It’s just a bill
Friday, Mar 6, 2026 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Synopsis from HB4294, introduced by Republican state Rep. Kyle Moore…
Amends the Illinois Income Tax Act. Increases the amount transferred from the General Revenue Fund to the Local Government Distributive Fund. Effective immediately.
From the House Republicans…
House Republicans are pushing back against Governor Pritzker’s proposals by advancing legislation such as Rep. Moore’s HB 4294 to fully fund the LGDF.
Rep. Moore’s bill would increase the share of state income tax revenues going to the LGDF to 10 percent in three years.
Total cost? $1.4 billion.
We’ve been over this before, but according to the LGDF’s own history, this whole thing was based on a hand-shake agreement between two long-dead men…
Governor Richard Ogilvie enacted the state income tax in 1969. At that time, Governor Ogilvie needed the help of Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley to achieve passage of the income tax through the Illinois General Assembly. The agreement between Mayor Daley and Governor Ogilvie ensured that enough legislators would support the income tax to win passage. […]
The percentage share of state income tax revenue was reduced from 10% to 6% following the enactment of the temporary income tax increase in 2011.
It was reduced because almost all mayors publicly opposed the tax hike. So, they got basically the same amount of money but didn’t share in the new revenues.
* Press release…
Loughran Cappel measure to enhance ePAY program
State Senator Meg Loughran Cappel is heading a measure that would prevent software companies from stopping local governments’ use of certain payment processing systems.
“This measure gives power back to local governments,” said Loughran Cappel (D-Shorewood). “Software companies should not be dictating how governments work. That should be up to the governments to decide what is best for themselves.”
The measure would restrict software companies’ say in which payment processing systems local governments can use, including the State Treasurer’s ePAY program. Currently, software companies that contract with local governments can dictate which systems those governments use for billing, accounting and payroll services.
The State Treasurer’s Office established the Illinois ePAY program in 2002 to make accepting credit card, debit card and electronic check payments more affordable for local governments. However, software providers that run local governments’ technology are often unwilling to use the ePAY program or any payment system other than their own.
“This measure also saves the taxpayers money,” Loughran Cappel said. “Using the Illinois ePAY program is typically cheaper for local governments than using third-party systems, but they have been forced to work with third-party systems and pass the higher cost on to consumers.”
Senate Bill 3321 passed the Senate Local Government Committee Wednesday, and it will now head to the full Senate for further consideration.
* WCIA…
Hot flashes, insomnia and mood swings are just some of the symptoms women face during menopause. Illinois lawmakers said Thursday that accessing treatment for this stage of life shouldn’t be so difficult.
Senators Adriane Johnson (D‑Buffalo Grove), Meg Loughran Cappel (D‑Shorewood) and Mary Edly‑Allen (D-Grayslake) held a press conference to unveil legislation aimed at improving menopause care and education.
The legislative package is also supported by Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton. She said in a statement that the proposed bills aim to combat a universal health problem.
“The importance of understanding menopause and incorporating it into bias in a work cannot be overstated,” Stratton said. “Acknowledging menopause and our systems and our institutions is not simply a health issue, it is an equity issue.”
* Press release…
Illinois Senate Minority Leader John Curran (R-Downers Grove) and State Senator Erica Harriss (R-Glen Carbon) presented legislative solutions to help make buying and staying in a home more affordable in Illinois.
Last year, first-time home buyers dropped to a record low of 21 percent of total purchases, while the average age of first-time buyers climbed to an all-time high of 40 years, according to the National Association of REALTORS®’ 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers. […]
To help encourage potential first-time homebuyers to take the next step, Senator Harriss introduced the Welcome Home Illinois Tax Credit,Senate Bill 3959, which provides a $500 non-refundable tax credit for first-time homebuyers, carried forward for up to five years. […]
Senate Bill 3781 to make the Illinois Property Tax Credit refundable when you file your Illinois income taxes. […]
Senator Harriss also introduced Senate Bill 3782, the Fairness in Property Tax Foreclosure Task Force, to work for solutions to ending Illinois’ antiquated property tax foreclosure system that the United States Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional. […]
Senate Bill 3849, filed by Leader Curran, will add annual Consumer Price Index cost increases to Illinois’ General Homestead Exemption. By tying the exemption to inflation, homeowners could see immediate relief that better reflects the increased costs they are paying. […]
Leader Curran introduced Senate Bill 3848, which creates an income tax deduction on the year-over-year increase in a taxpayer’s home insurance.
