* Roundup of somewhat conflicting news reports about new state revenues…
WGN: The budget was ultimately passed with $400 million in spending cuts and about double that in massive new taxes
Tribune: estimated $800 million plus in tax increases
WGLT: $1 billion in new taxes on nicotine products, sports betting, and businesses.
Sun-Times: “You know how it’s a bad budget? When it starts out with at least $1 billion in taxes,” said Senate Minority Leader John Curran, R-Downers Grove.
* The Illinois Policy Institute claims the revenue bill includes $394 million in tax hikes, $237 million in fund sweeps and $216 million from “delaying promised funding.”
* There is no complete list that I’m aware of to explain how much all these changes are expected to bring in. We told you about some of the estimates on Saturday. So, I’ve taken those and grafted it onto the only comprehensive revenue list I’ve seen so far, which is from Government Solutions Group…
On the revenue and corporate tax side, the package includes:
• Increase in the tobacco and vape tax to 44 cents to help fund the Medicaid program.
• A sports wagering tax of $0.25 per wager for the first $20 million wagers and $0.50 for each wager in excess of $20 million. [$36 million, but see below]
• Tax amnesty program. [$195 million]
• Extends the Hotel Operators’ Occupation Tax to short-term rentals. [$15 million]
• A state “throwback rule” impacting corporations that operate in multiple states (switches Illinois from the Joyce rule to the Finnigan Rule to enable the state to collect more corporate tax income). [$72 million]
• Telecommunications tax increase to fund 9-8-8 services, a statewide suicide prevention and mental health crisis line.
• Ensures businesses outside of Illinois selling $100,000+ worth of physical goods to Illinois residents must collect Illinois sales tax, even without an in-state presence.
• Expands the Illinois Retail Act to include servicemen under occupation and use taxes, creating equal tax treatment.
• Eliminates the 200 transaction threshold for economic nexus, aligning with other states for more efficient enforcement.
• Implements a 15% tax rate when insufficient sales records are provided, encouraging proper documentation.
• Allows service providers to file returns for retailers and servicemen maintaining business in Illinois.
• Delayed final payment from the sales tax on motor fuel to the Road Fund. [$171 million]
I wouldn’t call a tax amnesty program a tax hike. And the delayed sales tax payment to the Road Fund is a one-time budgetary gimmick. Those two alone total $366 million.
The fund sweeps are not included in that list. They add up to about $100 million for the coming fiscal year, and more for this fiscal year.
Also, click here for an analysis which shows the total amount raised from the sports wagering tax will be about $160 million.
I’ll let you know if I find a reliable list of projected revenues.
A bill introduced in response to the 2024 fatal shooting of Sonya Massey in the Springfield area by a downstate sheriff’s deputy now awaits Pritzker’s signature.
Sean Grayson was fired from his job as a Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy after the killing and charged with murder. After Massey’s death, it was revealed that Grayson previously worked for five law enforcement agencies and had been the subject of citizen complaints and criticism from superiors who questioned his competence. Grayson also had two DUIs on his record before he went into law enforcement.
The legislation would bar law enforcement agencies from making a final offer for employment without getting a signed release from the applicant directing “any and all entities that previously employed the individual to produce or make available for inspection all employment records, including background investigation materials collected in connection with making a final offer of employment.”
Illinois lawmakers’ effort to reign in pharmacy benefit managers, the Prescription Drug Affordability Act, passed both houses of the General Assembly on the last day of the legislative session May 31.
The act targets the health insurance middlemen that manage members’ prescription drug benefits on behalf of the plans, negotiating prices with drug manufacturers, setting reimbursement rates for pharmacies, creating in-network lists for plan members to get prescriptions filled and creating formularies, or “preferred drug lists.”
The Illinois law, modeled after provisions being debated or passed by other states, forbids PBMs from engaging in spread pricing, charging insurance plans more than they reimburse pharmacies for, and keeping the difference; steering individuals to specific pharmacies or pharmacy companies; and limiting access to a covered drug by designating it a specialty drug contrary to the specified definition.
