Illinois residents have the highest combined state and local tax burden in the nation, accounting for nearly 17% of their paychecks, and the second-highest property taxes in the country, according to the financial website WalletHub.
by Judith Ruiz-Branch Illinois News Connection
CHICAGO - High taxes and a weak economy are the top concerns of Illinois residents according to a new poll, with nearly half of those surveyed saying they would leave the state if given the opportunity.
The poll, conducted for the Illinois Policy Institute, showed more than half of those surveyed rank the state's high taxes as their number one concern, with the overall economy coming in second. Half of voters surveyed said they would move out of the state, regardless of whether they can afford it.
Dylan Sharkey, assistant editor for the Illinois Policy Institute, said the group started conducting surveys to shed light on tax issues.
"It's impossible for lawmakers to deny that these are the issues that people care about," Sharkey contended. "Because when you have a survey or a statewide poll, it's hard to deny those voices."
Illinois residents have the highest combined state and local tax burden in the nation, accounting for nearly 17% of their paychecks, and the second-highest property taxes in the country, according to the financial website WalletHub.
The bottom line should be that taxes should not be a first resort. The first resort should be to do more with money they already have.
Since 2020, it is estimated Illinois has lost close to 500,000 residents. Sharkey argued the poll helps to dispel the myth people are leaving the state due to the weather. He added states of similar size and climate, such as Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan, are also losing residents but at a much slower rate.
"This might seem obvious to some people, but of course, high taxes are number one," Sharkey emphasized. "Part of the reason we do this polling is because there are lawmakers and groups out there who look at our state and think, 'Well, we just need more money to fix the problem.' And the reality is, if you take more money from people, they're just going to find a new home."
Sharkey added he hopes the poll will serve as guidance for Illinois lawmakers as they consider new legislation which could add to the tax burden residents already carry.
"Even if lawmakers aren't in consensus over new taxes, their constituents are," Sharkey asserted. "The bottom line should be that taxes should not be a first resort. The first resort should be to do more with money they already have."
The Illinois Health and Hospital Association, the Association of Safety Net Community Hospitals and the Illinois Critical Access Hospital Network issued a statement saying they strongly oppose HB 3512.
by Grace Friedman Medill Illinois News Bureau, Capitol News Illinois
SPRINGFIELD — Health care unions continue to rally for legislation to address understaffing they say strains hospitals and threatens both patient safety and staff well-being.
Lawmakers are considering the Hospital Worker Staff and Safety bill, which would establish mandatory nurse-to-patient staffing ratios and increase support for underfunded hospitals.
The proposed legislation, Senate Bill 21 and House Bill 3512, aims to establish minimum staffing ratios in hospitals and fund critical safety-net hospitals across the state. Advocates with health care worker unions have been holding a series of rallies at the Capitol in support of the legislation in recent weeks.
“Our hospitals are staffed unsafely,” Kawana Gant, a certified nursing assistant at UChicago Medicine Ingalls Memorial Hospital in Harvey, said at a recent Statehouse rally. “I have worked short shifts where there are 30 patients and only one CNA on the floor. How can you give quality care? It is not safe.”
Gant, who has worked at Ingalls Hospital for nearly 30 years, says she has watched many of her colleagues quit due to the mental and physical toll the short staffing has had on their bodies.
“This is an opportunity for legislators to hear us, to know that these hospitals are not safe.” Gant said.
But similar versions of the proposed legislation have been introduced at the Statehouse for recent years and have failed to gain traction. Generally backed by unions representing nurses, such as the Service Employees International Union, previous staffing ratio measures have run into opposition from hospital groups that say they’re unworkable.
The proposed legislation filed this year has yet to receive a hearing in a substantive committee, meaning it will be an uphill battle for it to move by the time the legislature adjourns at the end of the month.
Like previous versions, it would mandate that hospitals “employ and schedule sufficient staff to ensure quality patient care and safety.” In addition, hospitals would have to share annual staffing metrics with the Illinois Department of Public Health to help ensure they are at proper staffing levels.
