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Isabel’s afternoon roundup
Monday, Jun 2, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller * Brian Mackey of The 21st Show interviewed Senate President Harmon today. Excerpt…
* WTTW…
* Rep. Anna Moeller says she will not run for Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi’s seat… * PJ Star | At least 50 Illinois villages, towns, cities and counties to see increases in local taxes: The Illinois Department of Revenue lists the jurisdictions on an Informational Bulletin for the month of May, which can be found online. The bulletin addresses retailers and those conducting business in those places, giving them instructions on how to adjust their cash register and any computer programs. * In Game | Illinois Lawmakers Pass Additional Tax On Sports Betting Wagers: One year after seeing their tax rate changed from a flat 15% on adjusted gross revenue to a progressive one ranging from 20% to 40% based on revenue thresholds, Illinois sportsbooks must now also pay a $0.25 levy on each of their first 20 million wagers accepted during the fiscal year. For the volume of wagers beyond 20 million, the surcharge will be $0.50. * Barron’s | DraftKings and Flutter Stocks Fall. How a New Illinois Tax Could Eat Into Earnings: Sports-betting stocks DraftKings and Flutter Entertainment FLUT -2.90% were down Monday after the Illinois state legislature passed a tax on sports wagers that could cost sportsbook operators tens of millions of dollars a year. * Crain’s | Lawmakers OK new perks for manufacturers that stick with Illinois: After adding incentives aimed at attracting new manufacturers in recent years, state legislators approved new tax credits to help existing companies. Legislation passed over the weekend allows the Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity to offer a tax credit of 3% to 7% for manufacturers who invest at least $10 million in upgrading or expanding their facilities. * Crain’s | * Sun-Times | First medical school to open in Chicago in nearly 100 years takes aim at physician shortage: The first class will be only 85 students to start, but after the first two cohorts have enrolled, the school will graduate up to 170 students each year, according to Nealon. The medical school is being constructed in the former Tyson Foods building in the West Loop, and plans to open the facility in late 2025. The 247,000-square-foot space has eight floors of classrooms, laboratories and collaborative study spaces. The Chicago School is spending about $48 million in construction costs, and the expected economic impact over 10 years is projected to be $1 billion, with $4.8 million in taxes, according to Nealon. * Sun-Times | Richard Garwin, Chicago physicist who created the hydrogen bomb and worked to see it wasn’t used, dead at 97: His work on the hydrogen bomb did not become widely known until a story in The New York Times in 2001 shed light on Mr. Garwin’s role, making him perhaps the most influential scientist nobody had heard of. In designing the first hydrogen bomb, Mr. Garwin relied on concepts developed by two other physicists: Edward Teller, who has been called the “father of the hydrogen bomb,” and Stanislaw Ulam. * WBEZ | For Chicago rapper Jay Wood, personal style serves as a mirror to his music: Wood has risen quickly in the local scene for his authentic lyricism and energetic live performances. While rolling out his projects, Wood, 27, puts just as much thought into the visuals — and his apparel — as the music. Nowhere, Fast featured cameos from his Chicago Heights alma mater Marion Catholic High School, specifically the band and football field, and the title came from advice given by his former high school football coach. Naturally, Wood gravitated toward varsity jackets and collegiate patches during his “school” era. * Daily Herald | Fewer homes being purchased in Chicago area, but sales prices still going up: According to the most recent Illinois Realtors’ monthly residential real estate report for April 2025, the nine-county Chicago Metro Area had 11,791 residential properties on the market, up 3.6% from April 2024. However, the region saw a 4.2% dip in sales when comparing April 2024 to April 2025. The report showed 7,857 home sales in April 2025 compared to 8,198 for the same month in 2024. * Tribune | Homer Glen Mayor Christina Neitzke-Troike says lobby stopped quick-take bill on 143rd Street: Homer Glen Mayor Christina Neitzke-Troike said Saturday afternoon a bill pending in Springfield to allow Will County to use quick take powers to seize property along 143rd Street is on hold until fall. Neitzke-Troike and Will County Board member Jim Richmond, whose district includes Homer Glen, headed to the capitol to ensure lawmakers didn’t plan a last-minute vote before the legislature’s spring session ended Saturday. […] The bill is in the Senate Judiciary Committee. * Daily Southtown | Orland Park mental health event organizer: ‘I needed to do something positive’: The trying times Josette Songco and her two