In addition, the law levies a fee, per each covered member, on PBMs that will be used in a fund award up to $25 million a year in grants to independent pharmacies and pharmacies located in rural counties, medically underserved areas, low-income communities and pharmacies that serve high concentrations of Medicaid patients.
* Governor JB Pritzker…
“Predatory pharmacy benefit managers have been the middlemen whose business practices too often jack up prescription drug prices and shut down small, independent pharmacies that are frequently rural communities’ lone options when people are seeking medications they need. I’m grateful for the General Assembly’s broad bipartisan partnership with me to require pharmacy benefit managers to become responsible actors and lower prescription drug prices.
“For far too long, pharmacy benefit managers’ business practices have operated with little regulation, transparency, and accountability. Illinois is putting an end to that. We will lead the nation in bringing transparency to PBM drug pricing. This bill grants the state full access to their books and records so we can follow the money and prevent exploitation of patients.
“It’s clear that we must do everything we can to lower the cost of medications and hold big corporations accountable. I look forward to signing this bill into law alongside its co-sponsors Sen. David Koehler and Rep. Natalie Manley, and I thank them for achieving a major step forward in the fight for affordable prescription drugs.”
If signed by the governor, a bill would mandate high school seniors and community college students automatically be offered enrollment to all state schools for which their GPA qualifies them.
The bill does not change universities’ and colleges’ GPA standards or admission requirements. Schools can revoke a student’s automatic admission if, after reaching out to the student, they discover they don’t meet other eligibility requirements.
The main sponsor of House Bill 3522, Katie Stuart, D-Edwardsville, said the state wants to encourage students not to leave Illinois for other institutions.
“Every student who is what we – I don’t love the term – but college material, for lack of a better term, knows the opportunities that they have in higher education in the state of Illinois,” Stuart said.
If it becomes law, the Illinois Board of Higher Education and the Illinois Community College Board would start the program during the 2027-28 school year.
A bill proposed by an Elgin high school student that will put supplies of opioid antagonists like Narcan in Illinois libraries passed the Illinois Senate unanimously.
House Bill 1910, proposed by Illinois Math and Science Academy senior Jordan Henry through Rep. Anna Moeller (D-Elgin), is now on Governor JB Pritzker’s desk. He is expected to sign it into law.
The law mandates Illinois public libraries maintain a supply of medications like naloxone, a nasal spray that can quickly reverse an opioid overdose with almost no side effects, and also have at least one staff member on duty at all times who is trained on administering the medication, Capitol News Illinois reports. […]
Unlike the Chicago program, which allows any member of the public to take and administer Narcan at libraries, the Illinois law allows only trained library staff members to administer the opioid antagonists. The medications will be kept on or near library grounds, and also at library-sponsored events, according to the legislation.
A bill heading to Gov. JB Pritzker’s desk could ensure safe drinking water standards in Illinois.
The legislation allows the Illinois Department of Public Health to impose civil penalties against non-community water supplies that violate drinking water standards.
It would also clarify that the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency is the primary agency responsible for implementing the Safe Drinking Water Act.
“Illinois would no longer be able to control our non-community water supplies if this bill does not pass,” said Rep. Nabeela Syed (D-Palatine). “It would be taken up by the federal government. So, this is a federally required mandate. If we don’t do right now, we will lose our authority over these.” […]
Senate Bill 2266 passed out of the House on a 75-39 vote. It previously passed out of the Senate on a 44-11 vote.
Legislation that would ban carbon sequestration activity within the footprint of a massive source of drinking water for Central Illinois is heading to Gov. JB Pritzker’s desk.
The Illinois House voted 91-19 on Tuesday to approve Senate Bill 2317, which would prohibit sequestration — the process of capturing and storing carbon by injecting it underground — within an area that “overlies, underlies, or passes through” a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-designated sole-source aquifer. Only one aquifer in Illinois meets that definition: the Mahomet Aquifer.