“This bill gives you a real voice,” Rep. Kam Buckner, D-Chicago, said to rallygoers. “It gives you a way to speak up when things are unsafe for you and the people who you care for.”
However, not all lawmakers are convinced that now is the right time to implement staffing ratios.
“You can mandate the staffing ratios, but if those professionals don’t exist, what have you really done?” said Rep. Norine Hammond, R-Macomb. “We’ve been trying for years to get more people into the health care field, especially after COVID, and we’re just not there yet.”
Hammond expressed concern that enforcing strict staffing requirements without enough qualified workers in the pipeline could place unrealistic burdens on hospitals. She warned that such mandates might unintentionally strain facilities already struggling with labor shortages and lead to adverse financial consequences, especially for smaller or rural hospitals.
Hospital trade groups echo those concerns, calling the legislation unworkable, burdensome and an ineffective way to solve a problem that should be addressed by the specific needs of each hospital or care center. The Illinois Health and Hospital Association, the Association of Safety Net Community Hospitals and the Illinois Critical Access Hospital Network issued a statement saying they strongly oppose HB 3512.
They said it was introduced “as a backdoor effort pushed by organized labor to impose unworkable, government-imposed health care staffing ratios in Illinois.”
“This proposal would relegate the essential, complex and nuanced protocols established to safely and efficiently staff a hospital 24/7/365, to a series of burdensome forms and onerous paperwork that hospitals would be required to submit to the (IDPH) to establish minimum staffing standards for every hospital worker, in each hospital unit,” the groups said in the statement.
Still, according to a recent Service Employees International Union survey of Chicago area hospital workers, 70% of respondents reported understaffing, and over 25% reported unsafe or unmanageable workloads. Additionally, in the same survey, 47% of the respondents stated an intent to leave their jobs soon.
To help enforce safety standards, the legislation introduces “assignment despite objection forms” that give hospital workers the opportunity to document and report any assignments that they believe are unsafe. Hospitals are then required to provide this information to IDPH, which would have to publish an annual report on all these staffing metrics. The legislation would also require IDPH to “make recommendations for minimum staffing standards for hospital workers in each hospital unit.”
In addition to protecting staff, advocates said this bill would allocate proper essential resources to underfunded hospitals around the state, including Mount Sinai Hospital on Chicago's West Side, a Level 1 trauma center that helps underserved and violence-impacted communities.
“Mount Sinai saved my son's life,” said Sonya Brown, who traveled from Chicago to Springfield recently to advocate for the safety-net hospital that treated her son after he was shot seven times in 2020.
“He was shot in the head, he was shot in the neck, he was shot in the chest, the abdomen and shoulder, and the arm,” Brown said. “If they wouldn't have gotten to him in time, he would have died.”
Mount Sinai serves as a health care provider for communities on both the South and West sides of Chicago, areas that experience some of Chicago's highest rates of gun violence. If the hospitals are not protected by measures in this legislation, advocates said, the victims in these neighborhoods risk longer travel times to alternative trauma centers.
They said the bills would help allocate essential resources and enforce staffing standards at safety-net hospitals to continue effectively serving vulnerable communities.
“All of our staff is overworked,” said Jessica Mendoza, a nursing assistant at Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital in Hines. “A lot of our veterans are coming into the VA to get help with their health, but we do not have the staff to provide it.”
Mendoza, who has worked at the Hines VA Hospital for nearly two years, said that due to the low number of staff, they rarely get a break. She noted that the lack of sufficient staffing makes it difficult to provide the level of care that the veterans need.
The health care workers and advocates gathering in Springfield at the recent rally emphasized that without sufficient staffing and resources, the quality of patient care throughout Illinois hospitals will continue declining, and worker burnout will escalate.
“They expect you to do the job of five or six people but pay you for one.” Sen. Lakesia Collins, D-Chicago, said at the rally. Prior to joining the General Assembly, Collins was a CNA in nursing homes.