sons went through years ago taught them the importance of bringing more attention to mental health. The Songco family came out to volunteer Saturday at the Be Kind to Your Mind Mental Health/Wellness Fair and Walk to let other people know there is help out there for depression and other forms of mental illness. * WGLT | Snow, McNeil ask Illinois State Supreme Court to hear appeals in murder convictions: The Illinois Supreme Court has been asked to review the appeals of two Twin City men who claim they were wrongfully convicted in unrelated McLean County murder cases from the 1990s. Attorneys representing Jamie Snow and Barton McNeil recently filed “Petitions for Leave to Appeal,” or PLAs, with the state’s highest court. A decision on whether the court will grant those petitions is expected within weeks. Both men are now represented by the University of Chicago Law School’s Exoneration Project, with McNeil also supported by the Illinois Innocence Project. * WGLT | Ready, set, grow! How students at Bloomington’s Regional Alternative School are contributing outside of the classroom: The RAS program offers a different learning environment from traditional public schools, meeting students where they are. It serves students in grades 7 to 12 from Dewitt, McLean and Livingston counties, including those who’ve struggled in traditional school settings. RAS Vocational Coordinator Brian O’Kraski said this was the third year of renting a plot from the West Bloomington Revitalization Project — a community garden space near Downtown Bloomington where anyone can reserve plots for $25 for an entire season. * WCIA | NWS upgrades to cause local NOAA Radio Outage: A planned National Weather Service upgrade to computer software through the local National Weather Service Office in Lincoln will lead to some temporary changes and outages in services offered by them. This is due to the required, scheduled upgrade to the office’s Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS) happening at various times to all offices around the country. * WSIL | Hangar 9 reopening in Carbondale with new upgrades: On June 2, Hangar 9 announced they will be back open thanks to SIU alumni Andrew Perlmutter and Scott Moller who acquired the venue from Carter. With the opening of the venue, the new owners will also launch a two-phase revitalization plan. * AP | Supreme Court rejects 2 gun rights cases, but assault weapons ban issue may be back soon: The majority did not explain its reasoning in turning down the cases over high-capacity magazines and state bans on guns like the AR-15, popular weapons that have also been used in mass shootings. But three conservative justices on the nine-member court publicly noted their disagreement, and a fourth said he is skeptical that assault-weapons bans are constitutional. * The Hill | Supreme Court to consider reviving GOP challenge to Illinois mail ballot deadline : The legality of the practice is not yet before the Supreme Court. * WSJ | The Law Firms That Appeased Trump—and Angered Their Clients: Support for the law firms that didn’t make deals has been growing inside the offices of corporate executives. At least 11 big companies are moving work away from law firms that settled with the administration or are giving—or intend to give—more business to firms that have been targeted but refused to strike deals, according to general counsels at those companies and other people familiar with those decisions.
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- fs - Monday, Jun 2, 25 @ 3:40 pm:
Splitting hairs as to what the law is now, but saying the “2017 state law” prohibited communication without a warrant is not accurate, or at least misleading. The Trust Act as passed and signed into law in 2017 expressly did not prohibit communication or information sharing agreements. Subsequent amendments to the Act years later (2021?) did.
- Dirty Red - Monday, Jun 2, 25 @ 5:01 pm:
Welcome back, Hangar 9!
- Just Me 2 - Monday, Jun 2, 25 @ 6:48 pm:
A lot of folks think since the transit funding goes dry at the end of the year, the GA can wait until the end of the year for a funding solution. That isn’t entirely true. Per federal regulations, transit agencies need to plan months in advance for their services, and the transit agencies can’t plan to spend money they aren’t legally certain to receive, so they’ll have to start the process of cuts here very soon.
Similarly, if the GA passes a law that provides funding to start January 1, 2026 - I’m not sure the transit agencies can plan for funding on a law that legally doesn’t exist until then. Certainly not if the RTA is the one levying the tax using a power given to them by state statute, which is how it has worked in the past.
However, the RTA could do some short term borrowing, but that isn’t a good solution and does come at a cost.
Or J.B. could do what Blago did and “find” state capital money to give to the RTA, which could then convert existing federal capital money into operations, but I can’t see the Trump administration signing off on that.