A reminder that press releases like the above are also posted on our daily press release post.
* Related…
* Bond Buyer | States struggle to get a grip on growth of prediction markets: With dozens of lawsuits pending from states that argue the betting markets constitute gambling under state and tribal law, the Trump administration has recently sided with the platforms. “The [Commodity Futures Trading Commission] will no longer sit idly by while overzealous state governments undermine the agency’s exclusive jurisdiction over these markets by seeking to establish statewide prohibitions on these exciting products,” newly confirmed CFTC chief Michael Selig wrote in a Feb. 17 Wall Street Journal opinion piece. […] For example, during the January state of the state address by Hawaii Gov. Josh Green, nearly $500,000 was bet on which words Green would use during the talk, Brian Kane, executive director of the National Association of Attorneys General, said during the NCSL webinar. The NCSL in January sent a letter to Congress urging it to “act swiftly” to allow states to regulate the “unregulated sports betting and casino‑style gambling.”
- H-W - Friday, Mar 6, 26 @ 11:34 am:
Re: ePay systems
=== Software companies should not be dictating how governments work. ===
Amen to that. Those of us old enough to remember when software was born, can remember the difficulties of deciding which PC platform to purchase because software programs were either DOS or iMac. These two platforms competed in the 1980s and early 1990s to the point that you could not purchase a machine without having to self-limit your own productivity. Buy a DOS machine? No art nor music. Buy an iMac? No statistical analyses.
For the past 30 years, we have evolved to the point where most programs will work on most platforms, because of the loosening of the scope of copyright laws, and the need to enable third parties (i.e., literal third parties beyond Microsoft or Apple) to enter into the field of business.
Software companies may not be able to compete, but choosing not to compete by preventing users from adopting alternative software and platforms goes beyond copyright law. It is the pseudo-legal imposition of monopoly power by vendors upon consumers.
- Demoralized - Friday, Mar 6, 26 @ 12:15 pm:
==Senators Adriane Johnson (D‑Buffalo Grove), Meg Loughran Cappel (D‑Shorewood) and Mary Edly‑Allen (D-Grayslake) held a press conference to unveil legislation aimed at improving menopause care and education.==
Dear Men,
Oppose this at your own risk.
- Numbers... - Friday, Mar 6, 26 @ 12:28 pm:
For LGDF, when the individual income tax was first imposed, locals received 1/12th of the income tax collected (or 8.33%). At the time, the rate was 2.5%. In July of 1994, this amount was increased to 1/11th, and then 1/10th in July of 1995 or 10%. Previous times when the rate was increased (from 2.5% to 3%), locals did receive a share of the increase.
10% is the high-water mark, it was not the amount locals received when the income tax was created.
- BE - Friday, Mar 6, 26 @ 12:33 pm:
I doubt that this administration would curb prediction markets, because otherwise how else could they make more money insider trading on whatever madness happens later in the day?
- Casper the Ghost Bus - Friday, Mar 6, 26 @ 12:41 pm:
– Rep. Moore’s bill would increase the share of state income tax revenues going to the LGDF to 10 percent in three years. –
Here’s an idea: a three-year plan to reduce the state income tax by 10 percent by phasing out LGDF and in its place giving local municipalities the authority to impose income taxes.
If the mayors want this money so much, let them make the case to their communities.
And those mayors that don’t like taxes can finally stop taking this fruit of a poison tree the state’s been forcing on them.