Illinois’ combined state and average local retail sales tax rate topped 8.8% in 2022. That’s the 8th-highest in the nation and the highest in the Midwest.
A new Fed report shows strict COVID-19 policies and enhanced unemployment benefits likely contributed to Illinois’ sluggish recovery from the pandemic recession.
Illinois is experiencing one of the nation’s worst recoveries for leisure and hospitality jobs. Of the Illinois jobs that vanished since the COVID-19 pandemic, 35% are in leisure and hospitality – the most of any industry.
A judge’s ruling threw Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s school mask mandate into chaos. Now that an appellate court has ruled against Pritzker, too, he’s taking his fight to keep masks on students to the Illinois Supreme Court.
Gov. J.B Pritzker’s latest campaign ad praises his support for small businesses even though his policies contributed to one of the nation’s largest small business closures.
Shortly after a downstate judge threw Pritzker’s mask mandates into question, a bipartisan committee voted against reimposing another K-12 school mask mandate.
One-third of Illinois’ missing jobs are from the leisure and hospitality industry, but that sector’s COVID-19 pandemic recovery lags virtually every other state in the U.S.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker will end the statewide indoor mask mandate for most Illinoisans Feb. 28, joining the 39 other states who have already lifted COVID-19 restrictions on residents. Illinois will be the only state in the Midwest still mandating masks in schools at the state level.
In one of his first re-election political TV ads, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker takes credit for passing a balanced budget. Budget documents tell a different story, showing a deficit instead of the reported surplus.
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Illinois’ economic recovery in 2021 lagged other states. A lack of in-person schooling, fewer economic opportunities and high taxes only exacerbated the ongoing population loss.
A new Illinois Policy Institute analysis finds that adults with no spouse and living with children are most likely to live below the poverty line. Education matters just as much.