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Archive for the ‘Springfield’ Category

Illinois Is Forcing Ideology on Its Employees — and Calling It ‘Training’

Posted in Barrington Education Association, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Education, Elections, Look For The Union Label, OP/Ed, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Springfield, Taxes, Unions, Wirepoints on December 24, 2025| 1 Comment »

By: Mark Glennon | Wirepoints

Parts of America’s political left have awoken in their own way. They’ve seen the backlash against DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) extremism and backed off, at least a little. One liberal think tank, for example, recently published a memo advising the left to drop much of the DEI language it spawned. The language makes the left “sound like the extreme, divisive, elitist, and obfuscatory, enforcers of wokeness,” says the memo.

But the State of Illinois didn’t get that memo. In fact, it’s much worse: The state’s mandatory, annual training for its workers demands obedience to the worst of DEI catechism not just on language, but on thoughts and conduct. All state employees are now subject to DEI social engineering that’s as dogmatic and extreme as ever. Disobey and you can be fired. That’s not just tyrannical, it likely would make for a constitutional challenge based on the First Amendment.

This Orwellian employee training was partly exposed last week through a social media post that went viral about the training document used by Illinois State Police. Libs of TikTok published parts of that document, which garnered over 300,000 views on X alone.

But the training is statewide. The document used for the State Police is from the template for every agency, called “LGBTQIA+ Equity and Inclusion 2025,” published by the Office of Equity, which is part of Gov. JB Pritzker’s office. During his first term, Pritzker issued an executive order creating that office, saying that all state employees “shall participate in annual trainings focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion as directed by the Chief Equity Officer.” Today, the office is headed by Dr. Atiera Coleman, a career “equity” champion.

Chief Equity Officer Dr. Atiera L. Coleman

Skim through the document and you will quickly see that it’s not about routine professional training and compliance with nondiscrimination law. It dictates a political agenda of speech and conduct adhering to politics of the most extreme voices on “systemic oppression,” the horrors of capitalism, LGBTQIA+ theory, “intersecting identities” and the like. It’s ideological dogma that includes a required, signed certification by the employee that they understand that failure to comply with such policies and procedures “may result in disciplinary action up to and including termination of State employment/appointment.”

Read more here.

Mark Glennon is founder of Wirepoints.

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How much did Illinois take from your town’s income taxes?

Posted in Cook, County, Illinois Policy Institute, Kane, Lake, McHenry, Politics, School Districts, Springfield, Taxes on December 23, 2025| 1 Comment »

Illinois local governments lost out on over $10.9 billion in income tax revenue since fiscal year 2012. Here’s what your city or county lost.

By Patrick Andriesen | Illinois Policy Institute

Illinois local governments lost out on more than $10.9 billion in income tax revenue since fiscal year 2012, thanks to state lawmakers cutting the share of income taxes promised to municipalities and counties.

The state kept the difference.

An Illinois Policy Institute analysis found state lawmakers’ decision to reduce the local share from 10% of net income tax collections to less than 7% has cost municipalities over $9.49 billion since FY 2012. That includes cities, towns and villages and meant fewer dollars for programs and services, infrastructure, and potential property tax relief.

Use our table below to find out how much more income tax revenue your municipality would have received.

In addition to the municipal losses, county governments lost another $1.43 billion. Use our table below to find out much more income tax revenue your county would have collected.

More here.

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Cook County property taxes funding pensions more than service

Posted in BCFPD, Cook, County, Illinois Policy Institute, Jewel-Osco, Politics, Property Taxes, Public Safety, Springfield, Taxes, Unions on December 18, 2025| 1 Comment »

Cook County homeowners face rising property taxes. Three-fourths of that money is going to police and fire pensions instead of services.

By LyLena Estabine | Illinois Policy Institute 

Property tax bills (were) due Dec. 15th, and Cook County homeowners are facing tax bills that have grown 16%.

With more money being collected, it makes sense residents would expect better services from the public safety institutions funded by their tax dollars, such as police and fire departments. But Illinois Department of Revenue data from 2023 shows 74% of the money for these entities is going to fund pensions, with little left for public safety.

Cook County weighed down by police, fire pensions

Municipal police and fire department property tax levies for Cook County, 1996-2023, adjusted for inflation and excluding Chicago

Since 1996, the amount of money municipalities in Cook County outside of Chicago have levied to keep up with police and fire pensions has grown nearly five times. The amount levied to keep up services has not even doubled.