As the legislation stagnates at the Capitol, hospital workers and advocates said they plan to keep organizing and sharing their stories. They said they're calling on lawmakers to prioritize frontline health care workers and the patients who depend on them.
Grace Friedman is a student in the Medill Illinois News Bureau, a program at the Medill School of Journalism that provides local news outlets with state legislature and government coverage. She can be reached at gracefriedman2025@u.northwestern.edu.
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.
House Bill 2827 fails to pass Illinois House. Some Democrats spoke out against bill regulating Illinois homeschool practices while the sponsor says, "it is necessary to ensure homeschool children are protected."
Photo: Steven Weirather/Pixabay
A young student does research on her laptop at home. According to opponents, House Bill 2827 creates a lot of red tape for homeschooled children. It would make schools pass records up through several layers of government and require tracking down families to review what they’re teaching and whether their kids are skipping school or not. The measure failed to make it out of the Illinois House on Friday.
By Greg Bishop.::. Associate Editor The Center Square
SPRINGFIELD - Homeschool parents worried about the state of Illinois imposing regulations on the practice have a reprieve after the measure failed to advance.
House Bill 2827 accumulated tens of thousands of opponent witness slips filed against it since the measure was filed earlier this year. Sponsor, state Rep. Terra Costa Howard, D-Glen Ellyn, rose Friday to announce the bill isn’t ready, but said it is necessary to ensure homeschool children are protected.
“To the victims who are out there: We see you, we hear you and we will keep fighting for you,” she said.
Costa Howard said she was keeping the measure held on third leading into the Friday deadline to pass House bills to the Senate. She defended the measure, saying it does not mandate curriculum, but does require homeschool families to report to government officials that they homeschool, or they could face truancy charges.
“It truly is a simple form that can protect families from those nosey neighbors,” she said.
Homeschool parents worried about the state of Illinois imposing regulations on the practice have a reprieve after the measure failed to advance.
The fight isn’t over for opponents.
Tens of thousands of opponents filed witness slips against the measure since it was introduced earlier this year. Some Democrats spoke out against the measure, saying it could criminalize homeschool parents raising and teaching their children how they see fit.
Republican state Rep. Amy Elik said the bill was “doomed from the beginning.”
“A simple form was not so simple was it? It created burdens on families across Illinois, our entire school system,” Elik said, “and nobody seems to care that that was going to cost our schools and our families valuable resources that could be spent instead of fixing our public school system that often fails children.”
Elik said she’s glad the measure is being held, but she said the fight isn’t over for opponents.
“I can tell you our families still feel like they are under attack and walking on eggshells in Illinois,” she said. “That happens all the time in this chamber.”
The measure will be held, but could come back up in some fashion before the scheduled end of session May 31.
Legislators are off next week. The House returns April 22. The Senate returns April 29.
There was heated debate when lawmakers took up House Bill 3527 involving school mascots. Bill would prohibit schools from using a name, logo, or mascot that is derogatory or representative of a disabled individual or group.
Photo: Max Vakhtbovycn/PEXELS
The Illinois House passed HB3564, which prohibits landlords from charge fees for the processing, reviewing, or accepting of an application, or demand any other payment, fee, or charge before or at the beginning of the tenancy. Landlords may not call the fee or charges something else to avoid application of these provisions. It also limits fees the total amount that can be collected for late fees.
By Kevin Bessler.::. Staff Reporter The Center Square
SPRINGFIELD - It was a busy day for the Illinois House of Representatives Tuesday with a slew of bills passing through the chamber.
One measure, House Bill 3564, prohibits a landlord from imposing a move-in fee for renters. It also limits fees for the late payment of rent to a one-time $15 fee for every $1,500 of rent. Democratic state Rep. Rita Mayfield, D-Waukegan, said that amount is pointless.
“As a landlord, I’m going to tell you that $15 is not punitive enough to force anyone to pay their rent on time,” said Mayfield. “We have a lot of problems with individuals who don’t want to pay their rent and having the ability to charge a daily late fee actually spurs them to pay their rent.”