The aquifer, a deep underground layer of sand and gravel, underlies 15 counties and is the main source of drinking water for more than 500,000 people in Central Illinois, including Normal, Champaign and Urbana. […]
The legislation comes as Illinois, especially downstate, has been targeted by the nascent carbon capture and sequestration industry due to its favorable geology and the availability of federal tax credits incentivizing the technology.
* Sen. Karina Villa…
Following the federal government’s rescission of a 2021 Department of Homeland Security policy memo that prohibited immigration enforcement in protected areas, State Senator Karina Villa championed a measure to secure students’ safety at school. […]
House Bill 3247 would prohibit schools from disclosing or threatening to disclose information about a student’s immigration status or the immigration status of a person associated with the child. The bill also requires schools to develop procedures for reviewing and authorizing requests from law enforcement agents attempting to enter a school or school facility.
Additionally, the measure would ensure that children are not denied a free public K-12 education based on their or their parents’ perceived or actual immigration status, codifying the right to free public education for immigrant children. […]
A bill heading to Gov. JB Pritzker’s desk could require seat belts for all new Illinois school buses.
The legislation could mandate that any school buses manufactured in Illinois have three point seat belts starting in 2031. […]
This plan will grandfather in any school buses purchased before 2031.
Senate Bill 191 passed out of the House on a 83-27 vote. It previously passed out of the Senate on a 39-13 vote.
* Sen. Kimberly Lightford…
All too often, students of color feel the brunt of being expelled or suspended from school, rather than being provided restorative approaches to help with their emotional and mental health – a phenomenon Senate Majority Leader Kimberly A. Lightford is fighting to change. […]
Expulsion of students in kindergarten through second grade would not be permitted under Lightford’s measure. Additionally, pre-k through second graders would not be able to be suspended without the principal receiving written or verbal consent from the district superintendent.
Research from the University of Chicago using data from Chicago Public Schools shows that restorative practices are effective in reducing not only suspension and expulsion but also student arrests. As reported by Chalkbeat in 2019, early exclusion from school can trigger “a domino effect of negative interactions between schools and families,” increasing the risk of future exclusions and setting a child on the path of the so-called school-to-prison pipeline.
The measure builds upon Lightford’s previous work – Senate Bill 100 from the 99th General Assembly – which addressed the frequency and racial disparity of suspensions and expulsions by limiting their use, creating policies that re-engage students and avoiding interrupting a student’s learning as much as possible. […]
Legislation has advanced that would free senior citizens of the need to take a behind the wheel driving test to maintain their drivers license, until they reach the age of 87.
If signed by Gov. JB Pritzker, the law would also create a process for family members to report any concerns about driving ability. […]
Legislation would amend the Illinois Vehicle Code to raise the age from 79 to 87 when drivers need to take a behind-the-wheel test to renew their license, in addition to allowing family members the ability to report concerns.
An Illinois bill hoping to improve care and raise awareness of a rare pregnancy complication is headed to Gov. JB Pritzker’s desk.
The Illinois House passed SB1814 on Friday, May 23. It passed the senate back in April.
The bill would require the Illinois Department of Health to create a public education campaign and help train more healthcare workers on amniotic fluid embolism. The condition is essentially an allergic reaction to the amniotic fluid entering the bloodstream. This reaction can lead to cardiac or pulmonary failure. […]
AFE is extremely rare, affecting approximately one in every 40,000 deliveries in the United States. Its cause remains unknown, and studies suggest the death rate may be as high as 60%.
Illinois lawmakers passed a bill that would prevent insurance companies from putting time limits on anesthesia coverage to protect patients from financial burden.
This comes after the fall of 2024, when Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield tried do just that in New York, Missouri and Connecticut by tying payments to the length of time a patient was under anesthesia. In other words, they would stop covering the patient after an arbitrary length of time, and the rest of the anesthesia would be billed to the patient directly.