Police and firemen receive generous pensions, and rightly so given the dangerous nature of their work. When those benefits become overpromised – as they have become in Illinois – they undermine retirement security and reduce the amount of money available for service.

More here.

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Illinois TOPS NATION for public sector union political spending

Posted in 220, 300, Barrington Area Library, Barrington Education Association, Board of Education, BOHICA, Cook, County, Deception, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Elections, Fools and their money, Illinois Federation of Teachers, League of Women Voters, Look For The Union Label, Overhead, Pension Funding, Politics, Preckwinkle's Rules of Order, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, Road construction, School Districts, Springfield, Taxes, The Center Square, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on December 17, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Scott Stantis / For the Chicago Tribune

By Glenn Minnis | The Center Square contributor

Commonwealth Foundation Labor and Policy Senior Director David Osborne says Chicago’s growing reputation as the place where public sector unions flex plenty of political muscle is more than well deserved.

Osborne points to a new Commonwealth Foundation report highlighting how public sector unions across Illinois spent nearly $30 million on state races over the 2023-24 election cycle, or far more than what union officials in any other state dedicated to such causes.

At $5.5 million, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson tops the State Government Union Pac Money List of those most benefiting from government employment unions support. In addition to Johnson, at least six other state lawmakers land on the list’s Top 20, lead by House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, D-Hillside, at No. 2 and Illinois Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, at No. 4.

“In the state of Illinois, political spending is bigger than in any other state,” Osborne told The Center Square. “Unions seem very focused on who gets elected to be the mayor of Chicago and governor of the state. What you’ve got really is a downward spiral in Illinois where the kinds of unions that have gotten so powerful have really done it at the expense of taxpayers and then they’re pouring more money into getting the right kind of people elected for them.”

With researchers adding that almost 96% of all donations for Illinois-level candidates went to Democrats, Osborne said it’s past time someone address the imbalance.

“Public sector unions, they’re not often talked about as the cause of problems,” he said. “We often look to high taxes, bigger government, economic policies, but really what’s driving states and cities to enact policies that are harmful to individuals, that raise taxes, that grow the size of government beyond its purpose are public sector unions.

Read more here.

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Atlas Van Lines: Illinois exodus continues, but slows in 2025

Posted in Commodius Maximus, Cost of Living, Ethics, Illinois Policy Institute, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, Springfield, Taxes, Unions on December 17, 2025| Leave a Comment »

More people still moved out of Illinois than moved in during 2025, but the gap was smaller than it’s been for the past 16 years, according to Atlas Van Lines.

By Patrick Andriesen | Illinois Policy Institute

Illinois’ outbound migration crisis slowed after 16 years of losses, with new data from Atlas Van Lines showing a smaller gap between moves in and moves out of the state in 2025 than in any year since 2008.

While the Atlas report was an improvement, other moving companies reported bleaker results.

The new Atlas report found 54% of the company’s clients moved out of Illinois during 2025 while 46% moved into Illinois. The company considered that gap to be statistically even, but said a big factor behind the ratio could be “overall mobility remains low today, primarily due to affordability constraints such as the high cost of home ownership and limited inventory.”

Previous Atlas studies found Illinois lost residents every year between 2009 and 2024, with the trend peaking at 63% of movers leaving in 2023. The company has tracked client relocations every year dating back to at least 1993.

Other moving companies also produce similar surveys that show Illinois as a place to leave. Allied Van Lines shows a 58% outbound rate for 2025, ranking Illinois No. 1 for losing people. United Van Lines data is reported in January, and it last reported 60% of its moves in 2024 were out of Illinois, ranking No. 2 in the nation.

Atlas reported the U.S. states with the highest rates of individuals moving in were Arkansas followed by Idaho. Louisiana saw the highest rate of people leaving, followed by West Virginia.

Read more here.

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GOP Sen. Darby Hills Hid During Crucial Sanctuary Vote Blocking ICE From Schools, Hospitals, and Courthouses — The Only Republican Who Didn’t Vote NO

Posted in Dinky, Elections, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, RINO, Springfield on December 13, 2025| 2 Comments »

By Illinois Review

Illinois Republicans have warned for years that their greatest weakness isn’t always Democrats – it’s the lack of courage within their own caucus. And few episodes illustrate that better than what happened on October 30, 2025, when freshman State Sen. Darby Hills, R-Barrington Hills, walked off the Senate floor and hid during the most consequential immigration vote of the year.