The measure passed by a vote of 61-43 and is headed to the Senate for consideration.
There was heated debate when lawmakers took up House Bill 3527 involving school mascots. State Rep. Maurice West’s bill would prohibit schools from using a name, logo, or mascot that is derogatory or representative of a disabled individual or group.
“This is something that is exploiting a community and if there is an inkling of injustice somewhere, there’s a threat to justice everywhere,” said West, D-Rockford.
The particular school that drew West’s ire is Freeburg High School and their mascot the “Midgets”, a community several hundred miles from his district. The school is located in state Rep. Kevin Schmidt’s district, who said the community is proud of the mascot.
“It’s going to blow up,” said Schmidt, R-Millstadt. “It’s not going to have the effect that you want. This is a local issue, the local school board should be voting on it, not the state overreaching.”
The measure passed 71-38 and if passed by the Senate, the law would require schools to adopt a new mascot by Sept. 1st, 2028.
The House also approved the Illinois Sexual Assault Survivor Treatment Act in House Bill 2805 sponsored by House Minority Leader Tony McCombie, R-Savanna, which prohibits insurance co-pays for sexual assault exams. The measure now heads to the Senate.
Dear Editor,
Another unnecessary anti-family bill is advancing in Springfield. The Homeschool Act (HB 2827) will impose fines and jail time on parents who don’t file a “Homeschool Declaration Form.” In other words, those that don’t register with their local district and provide their curriculum for the school to review will be punished, fined, and even serve jail time.
Many parents choose to homeschool in response to the mandates being passed into law in Springfield. For example: since 2019, students are now required to be proficient in LGBT history. In 2021, they passed a law that required sex ed be taught starting in kindergarten. Five-year-olds are taught to define what lesbians, homosexuals, and transgenders are, while the curriculum gradually gets more graphic in older grades. It’s some of the most sexually explicit material in the nation, supplied by Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion and sex-ed curriculum provider. Such curriculum is an invitation to early sexual activity.
Moreover, this bill allows a truancy officer to interview a child without a parent present for the purpose of launching an investigation.
The bill redefines homeschooling to a single family and prohibits 2 or more households from receiving instruction under a cooperative agreement.
One seriously flawed reason for this bill is to protect children from homeschooling parents “who don’t do it the right way.” As if the state does it better!
On average, homeschooled students score 15 to 25 percentile points above their public school counterparts on standardized tests. Black homeschooled students test scores are even higher - 23 to 42 percentile points higher than Black public school students!
The Illinois Report Card is the state’s official window into how students are testing in math, English Language Arts and Science. The 2024 numbers are nothing but shocking, as they have been for many years.
Only 31.1 percent of high school seniors met or exceeded proficiency in ELA while the graduation rate is at 88 percent. If more than two-thirds of students can’t read, why are they passing them to the next grade and then graduating them? Public schools are sending them into the world ill-equipped. The overwhelming majority can’t read! And our tax dollars are funding this ongoing disaster.
Math is even worse. Only 26.1 percent of high school students can do math at high school level.
They need to focus on the glaring problems in Illinois public schools and not the families who sacrifice to equip their children to become well-educated productive citizens.
I say, “Get them out of public schools and start homeschooling!” Homeschooled children are not the problem. They are the solution!
Urge your state lawmakers to reject HB 2827.
Kathy Valente, Director of Operations
Illinois Family Institute
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Research shows any length of detention has a poor outcome for children, especially those of color, and unnecessarily costs the state tens of millions of dollars each year.
by Judith Ruiz-Branch Illinois News Connection
CHICAGO - A recent report is highlighting the need for a complete overhaul of the Illinois juvenile justice system. It called for a renewed rehabilitative focus while prioritizing the rights, needs and safety of children, which it argued is sorely lacking across the board.
The report by the Illinois Juvenile Justice Initiative found the majority of juvenile detention centers fail to meet even basic standards to keep children safe, which has opened counties up to lawsuits.
