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* Subscribers know more. ICYMI: Cook County Health braces for $110M budget hit as state eyes immigrant healthcare cuts.Fox Chicago…
* Related stories…
* BlueRoomStream.com’s coverage of today’s press conferences and committee hearings can be found here.
* WGN | Pritzker’s 2026 budget proposal is $500 million short: “We’ve conditioned our members to understand how tight this budget year is going to be,” said Senate President Don Harmon. “That won’t eliminate spending pressures, but I think people understand this is a different year than last year or the year before.”
* Subscribers know more. Crain’s | Pritzker budget team slashes state’s revenue forecast by $536 million: Among the culprits: $351 million less in corporate income taxes because of a lower forecast for corporate profits; and $289 million less in individual income taxes because of recently reduced forecasts of employment, lower wages and salaries growth, and lower estimated stock market performance. The new budget forecast also predicts $150 million less in sales taxes and $70 million less from the federal government.
* Farm Week | IL-EATS reinstated for remainder of fiscal year: Sufficient funding to finish out the state fiscal year 2025 was determined by the Illinois Department of Human Services and the Illinois Department of Agriculture in March after USDA reversed its decision to cease reimbursements for the program, which is funded through Local Food Processing Agreement (LFPA) grants. IL-EATS producers have been paid fully for their January 2025 and February 2025 invoices. Of the three rounds of funding, the third round is being terminated and will not be available, meaning funding will continue until the end of the fiscal year, July 1.
* Capitol News Illinois | Consumer advocates tell regulators to slash rate hike requests from Ameren, Nicor: Nicor Gas, which serves 2.3 million customers in northern and western Illinois, requested the largest gas rate plan in state history — roughly equivalent to $7.50 per month for the average residential customer. Ameren Illinois, which has about 800,000 downstate customers, requested an increase that translates to between $8 to $10 higher monthly bills for a typical residential customer. Regulators at the Illinois Commerce Commission are expected to announce a decision as to whether to approve or alter the hikes in November. The new rates would go into effect at the start of 2026.
* Fox Chicago | These are Illinois’ wealthiest counties, according to a new study: Lake County leads Illinois in wealth, according to a new report from SmartAsset, which analyzed income, home values, and investment income across all U.S. counties. The annual study used a combination of three financial metrics—median income, investment income, and median home value—to produce a “Wealth Index” score for each county.
* Center Square | Illinois education officials address audit findings: Officials from the Illinois State Board of Education testified before the Legislative Audit Commission Tuesday, after a compliance review listed 15 findings. State Superintendent of Education Tony Sanders said the board has taken corrective action for eight of the issues. “Specific corrective action ISBE has taken include implementing financial controls to ensure the future appropriation amounts are properly stated and reported,” Sanders said.
* Fox Chicago | Chicago state lawmaker launches bid for Congressional seat: State Sen. Robert Peters, a Democrat from Chicago, announced his campaign for a U.S. House seat representing parts of the city’s South Side and southern suburbs in the 2026 midterm election. […] Peters, a Chicago South Side native, has served in the state legislature since 2019. His district includes a large portion of the Chicago lakeshore from the city’s downtown area to the far South Side.
Adding: Sen. Peters announced an endorsement from Bernie Sanders this morning.
* Jim Nowlan | Will the Illinois GOP show up for the 2026 state elections?: We are in the important pre-primary phase of the 2026 elections in Illinois (circulation of petitions opens in September), when prospective candidates strut their endorsements — and money raised — in efforts to scare off possible opponents. In our basically one-party state, Democratic wannabes are coming off a long bench to make their cases. In contrast, Republicans have no bench of experienced, well-known prospects to speak of. Because of extreme gerrymandering, the GOP has few state legislators and no statewide officials whatsoever. Attractive but no-name candidates are being counseled by Republican insiders that this is a no-win year for the GOP and it’s better to stay out.
* WAND | Illinois Freedom Caucus suggests state should only spend $44 billion for Fiscal Year 2026: Gov. JB Pritzker presented a $55 billion budget in February, but the Freedom Caucus told reporters in Springfield Tuesday that lawmakers only need to approve $44 billion. The Eastern Illinois Republicans said the state should cut funding for free migrant healthcare, “DEI education” in K-12 schools, and social equity projects in Democratic cities.