Multiple lawmakers, staffers, and lobbyists share the same story: as debate closed on House Bill 1312 – the Safety and Liberation Together (SALT) Act – Hills abruptly left the Senate chamber. Witnesses say she ducked into the bathroom. Others say she fled down the hallway. But the outcome is undeniable: when the vote was called, she was gone.

While every single Republican senator voted NO, Darby Hills alone was recorded as “NV” – No Vote. She was the only GOP legislator who failed to stand against the largest sanctuary expansion in Illinois history.

Hills returned to the Senate floor only after the clock had stopped and voting had officially ended. She missed the vote – yet reappeared just moments too late to be held publicly accountable.

That is how she earned the nickname now spreading around Springfield: “Hiding Hills.”

More here.

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$1B, unneeded tax hike coming to a tollway near you?

Posted in BOHICA, IDOT, Illinois Policy Institute, Illinois Tollway, Look For The Union Label, Overhead, Pension Funding, Politics, Springfield, Taxes on December 13, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Chicago-area drivers could end up paying $1 billion more in tolls each year as part of a deal state lawmakers admitted was made to get labor union support.

By Patrick Andriesen and Ravi Mishra | Illinois Policy Institute

Illinois drivers face up to $1 billion more in tollway fees per year – money the tollways do not need – as part of a deal Springfield leaders admitted they made to get labor unions to back a Chicago-area mass transit bailout.

The Illinois Tollway board could vote as soon as Dec. 18. It would take an extra $329 per year from the typical driver.

Analysts estimated the 45-cent spike will drive the average passenger toll to $1.24, leading to $329 yearly increase for the typical commuter starting in 2027. Commercial truckers could also find themselves paying $1.73 more, or $1,264 a year.

Starting in 2029, tollway fees will automatically rise with inflation with a 4% cap per year applied every two years, regardless of the actual tollway needs. The automatic hikes make it hard for voters to hold lawmakers responsible for the hikes and will swell the tollway coffers.

That kind of automatic hike was applied to the state’s gas tax, leading to a $3.3 billion surplus and record-high taxes thanks to Gov. J.B. Pritzker. Illinois’ gas tax were 19 cents before he doubled them and added the inflationary hikes, putting the tax at 48.3 cents per gallon currently.

The Illinois Tollway Authority was initially sold to voters as a temporary way to fund new highways: “Toll free in ’73.” That was intended to be 1973, but with the automatic hikes will likely still be going in 2073.

The tollway hikes were not needed but rather a gift to reward labor unions for supporting the Regional Transportation Authority bailout of Chicago area mass transit. Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch said the toll hike was the price Illinoisans had to pay for labor union support.

“It was important to them, if they were going to agree to give up almost $1 billion dollars a year from the road fund, that they can point to something that will help keep working people working and keep roads getting repaired,” Welch told the Chicago Sun-Times.

Read more here.

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Transit sales tax hike makes suburbs pay for Chicago problems

Posted in Illinois Policy Institute, METRA, Overhead, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, Springfield, Taxes, The Chicago Way, Traffic, Unions on December 11, 2025| 1 Comment »

Chicago-area transit riders deserve safe, reliable service. But the Regional Transportation Authority board might soon ask the wrong people to pay for it.

By Dylan Sharkey | Illinois Policy Institute

Illinoisans shouldn’t be taxed for a service they can’t use, but the Regional Transportation Authority board is expected to vote on doing just that: imposing a regionwide sales-tax increase.

The board will meet Dec. 18 to adopt its 2026 budget, which relies on raising the RTA sales tax by 0.25 percentage point across Cook County and the collar counties. Pritzker is expected before 2026 to sign the bill authorizing the tax, which would take effect July 1 and then need final transit board approval within 60 days.

Supporters argue it’s needed to avoid looming service cuts and big fare hikes tied to transit’s “fiscal cliff.” But the tax collects money from suburban shoppers with sparse transit options and sends it to the urban areas where agencies have made poor decisions and failed to enact needed change. It also lets leaders ignore existing funds already taken from taxpayers.