Now, that bill has passed both the House and the Senate with bipartisan support and is heading to Governor JB Pritzker’s desk. This would cover anesthesia regardless of how long the procedure takes. […]
If the governor signs the bill into law, it will take effect next year for all insurances.
Retail creates more jobs in Illinois than any other private sector employer, with one out of every four workers employed by the retail sector. Importantly, retail is an industry in which everyone, regardless of credentials, can find a viable career path.
Retailers like the Rich in Peoria enrich our economy and strengthen our communities. We Are Retail and IRMA showcase the retailers who make Illinois work.
As I write this column, the spring legislative session is a day away from adjournment. Nothing of great importance has cleared both chambers. So there’s no point in writing about any of that. I’ll let you know my thoughts next week.
Let’s discuss a different topic instead.
For quite a while now, most folks in politics have assumed that Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias and Comptroller Susana Mendoza will probably run for mayor of Chicago in 2027. The incumbent Brandon Johnson is spectacularly unpopular, and a real hunger is developing in the city (again) for new leadership.
Anyway, some wags have also speculated that one or even both of the statewide officials will not run for reelection in order to gear up for a mayoral bid.
With Cook County Democratic Party candidate slating coming up in July, the rumors have intensified.
I bumped into Giannoulias last week at the Statehouse, and we talked about the rumors, and then I asked him if he was running again.
“I’m running for reelection,” Giannoulias bluntly replied. He did not rule out or rule in a run for mayor.
Mendoza’s response was different.
Back in 2018, Mendoza easily won reelection, besting her Republican opponent by 23 percentage points.
But in September of that year, Rahm Emanuel surprised the city’s political world when he announced that he wouldn’t seek a third term. People who hadn’t considered running suddenly changed their plans. Mendoza, in the midst of her first reelection bid, was suddenly on a growing list of possible candidates.
Then, a few days before Election Day, NBC5 Chicago’s Mary Ann Ahern disclosed a draft TV ad by Mendoza announcing her mayoral candidacy.
Mendoza said it was just a contingency in case she decided to run, but she caught a lot of heat. And while it obviously didn’t hurt Mendoza in her statewide bid, it may have damaged her somewhat when she eventually jumped into the mayor’s race. Mendoza didn’t make it past the first round.
So I asked Mendoza’s people if she planned to stand for reelection as comptroller and/or run for mayor.
“Comptroller Mendoza is weighing her options, including reelection,” a spokesperson said. “She loves her job and is committed to public service. She will make her decision based on what is best for Illinois, Chicago and her family.”
Now comes the important part: “She will not run for two offices at the same time. Whatever she decides to run for, she’ll be all-in.”
Asked to clarify that statement (after all, she could run for reelection and then spend a few weeks after the election gathering petition signatures for mayor), I was told it’ll be one race or the other. If she announces for reelection, she won’t run for mayor.
There are those who believe Mendoza may be overthinking the impact of her 2018 back-to-back election experience.
On the other hand, there are those who believe that Giannoulias may not fully appreciate the pressure he’ll be under and the criticism he will face if he runs for reelection and then runs for mayor.
The secretary of state is one of the best jobs in state government. If Giannoulias had hedged about running again, a long line of potential hopefuls would have quickly started forming.
Not as many people are interested in being state comptroller, but if Mendoza decides to skip reelection, the opening will add to the growing turnover in Illinois politics.
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin’s, D-Ill., retirement announcement has already attracted three incumbent Illinois office holders who want to replace him.
U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly, D-Ill., announced her intention to run, as has U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill.
Those attempts to move up have already attracted several candidates and potential candidates. And many of those folks are elected officials who will either have to give up their current offices to run — creating more down-ballot turbulence — or be replaced by an appointee, who might then have to be replaced, etc.
Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton has also announced for U.S. Senate. That means Gov. JB Pritzker will have to choose a new running mate. And if chooses someone who is an elected official, then that’ll create more openings down the food chain.
U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., has announced her retirement, and people are lining up to replace her, including Democratic state Sen. Laura Fine, who will have to give up her seat to run.