* Chalkbeat Chicago | Chicago mayor commits $7 million to raises for early childhood education workers: Mayor Brandon Johnson announced Tuesday that Chicago will spend $7 million on increasing salaries for 3,000 early childhood workers, as part of an effort to pay them closer to what their counterparts at K-12 schools earn. The money will boost wages by 5-10% for a range of staffers whose jobs are funded by state money, including teachers and teacher assistants at dozens of community-based early childhood providers. These providers are part of the city’s early learning system overseen by the Department of Family and Support Services, or DFSS, city officials said.
* Sun-Times | City Council committee removes ‘paper ceiling’ requiring college degree for city jobs: Citing the skyrocketing cost of a college education, a City Council committee agreed Tuesday to remove that “paper ceiling” by allowing candidates for city jobs to substitute work experience for a diploma. The Committee on Workforce Development moved to abolish what many consider an irrelevant and discriminatory barrier at the behest of Ald Gilbert Villegas (36th), a retired Marine who served in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.
* Tribune | City commission approves $67 million in TIF funds for massive Central Loop renovation: The largest project envisioned so far for the LaSalle Street Reimagined program took a step closer to reality Tuesday when the Community Development Commission recommended that City Council approve it. Council approval would unlock $67 million in tax increment financing funds for redevelopment of the historic Clark Adams Building, a 41-story tower at 105 W. Adams St. just east of LaSalle Street in the Central Loop. The funds will help its development team transform dozens of vacant floors into hundreds of new apartments, including 121 reserved as affordable.
* Sun-Times | Chicago tries again to crack down on Airbnbs, vacation rental industry: A “transparency ordinance” championed by Ald. Bennett Lawson requires Airbnb and Vrbo to share much more information with neighbors who have to live with the sometimes rowdy consequences of vacation rentals.
* WTTW | Analyzing Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson at the Midpoint: Lurching from Crisis to Crisis While Working to ‘Disrupt Status Quo’: Johnson has repeatedly said he was elected to “disrupt the status quo.” On Wednesday, he told WTTW News that he had done just that, even as federal officials during the Biden administration “left cities in peril.” “We responded to that crisis. as we have in the past, with the full force of government,” Johnson said, ticking off a list of accomplishments, including a significant drop in homicides.
* NBC Chicago | Undercover investigation reveals Chicago cab drivers overcharging riders: It’s illegal for Chicago cab drivers to demand flat rates higher than the metered rate or “refuse any person transportation,” but a NBC 5 Responds investigation revealed they do both — a lot. “[Drivers] may be potentially kind of … singling out tourists or people who may not know better, as opposed to local residents,” said Lay.
* NBC Chicago | Chicago is slowly sinking, raising risk of structural damage and flooding: The study, published in Nature Cities on May 8, examined the 28 most-populated cities in the United States and found that 25 of them are experiencing the phenomenon known as “land subsidence.” […] According to researchers, Chicago is one of nine cities where areas are sinking by more than two millimeters per year. In all, around 98% of the city is sinking to some degree.
* AP | “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, 7 other “Black Sox” reinstated by MLB; how they got banned for fixing 1919 World Series: The other seven former White Sox players who have been removed from MLB’s permanent ineligibility list include first baseman Arnold “Chick” Gandil, pitcher Eddie Cicotte, center fielder Oscar “Happy” Felsch, infielder Fred McMullin, shortstop Charles “Swede” Risberg, third baseman George “Buck” Weaver, and pitcher Claude “Lefty” Williams. They were accused of taking bribes from gambling concerns to intentionally lose the World Series that year against the Cincinnati Reds. The scandal ultimately led to the appointment of the first baseball commissioner, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, who banned the implicated White Sox players despite their acquittal on criminal charges.
* WBEZ | Why is there a $1,000 fine for building a nuclear bomb in Chicago?: The ordinance was proposed during a period when Chicago’s City Council was extremely divided. The so-called “Council Wars” pitted Harold Washington, Chicago’s first Black mayor, against a mostly white majority led by Ald. Ed Vrydolak, 10th Ward. Hell-bent on blocking all the mayor’s proposals, Vrydolak made it difficult for anything to get done.
