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Isabel’s morning briefing
Wednesday, Sep 2, 2026 - Posted by Isabel Miller * ICYMI: S&P upgrades Illinois’ credit rating. Crain’s…
- It’s the ratings agency’s first upgrade of Illinois’ debt in three years. S&P joins Moody’s, which upgraded the state’s debt last week and issued its second upgrade in a year. - S&P cited the state’s rainy day fund of about $2.5 billion and better-than-expected budget performance for the year ended June 30, despite negative impacts from federal tax law changes. * Related stories… * Gov. JB Pritzker has no public events scheduled today. * Cook County Record | IL prescription drug ‘affordability’ law conflicts with fed law, judge says: A federal judge has shelved Illinois’ new so-called Prescription Drug Affordability Act, finding the state law almost certainly conflicts with federal law by burdening organizations that help insurers manage prescription drug benefits with extensive additional reporting mandates that the judge said would unconstitutionally compete with federal rules. On Aug. 31, U.S. District Judge Colleen Lawless entered an injunction, blocking Illinois state officials from enforcing the PDAA law, saying its reporting requirements are preempted by the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA.) * Capitol News Illinois | Judge orders federal logging project halted in Shawnee National Forest: A federal judge this week ordered the U.S. Forest Service to suspend a commercial logging project in southern Illinois’ Shawnee National Forest, finding the 2024 approval of the project under President Joe Biden violated the Endangered Species Act. The agency improperly approved the project in October 2024 without waiting for a final “biological opinion” from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, an East St. Louis judge ruled Monday. That opinion, which was completed six weeks after the Forest Service approved the logging project, identified the roughly 70-acre project area as home to the federally protected Indiana bat. * CBS Chicago | NITA replaces RTA as Chicago area’s mass transit oversight agency: “A lot of the reforms and the deadlines have been included in the NITA Act,” Vaishnav said. “They have already put in a lot of requirements to keep us on track.” Safety on transit it one of the biggest concerns for riders, but one highly anticipated safety program is not starting on Tuesday as originally planned. The $9.6 million Safe Ride Specialist pilot program is now expected to launch in the coming weeks. * Sun-Times | Did Trump detain the ‘worst of the worst’ in Chicago last fall?: During Operation Midway Blitz, 85% of the immigrants who were held had no prior criminal conviction, a Chicago Sun-Times / WBEZ analysis finds. Federal immigration agents often were more successful at detaining serious criminals in the months before and after the high-profile deportation campaign than during it. * Sun-Times | Mayoral candidates decry Chicago violence ‘crisis,’ even as summer murders hit 61-year low: Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, the best-financed mayoral candidate, pointed to shootings last weekend in an X posting: “Gun violence is more than a statistic, it’s a public health crisis that is cutting too many lives short.” U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley, talking up his mayoral qualifications on WBEZ two weeks ago, said Chicago faced a “public safety crisis” and claimed falsely that homicides were on the rise: “They’re dipping back up, obviously.” * NBC Chicago | Better connections, more frequent service coming to Chicago-area transit, leaders say: “We really want to make that connection seamless. And to be able to do that, we are focusing on inter-agency hubs, whether that’s Midway, Jefferson Park, Crystal Lake. These are places where we know a lot of riders transfer between services,” he said. Over the next couple years, NITA will put one service plan in place for the whole region. Another focus will be on how often the buses and trains come. * ABC Chicago | Community advocates call for environmental health assessment for South Chicago Chapel: The community organizers said they want to know more about that infestation. They’re calling for a comprehensive investigation making 15 demands, including full testing of the HVAC system and then a written report explaining whether the building is safe to enter. South Chicago Chapel is shut down, but the organizers call this request an urgent public health concern. They’re asking for written confirmation from leaders here at City Hall. * The Real Deal | Illinois Comptroller Mendoza keeps fiscal turnaround at center of Chicago mayoral pitch: Mendoza’s platform focuses on affordability and fiscal discipline, aiming to “fix the math at City Hall”— a major talking point in the election that plays to her strengths as the state’s CFO. The city’s property taxes will also be a closely followed topic; Mendoza proposed fixing them with a graduated tax system in her 2019 campaign before later dropping the plan. She cited rising construction costs, bureaucratic delays, rigid space mandates and excessive fees as issues holding back development in Chicago. TRD asked Mendoza about housing policy, the office market and business revival. * CBS