And there are plenty of rumors that U.S. Rep. Danny Davis, D-Ill., won’t run for reelection.
Next year promises to be a fascinating campaign season.
May 31st next year will fall on a Sunday, so I’m gonna have the same dilemma.
While the Illinois General Assembly didn’t end up passing legislation this session that helped or hurt the Chicago Bears’ stadium efforts, one suburban lawmaker said the legislature got close to a deal on property tax legislation — a measure widely seen as a way to ease a team move to Arlington Heights.
“We were super close and just ran out of time,” state Rep. Mary Beth Canty, a Democrat who represents the northwest suburb and surrounding areas, said Sunday.
Rep. Kam Buckner pushed back on the idea that any agreement was close, as no deal was ever actually introduced in the legislature.
“The Bears have made it clear — they no longer want to be in Chicago. That’s their decision,” Buckner, a Chicago Democrat whose district includes Soldier Field, said in a text message Sunday. “But if they want to leave and use state dollars or ask for special tax protections to do it, they’ll have to come through Springfield. And in Springfield, that means facing the Chicago delegation directly.”
As House Speaker Pro Tempore Buckner told Isabel on Friday about a rumor that language to help the Bears build a stadium in Arlington Heights might be included in the BIMP: “I would take serious umbrage with that.” If a top leader says something like that and can’t follow, then he’s not a top leader.
* ICYMI: New taxes on sports bets, nicotine products as Democrats pass $55.2B budget. Capitol News Illinois…
- Illinois Democrats pushed through a $55.2 billion budget for next fiscal year late Saturday, bolstering coffers with new taxes on sports bets, nicotine products and businesses.
- The budget marked a roughly 3.9% spending increase from the current year, while Republicans criticized it for containing few cuts.
- It raises about $500 million more in new revenue than what Gov. JB Pritzker proposed in February to make up for declining base revenues.
* The Governor has no public events scheduled for today, but you can read his post-session press conference here.
*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***
* Sun-Times | Illinois Senate leaves without taking a vote on plan to let terminally ill people end their own lives: State Sen. Linda Holmes, D-Aurora, the lead sponsor of the measure, said the Senate ran out of time this legislative session to get the bill over the finish line. It could still be called for a vote at a later date. […] It remains unclear where Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker stands on the proposal. A spokesman for Pritzker said he would only comment on the bill if it landed on his desk.
* Capitol News Illinois | Senate’s transit funding, delivery tax proposal stalls in House: With public transit agencies in Chicagoland facing a fiscal cliff and the potential for thousands of layoffs, the state did not pass a bill that would have provided the agencies with potentially over $1 billion in new funding. A version of the bill passed in the Senate, sponsored by Sen. Ram Villivalam, D-Chicago. But the House adjourned early Sunday morning without concurring as some of its tax hikes became too controversial. Now, the future of Chicagoland transit is in limbo as the bill awaits further action.
*** Statewide ***
* Tribune | Who owns most of the farmland in Illinois? Not farmers: Less than a fourth of Illinois farmland is owned by the farmer who works the land, according to data from the Illinois Farm Business Farm Management, a nonprofit association that helps farmers make management decisions. The rest is leased to farmers by individuals, family trusts and, increasingly, businesses. The Tribune is launching a series of special reports analyzing the hurdles many farmers face in trying to be good stewards of the land as climate change intensifies. Among the challenges are fewer opportunities for farmers — and would-be farmers — to own their land.
* WCIA | Free fishing days coming to Illinois waterways: The IDNR said the free fishing days will be June 13-16. During these four days, everyone can fish in Illinois lakes and waterways without a license, salmon stamp or inland trout stamp.
* Axios | Trump halting student visas could have $2B risk for Illinois: International students contribute about $2.4 billion to the state economy and more than 23,000 jobs, according to data from NAFSA, an international education nonprofit. Of the 1.1 million international college students studying in the U.S. during the 2023-24 school year, about 5.5% were studying in Illinois, per data from NAFSA.