* Tribune | Scientists join the fight against basement flooding in Chatham: ‘The cavalry is coming’: Volunteers are measuring rainfall in their yards, a local nonprofit is rallying support, and scientists at universities including the University of Illinois, Chicago State and Northwestern are gathering data with soil moisture sensors, radar, weather balloons, and groundwater probes. The scientists are participating as part of the Department of Energy’s five-year, $25 million Community Research on Climate and Urban Science (CROCUS) project, which aims to better understand and predict urban weather challenges in Chicago, including heat waves and flooding.
* Daily Herald | Change at the top: Moran takes the reins in Barrington from Darch: Mike Moran was sworn in Monday as Barrington’s new village president, succeeding Karen Darch who stepped down after 20 years in the position. Prior to that, she spent 10 years as trustee. Incumbent trustees Jennifer Wondrasek and Todd Sholeen also began their new terms, while newly elected Trustee Lauren Klauer and Village Clerk Jim Dillon took their oaths. In his first address, Moran paid tribute to what he called Darch’s lasting legacy: “Karen has led with vision, strength, and unwavering commitment to the people of Barrington.”
* Daily Southtown | Orland Park rehires former Village Manager George Koczwara, some trustees wanted more time: Orland Park officials voted Monday to rehire former Village Manager George Koczwara, although some trustees urged the board to take more time before making a decision. Koczwara was manager for five years before leaving last June, and is being rehired, effective immediately, at a salary of $207,000. The village attorney will also draft a one-year employment agreement.
* Daily Herald | New Arlington Heights mayor taps election opponent as his second-in-command: “Tom has been a wonderful trustee for a number of years now, and with everything as it went in the election, he was a fantastic candidate, and I think the community wholeheartedly would endorse Tom helping out to the next level on this board,” Tinaglia said. The president pro tem — appointed every two years in May following municipal elections — fills in for the mayor at meetings, ribbon cuttings and community events.
* Daily Herald | ‘How do they do it?’: Endangered piping plovers return to the same spot in Waukegan for a second year: The area the Waukegan plovers occupy is under surveillance and violators who try to enter are heavily fined. Public access is not allowed and monitors are issued permits and must pass security. There currently are 30 confirmed pairs in the Great Lakes with 29 active nests, most at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in northern Michigan, Semel said.
* Crain’s | After Lion collapse, Pritzker finds new electric bus partner: He says Damera, a Canadian distributor of electric mini-buses, will open an assembly line in the Peoria area that will employ 90 people. The state is offering the company unspecified incentives to launch a facility that will include assembly lines, testing zones, quality control, storage and administrative offices, along with areas for battery assembly and charging infrastructure.
* PJ Star | Not just ’scared straight’: Why a Peoria non-profit brought at-risk youth to county jail: Carl Cannon wants to make things clear up front: He is not in the business of doing scared-straight programs. “This is different,” Cannon, the founder of Elite Community Outreach, said before a Friday event with at-risk youth at the Peoria County Jail. “You pay attention. This is not a playground. What you have in front of you is somebody’s life. I will bounce you out of here quick, fast and in a hurry if I see you distracting anyone around you. These men in front of you wish they had this opportunity when they were your age. They didn’t, so don’t you play with this.”
* WPSD | Two southern Illinois towns pass bans of herbal drug kratom: The Marion and Herrin city councils each voted on Monday to ban kratom, an herbal substance, from being sold in their cities during their respective council meetings. While kratom is not approved by the Food and Drug Administration for any medical use, it is legal in many places in the United States, marketed as herbal supplements. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, much is still unknown about chemical compounds related to kratom, the short- and long-term health and safety impacts of kratom use and kratom’s potential therapeutic uses.
* BND | Belleville school board appoints two members, including one familiar face: After serving 10 years, Sauerwein planned to retire from the board to spend more time with his new grandchild. His term ended this spring and he did not seek re-election. But Sauerwein said he had second thoughts. The 2025-2026 school year will usher in several administration shifts — including a new superintendent, Marshaun C. Warren, and Sauerwein said he wanted to be part of the new era.