Katherine Buchanan, a consultant for the Illinois Juvenile Justice Initiative and the report's author, said the current state-subsidized, county-run model incentivizes the jailing of children and does not provide an ultimate authority on oversight, begging the question of why and how the state jails children.
"The timing is right to really look at when and why children are detained, and how we can really focus the use of detention on those most critical cases," Buchanan contended.
Buchanan pointed out research shows any length of detention has a poor outcome for children, especially those of color, and unnecessarily costs the state tens of millions of dollars each year.
The report found gaps across all centers in behavioral services and education, disciplinary actions and the use of solitary confinement. Overall, children of color are disproportionately impacted, coming into contact with the legal system at much higher rates than their white peers, even when they commit the same offenses.
Buchanan explained how childhood trauma increases the risk of delinquency in adolescents, and detention only serves to retraumatize an already at-risk population while compounding long-term consequences.
"Even short periods in detention can harm children in terms of their educational attainment, their ability to reengage in school, their mental health and also in terms of their long-term future earnings," Buchanan outlined.
The report called for legislation prioritizing community-based efforts and using detention as a last resort. A new bill was introduced last month to initiate efforts for juvenile justice reform across the state and largely mirrors the suggested solutions outlined in the report.
Stacy Davis Gates, CTU president, reaffirmed the state's sanctuary status and the union's fight to uphold it.
CHICAGO - As Illinois parents and children continue to be on high alert amid fears of school immigration raids, school officials are publicly advocating for the rights and safety of students. Circulating reports of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents showing up to some schools across the state continue. School attendance is dropping in some areas. This week, the Chicago Teachers Union staged walk-ins at several schools and teachers at more than a hundred others joined them as part of a national day of action against the Trump administration's deportation sweeps.
Photo: Erik Mclean/Unsplash
Stacy Davis Gates, CTU president, reaffirmed the state's sanctuary status and the union's fight to uphold it.
"We are the only school district in the state that has any policy protocol regarding sanctuary to date," she said.
Last month, State Superintendent of Schools Tony Sanders issued a directive to schools across the state reminding them of their obligation to protect students' rights within their buildings. It outlined protections of students regardless of their immigration status and how to prepare if ICE agents show up.
During a recent school visit, Governor J.B. Pritzker called the increase in empty desks a big concern.
Gaby Pacheco, CEO of Dream.US, a national scholarship fund for undocumented students, says the policies and statements coming from the Trump administration are inciting ongoing trauma with dire consequences.
"The stress that these children are facing is unimaginable. With the constant threat of raids and the cruel scare tactics being used, their young lives are being consumed by fear. We've heard horrifying words from the Trump administration, words that claim there is no mercy for them," she said.
U.S. border czar Tom Homan accused Pritzker of scaring children after misinformation circulated about ICE showing up at a predominantly Latino elementary school in Chicago. Residents, however, continue to push back against the Trump administration's immigration policy changes. On Monday, some businesses and restaurants across Chicago closed, and some students stayed home from school as part of a nationwide boycott known as "A Day Without Immigrants."
SPRINGFIELD - Illinois could become the first state to fully decriminalize sex work among consenting adults, under a new proposal introduced by two state lawmakers.
The legislation, unveiled Monday by State Sen. Celina Villanueva (D-Chicago) and State Rep. Will Guzzardi (D-Chicago), seeks to remove criminal penalties for adults engaged in consensual paid sex. It would also expunge arrest and conviction records for sex workers, establish a sex workers’ bill of rights, and create protections against abuses by law enforcement.
Currently, Illinois law classifies prostitution as a misdemeanor, with penalties for both sex workers and their clients. The proposed measure would not alter existing laws that make solicitation of minors a felony.
If enacted, Illinois would go further than any other state in decriminalizing sex work. While Nevada allows prostitution in licensed brothels in certain counties, and Maine recently decriminalized the sale of sex but not its purchase, no state has fully decriminalized the industry as Illinois lawmakers are advocating.