* KWQC | Illinois Democrats pass resolution calling for health care reforms, not cuts: The majority party passed a resolution Thursday that calls on the U.S. Senate to table the health care cuts bill. Instead, the party suggests they pursue reforms such as the Illinois’ Healthcare Protection Act which provides care to illegal immigrants.
* Crain’s | Transit bailout falls apart in Springfield as clock strikes midnight: The setback came despite Senate Democrats approving the package in a 32-22 vote without GOP support less than 20 minutes before midnight, a constitutional deadline to approve the bill with a simple majority. At the time, the House was debating the state’s $55.2 billion budget, which was approved seven minutes before the deadline. That left the House little wiggle room to call the transit bill, but the chamber had already realized the votes weren’t there, even if they had more time.
*** Chicago ***
* Block Club | Chicago Public Transit In Limbo After State Lawmakers Fail To Fill Nearly $1 Billion Budget Gap: With no new funding for Chicago-area mass transit included in next year’s state budget, CTA and other agencies could see massive cuts to service and its workforces, officials have warned. The funding nosedive is set for the beginning of 2026 as COVID-19 relief money runs out. An estimated 40 percent of the Regional Transit Authority’s service could be cut along with an additional 3,000 layoffs without a new funding mechanism, Villivalam said.
* ABC Chicago | I-Team reporting on illegal gun trafficking through O’Hare Airport leads to congressional inquiry: Now, U.S. Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi is asking the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for more information on their work deterring illegal weapons and materials from entering the country. “We were astonished by what you found,” Krishnamoorthi told the I-Team, “Namely that illegal firearms, as well as firearm accessories, are coming from China, and, you know, furthering the gun epidemic that exists across the country, but also here in Illinois.”
* WTTW | New Navy Pier Marina, Offering Short-Term Docking for Recreational Boaters, Expected to Open Mid-June: The Navy Pier Marina is expected to officially open to the public June 14. The opening of the marina, located on the north side of Navy Pier, comes as this year’s boating season kicks off. Navy Pier Marina founder and developer Randy Podolsky said during a Wednesday news conference that the idea for the marina came in 1983.
* Block Club | 60-Unit ‘Passive Living’ Affordable Housing Breaks Ground In West Humboldt Park: The project will have 60 apartments geared toward young professionals and families in the community, with 48 of those units reserved for households making at or below 60 percent of the area median income. Thirteen units will be reserved for people with disabilities, including four for people with sensory impairments.
* Tribune | As residents and dogs again fill Chicago parks, data shows fewer than 1 in 4 reported bites result in citations: The city department received some 6,435 bite reports between January 2020 and April 30 of this year, according to a Tribune review of data obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. For that same period, data shows that CACC has issued about 1,516 citations, for “unrestrained violations,” to animal owners. The violations cover dogs found to be off-leash in public areas, but not every violation issued pertains to a bite.
*** Cook County and Suburbs ***
* Fox Chicago | Construction begins on Chicago project to send Lake Michigan water to southwest suburbs: he project is a partnership between the City of Chicago and the Grand Prairie Water Commission, which is made up of Joliet, Crest Hill, Channahon, Minooka, Shorewood, and Romeoville. The southwest suburban municipalities banded together to establish the new commission last year to purchase Lake Michigan water through the City of Chicago. They did so because their current water supply from underground aquifers is projected to be insufficient to meet current needs by the year 2030.
* Daily Herald | Student journalist’s investigation into Prospect’s first principal prompts review of honorary naming: A student journalist for Prospect High School’s newspaper uncovered former Principal Alvin Kulieke’s ties to a fringe religious group and its early embrace of eugenics principles. Now Northwest Suburban High School District 214 is considering stripping the name of Kulieke — principal of the Mount Prospect school from its opening in 1957 until his death in 1973 — from the school theater.