Chicago | Illinois law cracking down on idling drivers near O’Hare back in motion: “The other night there were 30-some odd cars parked on just what we could see within eyesight,” said Rep. Brad Stephens (R-Norridge). It’s a problem Stephens has been trying to stop for years. He passed the O’Hare Driver Safety Act, but a key part was missing. The cameras were supposed to be installed last year, but lawmakers accidentally left the Illinois Department of Transportation out of the legislation. So, they had to go back to Springfield and fix it, pushing the rollout back another year. * Block Club | Aquarium Smokers Are A Chicago Barbecue Mystery: For the last 23 years, Adams has cooked on aquarium smokers like the one at Honey 1 BBQ, 746 E. 43rd St. in Bronzeville. While traditional smokers have metal sides, aquarium smokers have doors made from tempered glass that let chefs peer in at the meat as it bathes in fragrant smoke. The contraptions are unique to Chicago’s barbecue tradition, populating nearly every classic barbecue restaurant across the South and West sides. * Sun-Times | Illinois suburbs halt Flock use, suspend officers and review policy amid alleged improper use: Homer Glen announced Monday that it was suspending the use of Flock cameras within its borders pending an investigation after a Will County sheriff’s deputy was placed on administrative leave amid allegations he misused the database of license plate-tracking data. * ABC Chicago | Naperville City Council votes to ban kratom sales: The Naperville City Council voted 8-0 to ban the sale of natural and synthetic kratom, despite objections from some who said natural versions of the substance provide health benefits. The ordinance removes kratom products from store shelves in Naperville. However, it allows people age 18 and older to possess and consume the substance. * Daily Herald | No guarantee: DuPage clerk won’t commit to using $665,000 for election printing and postage: ohnson said the clerk’s office needs at least an additional $1.2 million, including the $665,000 the board approved Tuesday, to run a successful general election. “You want $1.2 million and a blank check,” Conroy shot back when Johnson referred to the shortfall. “That will never happen.” Board member Mary FitzGerald Ozog characterized the clerk’s actions as “retribution.” * Muddy River News | Quincy City Council grapples with solar farms: Adlerman Eric Entrup (R-Ward 1) announced a plan to avoid the neighborhood squabbles that have bubbled up recently over solar projects being shoehorned into properties with a special use permit. It’s actually amending the existing city code, Chapter 162.030, to establish a special use permit with conditions for commercial solar energy properties in a RU-1 or rural zoning district. He made a motion to send the amendment to the city’s plan commission, which was seconded and approved by the full council during Monday night’s weekly meeting. * WCIA | Officials discuss Bank of Springfield Center expansion, 3% hotel tax: The Springfield Metropolitan Exposition and Auditorium Authority held a special board meeting at the Bank of Springfield Center Monday to discuss a possible expansion project for the center. State Representative Mike Coffey, who also serves as chairman of the SMEAA, said that the board is 100% behind the expansion, and Springfield officials are actively re-thinking how they will pay for planned renovations. This comes after a plan to pay for the project fell short in the state legislature. * WGLT | State and federal emergency managers tour storm damage as county officials seek aid: “We’re really at that beginning step and these damage assessments are a necessary step in that process,” said Kim Keblish, a spokesperson for the Federal Emergency Management Agency [FEMA]. Representatives from FEMA, the Illinois Emergency Management Agency [IEMA], the U.S. Small Business Administration [SBA] and the McLean County Emergency Management Agency were going door-to-door in Bloomington-Normal on Tuesday to compile new claims and verify existing ones. * WCBU | Pekin grade school district gives bus company an ultimatum to fix student transportation problems: One consequence for failing to meet that deadline would be termination of the district’s five-year contract with the Alltown, which includes a $4.8 million payment in the first year. Parent Matthew Johnson, one of four public speakers at the board’s emergency meeting in the Washington Intermediate School cafeteria, supported the board’s action. “This company has a five-year contract with the district and they didn’t make it to Day 1,” he said. “The board needs to hold their feet to the fire. What’s happened is a catastrophic failure of the education process.” * WGLT | Amid investigation and lawsuit, Bloomington Police officer files for retirement: The announcement comes amid an internal investigation and federal lawsuit into Williams’ alleged conduct. The lawsuit alleges Williams violated the rights of two Bloomington DoorDash drivers during a June traffic stop. The City of Bloomington is a co-defendant. The plaintiffs’ attorney, Jared Kosoglad of Chicago, said Williams’ retirement does not absolve him from the lawsuit, on which he is named as an individual.
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