Dylan Sharkey

10/24/2023

Some Illinois communities see regulating any mischief on Halloween as a real treat. Belleville prohibits anyone older than 12 from trick-or-treating, with fines up to $1,000.

Fact check: 7 things school choice opponents got wrong about Invest in Kids

By Hannah Schmid

09/22/2023

Illinois Families for Public Schools released a pamphlet with misleading information about the Invest in Kids Tax-Credit Scholarship program and its effects on the public school system in Illinois. Here are corrections to seven things they got wrong.

TAGS: Invest in Kids

Midwest states expand school choice while Illinois fights to save scholarships for low-income students

By Hannah Schmid

08/22/2023

Five Midwest states have enacted or expanded school choice programs since the Invest in Kids Act was enacted in 2017. Now Illinois’ scholarships are set to expire while other programs thrive.

TAGS: Invest in Kids, school choice

Midwestern United States

Holiday travel expected to be second-busiest ever

Illinois again seeing one of most-contested elections in 2 decades

5 jobs Illinois imposes heaviest licensing burdens on

Illinois’ excessive job licensing keeps Chicagoans in poverty

Illinois licensing makes escaping poverty harder than in other Midwestern states

Illinois’ 2nd-highest gas taxes drive up Thanksgiving travel costs

Census: 97% of Illinoisans moving out head to lower-tax states

Illinois city outlaws trick-or-treating beyond age 12

Fact check: 7 things school choice opponents got wrong about Invest in Kids

Midwest states expand school choice while Illinois fights to save scholarships for low-income students

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