Supporters of the legislation, including advocacy groups such as Equality Illinois and the American Civil Liberties Union, argue that decriminalization is critical to improving safety and access to resources for sex workers, particularly for marginalized communities. Transgender individuals, they say, are disproportionately affected by violence within the industry.
"Seventy-five percent of all sex workers will experience sexual violence during their careers," Brian Johnson, CEO of Equality Illinois, told Axios. "Nearly two-thirds of transgender people killed in the past 15 years were sex workers."
A study published in the American Journal of Public Health estimates that 45% to 75% of sex workers in Illinois will encounter violence while working. Advocates argue that fear of arrest often prevents workers from reporting abuse, creating an environment in which perpetrators operate with impunity.
Critics of the proposal, however, contend that decriminalization could lead to harmful consequences.
"Taking advantage of the super-majority in both chambers, these Democrats want ‘private choices’ about the use of one's body to be a civil right protected by law," said David Smith, executive director of the Illinois Family Institute. "This flawed thinking will only increase incidents of rape, assault and murder."
Smith further described prostitution as “inherently immoral,” arguing that it objectifies and exploits individuals involved, treating them as consumable products rather than human beings. He also warned that decriminalization could empower the criminal underworld and fuel demand for sex-trafficked victims, including children.
Under current Illinois law, individuals convicted of prostitution can face up to one year in jail and fines. Critics of the existing system say it drives the industry underground, leaving workers vulnerable to exploitation and unable to access legal protections afforded to other professions.
The proposed legislation also seeks to modernize state statutes by removing what advocates describe as dehumanizing language. Additionally, it would ensure that court records related to consensual sex work are automatically sealed.
While proponents view the bill as a step toward addressing systemic inequities and violence, opponents argue that decriminalization could exacerbate existing problems. The proposal’s introduction marks the beginning of what is expected to be a contentious debate in Springfield as Illinois considers whether to become the first state to adopt comprehensive decriminalization of sex work.
Some Illinois state lawmakers plan to introduce a bill to legalize prostitution in the Land of Lincoln. This proposal would expunge past criminal arrests and conviction records.
Taking advantage of the super-majority in both chambers, these Democrats want "private choices" about the use of one's body to be a civil right protected by law. This flawed thinking will only increase incidents of rape, assault and murder.
Prostitution is inherently immoral. It objectifies and exploits those involved as consumable products, instead of human beings made in the image of God. Moreover, it empowers the criminal underworld, fueling the demand for sex trafficked victims - including children.
At a time when sexually transmitted infections (STIs) like syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia are increasing, state lawmakers are foolish to promote an industry dedicated to sexual promiscuity. For two years in a row now, public health officials have issued warnings about the sexually transmitted virus, monkeypox, predominantly spread among gay and bisexual men. Is HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis B, and HPV no longer a concern? Prostitution exacerbates these diseases.
A chief task of our legislators is to promote the public health. Legalizing prostitution would undermine this priority by spreading disease and fostering a culture that objectifies human beings as merely sexual outlets to be purchased. Sadly, it will contribute to rising rates of family dysfunction and breakdown.
David E. Smith, Executive Director
Illinois Family Institute
PONTIAC - People everywhere are conquering their cabin fever and are enjoying the great outdoors after a long, bitter winter. But before you head out for that hike, health care experts remind you to take precautions to avoid tick bites. Read more . . .
CHICAGO - An Illinois law professor is weighing in on what she called a "very public and open test of due process" for immigrants being deported from the United States without court hearings. Read more . . .
CHAMPAIGN - In a show of solidarity against President Donald Trump's trade and immigration policies, which critics say are harming families and retirement savings, more than a thousand protesters gathered Saturday at West Park near downtown Champaign for the Hands-Off! Mobilization rally. Read more . . .
Photo Galleries
A couple of runners found themselves in the wrong race at this year's Illinois Marathon. Over 60 photos from the race that you should see.
by Judith Ruiz-Branch