* SJ-R | Mail delivery changes coming to Springfield area in July. What you need to know: David Steiner, a FedEx board member, will replace Louis DeJoy as Postmaster General, raising concerns about privatization in Illinois. Unions, including the National Association of Letter Carriers and Illinois representatives, oppose Steiner’s appointment due to his corporate ties and anti-union history. Changes coming in July include slower mail collection in rural Sangamon County and adjustments to Springfield’s mail processing.
* WCIA | NASA provides $1M for AI-Astronomy led by U of I grad student: Under the guidance of Principal Investigator Professor Xin Liu, DeepDISC-Euclid addresses one of the most critical challenges of the European Space Agency Euclid mission: The precise detection and classification of blended astronomical objects in deep, multi-band, high-resolution imaging.
* AP | Biden-era ‘junk fee’ rule takes effect; Ticketmaster to display fees more clearly: Ticketmaster, long a subject of complaints about hidden fees and other issues, was among those targeted by the new rule, announced in December by the Federal Trade Commission. The rule requires ticket sellers, hotels, vacation rental platforms and others to disclose processing fees, cleaning fees and other charges up front.
posted by Isabel Miller
Wednesday, May 14, 25 @ 7:46 am
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==$500 million short==
I’m confident we can cover a budget shortfall of less than 1%.
Comment by supplied_demand Wednesday, May 14, 25 @ 9:19 am
===Because of extreme gerrymandering, the GOP has few state legislators and no statewide officials whatsoever.===
Ah, yes, gerrymandering of statewide races.
===lawmakers only need to approve $44 billion. The Eastern Illinois Republicans said the state should cut funding for free migrant healthcare, “DEI education” in K-12 schools, and social equity projects in Democratic cities===
Ah, yes, those 3 items represent 20% of the budget.
Comment by thechampaignlife Wednesday, May 14, 25 @ 9:24 am
I am against the use and proliferation of AI in about 99.9% of cases, but the use of AI to better study deep field astronomical data is the 0.1% exception. It’s objectively already paid major dividends for study of the literal entire universe, an amount of date that’s…. well…. astronomical.
The NASA grant to an Illinois grad for that project is good news.
Comment by TJ Wednesday, May 14, 25 @ 9:25 am
Also, not going to lie, the unbanning of Jackson and especially Rose made me a lot more mad than I would’ve guessed.
Jackson played a part in, at the bare minimum, the coverup of a fix to throw the World Series, and in the process absolutely screwed over his teammates not in on the fix in the process. And don’t get me started over claims that he was too stupid to understand it was bad. For all that simpleton talk about him, he was surprisingly smart enough to not mention it to his other teammates or anyone else until they were caught.
And Rose was a dirtbag human being and a pathological liar. I don’t get how anyone takes his claims that he never bet against his teams at any kind of face value. And even if he never did, the fact that he bet on at least some games pretty assuredly had at least a subconscious effect on how he managed games, which is what we want to completely avoid by banning baseball player and managers betting on games in the first place. But I guess that MLB is in the bed with sportsbooks to such a degree that having a hardline and permanent opposition to it can’t stand anymore.
Hope Cooperstown continues to keep both of them out. Their story is already told there, they don’t need plaques.
Comment by TJ Wednesday, May 14, 25 @ 9:31 am
==He is not in the business of doing scared-straight programs.==
Disagree.
Comment by Stephanie Kollmann Wednesday, May 14, 25 @ 9:56 am
Went to the IFC website. I could find no information on how they would cut the budget from $55 billion to $44 billion. I googled for other sources but still cound not find an explanation for that claim.
Comment by Mason County Wednesday, May 14, 25 @ 12:40 pm
=Cook County Health braces for $110M budget hit as state eyes immigrant healthcare cuts.=
What are costs for ‘non adults and 65+ The information I see talksonly about those 42-64. Not those over or under this age. Citizens should know the cost if this.
Comment by Mason County Wednesday, May 14, 25 @ 12:47 pm