* Naperville Sun | Naperville expanding composting program, introducing clothing recycling: Starting Monday, there will be city-designated locations around town for residents to compost food scraps and to drop off clothing and textiles for reuse and recycling, city officials said. The programs will run through Aug. 29. Compost drop-offs locations will be available at the city’s compressed natural gas filling station at 1720 W. Jefferson Ave. and the former park-and-ride lot at 91st Street and Wolf’s Crossing Road. As for clothing and textiles, residents can leave items at the city’s Environmental Collection Campus at 156 Fort Hill Drive from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays.
* Daily Herald | Buffalo Grove embraces its diversity with seventh annual Pride Parade: With the theme “Pride is Natural,” and organized by The Pinta Pride Project, the parade included groups from schools, religious organizations, businesses and advocacy groups marching along Buffalo Grove Road. […] “I never thought we’d get the chance to be married, and so that’s probably the biggest thing that we’ve experienced in 40 years,” said Woodard, a retired physical education teacher.
* Daily Herald | Algonquin landowner wants to create a public riverfront park. Village says no thanks: Swanson asked the village “on more than one occasion” to purchase the land and turn it into a park. But the village does not back his plans. Village President Debby Sosine said the village already has allocated millions toward upgrading its existing parks. Presidential Park opened Wednesday and Towne Park is nearing completion, while officials recently revealed a final renovation design for Willoughby Park. “I appreciate his enthusiasm for wanting to do something there, but village is not buying — especially at the cost ($324,000)he is asking,” Sosine said.
*** Downstate ***
* WGLT | Central Illinois lawmakers stick to party lines on state budget: After some tension in both chambers, the budget was passed in the last two hours before the deadline with no Republican support. For Democrats, the budget is a success. Democratic state Rep. Sharon Chung of Bloomington said the caucus was engaged and focused throughout the session.
* WCIA | U of I researchers looking back at COVID protocols to see what they can learn: Becky Smith is a professor of epidemiology. She said the shutdowns were successful in keeping hospitals from being flooded with patients. But — she thinks the federal government could have used that time to build a better test for the virus– and understand its transmission quicker. Smith’s biggest takeaway was the erosion of trust between public health officials — and the general public.
* BND | Opponents of solar farm at Mount Hope Cemetery launch campaign to stop it: More than 450 people have signed a petition asking Belleville officials to halt their plans to clear-cut woods behind Mount Hope Cemetery to make way for a community solar farm. Opponents are hoping that the new administration of Mayor Jenny Meyer, who defeated former Mayor Patty Gregory in April, will be more open to their concerns about what’s planned for the city-owned property.
*** National ***
* AP | States are rolling out red carpets for data centers. But some lawmakers are pushing back: Kansas approved a new sales tax exemption on goods to build and equip data centers, while Kentucky and Arkansas expanded pre-existing exemptions so that more projects will qualify. Michigan approved one that carries some protections, including requirements to use municipal utility water and clean energy, meet energy-efficiency measures and ensure that it pays for its own electricity.
* You Gov | Trust in Media 2025: Which news sources Americans use and trust: By this measure, The Weather Channel persists as the most trusted news source, as it was in 2022, 2023, and 2024: Americans are 49 percentage points more likely to call The Weather Channel trustworthy as they are to call it untrustworthy — up from +43 last year. Like last year, the Weather Channel is followed by two public broadcasters: the BBC (+26) and PBS (+25). By far the least-trusted outlet included in the poll is the National Enquirer (-37, better than -44 last year, when it also ranked last for trust). The outlets trusted least besides the Enquirer are, like last year, Infowars (-15) and Breitbart News (-7).
* WaPo | Discrimination cases unravel as Trump scraps core civil rights tenet: The Justice Department now is reviewing its entire docket and has already dismissed or terminated “many” cases that were “legally unsupportable” and a product of “weaponization” under the Biden administration, said Harmeet Dhillon, who heads the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “We will fully enforce civil rights laws in a way that satisfies the ends of justice, not politicization,” she said in a statement to The Washington Post.
* Click here and/or here to follow breaking news. Hopefully, enough reporters and news outlets migrate to BlueSky so we can hopefully resume live-posting.