What is the RTA sales tax?

To fund CTA, Metra and Pace, residents in areas served by mass transit currently pay:

  • 1% sales tax on general merchandise in Cook County.
  • 1.25% sales tax on qualifying food, drugs, and medical appliances in Cook County.
  • 0.75% sales tax on general merchandise and qualifying food, drugs, and medical appliances in DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will counties.

If Pritzker and the RTA board approve, the 0.25% will be added to all three existing sales taxes to generate $478 million leaders claim is needed to avoid transit’s fiscal cliff. That fiscal cliff is mostly a Chicago Transit Authority problem: Metra and Pace serve the suburbs and have challenges of their own, but the CTA dominates the RTA’s budget.

Penalizing people who don’t use CTA is a problem when it takes the biggest share of the budget. Part of the funding solution is using money from the state’s road fund, which has more than $3 billion taxpayers have already contributed. The state should spend what it already has before taking more.

Read more here.

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Illinois educators hope to tackle thorny issue of math competence

Posted in 220, 300, Barrington Education Association, Board of Education, Capitol News Illinois, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Education, Illinois Federation of Teachers, Politics, Property Taxes, School Districts, Springfield, Unions, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on December 7, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Aaron Lefller via Unsplash

By Peter Hancock | Capitol News Illinois

Each year, the Illinois State Board of Education releases an annual report card with data showing how students are doing in the basic subjects of reading, writing and math.

And each year when those numbers come out, reporters, teachers, parents and school officials sift through the data looking for evidence to show whether scores are improving, holding steady or getting worse.

But one trend has been so consistent over the years, it rarely draws much public attention. Overall, students score lower in math than they do in English language arts.

That was true on the 2025 report card, which showed only 38.4% of Illinois students overall scored proficient or better in math, compared to 52.4% in English language arts.

Illinois students are not unique in that regard. Nationwide, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as the “nation’s report card,” 59% of eighth graders in 2024 scored at or above the “basic” level in math — the achievement level most closely aligned with grade-level expectations — compared to 66% who did so in reading.

Even on the international stage, American students do not perform as well in math as their counterparts in many other industrialized democracies. Scores from the 2023 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, or TIMSS exam — a project of the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics — showed eighth grade students in the U.S., on average, scored  below their peers in countries like Singapore, Japan, Sweden and Australia.

In Illinois, officials at the State Board of Education hope to close the gap through the development of a statewide, comprehensive “numeracy plan.” The document will direct not just the way math is taught in the classroom, but how math teachers are trained in the profession and math programs are administered in school districts.

Read more here.

Related: “How well are your local third graders reading?”

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Illinois lawmakers push retirement tax to keep spending more

Posted in Aunt Blabby, Barrington Education Association, BOHICA, Deception, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Illinois Federation of Teachers, Illinois Policy Institute, Pension Funding, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, School Districts, Springfield, Taxes, Topics Of Interest, Unions, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on December 4, 2025| Leave a Comment »

As state lawmakers look to plug budget holes by removing limits on state income tax rates, Illinois’ spending is set to continue breaking records.

By Ravi Mishra | Illinois Policy Institute

The state budget has grown by 35% since 2020, but Illinois lawmakers want more and hope to get it by amending the Illinois Constitution so they can potentially tax retirees and target income groups of their choosing.

The proposed amendment would end Illinois’ longstanding flat income tax. Supporters claim it would relieve property tax pressures and boost school funding. But voters statewide rejected progressive tax schemes because they promised to hit retirees, family farms and small businesses hard.

The flat tax makes it painful for state lawmakers to raise taxes, because when they do all taxpayers suffer and hold them responsible at the next election. Killing the flat tax gives lawmakers the power to divide and conquer taxpayers.

Illinois has record spending

The problem is not income but rather spending: Illinois’ budget has grown at an alarming rate. An influx of federal pandemic funds marked for temporary relief allowed lawmakers to add billions into the general funds baseline spending.

Since 2020, Illinois’ annual general funds spending has increased by over $15 billion and is projected to grow another $7 billion by 2029. That would mark a 55% spending increase in just 10 years.

With the state projecting nearly $11 billion in budget deficits through 2029, this level of unchecked spending is unsustainable.  That is, unless state lawmakers can force more taxation on Illinoisans.

Read more here.

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