.png)
How Much Longer Will Governor Pritzker Lie About His Record On Affordability? This week on the I’ve Had It podcast, Governor JB Pritzker once again claimed he is fighting to lower taxes for working and middle-class families. Illinois families know that claim simply does not match reality.
Just last year, Democrats in the Illinois General Assembly passed the largest budget in state history, totaling more than $55 billion and including roughly $700 million in new taxes.
According to the Illinois Policy Institute, Illinois is now taking $1,434 more in taxes from each resident than before Governor Pritzker took office. Compared to his first year in 2019, the state is collecting $18 billion more from taxpayers, an increase of 51 percent that far outpaces inflation.
And if that were not enough, Governor Pritzker has doubled down on unreliable green energy policies that are driving utility costs even higher. Earlier this year, he signed a green energy giveaway projected to saddle Illinois families with an estimated $8 billion rate hike.
So how can the Governor claim he is lowering costs for the middle class when Illinois ranks:
o #1 for highest property taxes
o #1 for highest combined state and local taxes
o #1 for highest cell phone taxes
Last year, WalletHub even ranked Illinois as the worst state in the nation for taxpayers because of its excessive tax burden.
So, despite the repeated claims from Governor Pritzker, the math just does not add up.
But while the Governor and Democrats continue to raise taxes on hardworking families, House Republicans are offering real solutions. For example, Representative Ryan Spain has filed House Bill 1383 to allow Illinois taxpayers to deduct tip income from their state taxable income, reducing the state tax on tips.
· Soaring natural gas bills have gotten through Gov. Pritzker’s ICC
Under State law, the prices gas utilities are allowed to charge for natural gas must go through the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC), a panel whose members are appointed by the Governor of Illinois. The ICC has regulatory control over the gas bills charged by Ameren, Consumers Gas Co., Illinois Gas Co., Liberty Utilities, MidAmerican Energy Co., Nicor Gas, North Shore Gas, and Peoples Gas, which provide the vast majority of the piped natural gas delivered to Illinois customers.
Based on current healthy supplies of natural gas produced in America, many had hoped for relief in their Illinois gas bills from the high cost of living. However, during the cold winter of 2025-2026, Illinois families are seeing monthly household-heat natural gas bills that run well into three figures. These gas bills reflect price increases accepted by Pritzker-appointed ICC.
To some extent, soaring prices for natural gas in Illinois reflect a new return-on-investment model adopted, with the ICC’s approval, by many natural gas utilities. Seeing a long-term push for non-carbon “green energy” that will discourage future natural gas hookups, but with the continued need to safely maintain their pipes and other infrastructure, the gas companies are now trying to squeeze out a higher year-to-year return on their existing assets. If these companies cannot assure themselves there will be a demand for natural gas 30 years from now, they will not backload their expenses onto a 30-year financing cycle. More of their infrastructure expenses will have to be paid for up front, generating soaring natural gas bills for all Illinoisans.
CHICAGO BEARS
$895 million price tag for infrastructure improvements around proposed Arlington Heights stadium site. The Chicago Bears are readying an ask for up to $895 million in State and local tax money to keep the team in Illinois. The money would be spent in and around Arington Heights, the proposed stadium location. The Chicago Bears already own the land where the stadium would be built, having purchased the parcel from former owners who operated a horse racetrack on the site.
The proposed deal would create a financial wall between the proposed new stadium and the land and infrastructure surrounding the stadium. Under the proposal, the Bears would build 100% of the new stadium itself; but much of the infrastructure around the stadium would be built with the help of the public sector. Required work would include rebuilt and expanded roads and expressway interchanges, other transportation infrastructure, water and sewer lines, and public-safety installations for police officers, firefighters, and other first responders. The significant additional costs imposed upon planning and construction work in the greater Chicago area would generate the proposed $895 million cost figure for these and other required site-specific infrastructural improvements.
At the same time, work continued in Indianapolis this week to lure the iconic Chicago-area football team to the state of Indiana. The Indiana state senate approved a measure to create a tax-supported Northwest Indiana Stadium Authority. The proposed Gary-area Authority would be governmentally similar to the Indiana Stadium and Convention Building Authority, the developer and owner of the NFL Indianapolis Colts’ Lucas Oil Stadium.
CRIME
House Republicans Offer Solutions to Fix the SAFE-T Act. Since debate on the bill began in 2021, Illinois House Republicans have consistently sounded the alarm about the dangers the SAFE-T Act poses to Illinois residents. Since its implementation, the law has allowed dangerous repeat offenders to remain on the streets, where many continue to commit crimes with little accountability.
House Republicans have introduced nearly 40 bills aimed at fixing this deeply flawed law, strengthening public safety, and restoring confidence in our justice system. Their message has been clear: Illinois families deserve a system that prioritizes their safety, not one that puts them at greater risk.
This is the real-world result of the SAFE-T Act. Repeat offenders are released with little accountability, police and prosecutors are handcuffed, and communities are left to deal with the consequences. This is not theory. This is what happens when bad policy meets reality.
Click on the stories below to learn about the real-life consequences of the SAFE-T Act.
Man with dozens of arrests charged with attempted murder in CTA Blue Line attack
Man out on pretrial release arrested after home shot up in Jacksonville
Milford man injures deputies while resisting arrest, released from custody under SAFE-T act
Plainfield man charged with criminal sexual assault allowed pretrial jail release
Suspect on pretrial release arrested in Fulton County after chase, threat against sheriff’s deputy
Proposed Legislation to Fix The SAFE-T Act
Illinois House Republicans have repeatedly proposed legislation to address the problems created by the SAFE-T Act, offering bipartisan solutions to restore public safety and common-sense criminal justice reforms. However, Democrats in the Legislature have refused to work together, blocking these efforts and leaving many communities without the fixes they’ve been calling for.
HB 4275 (Coffey) – Expands judges’ authority to deny pretrial release for felony and DUI cases when a defendant poses a safety risk or flight risk.
HB 1482 (Windhorst) – Expands the list of offenses for which a defendant can be detained pretrial rather than released.
HB 1483 (Windhorst) – Restores judges’ ability to issue a warrant (rather than a summons) if a defendant fails to comply with pretrial release conditions or fails to appear in court.
HB 1036 (Cabello) – Protects officers who report misconduct, restores certification rights, preserves certain misconduct records, and eliminates anonymous complaints.
HB 1028 (Cabello) – Proposes full repeal of the SAFE-T Act.
HB 1208 (Friess) – Requires automatic revocation of pretrial release if a defendant is charged with any new offense while released, regardless of the offense’s classification.
HB 4006 (Friess) – Restores prior consecutive-sentencing rules and removes custodial credit for time spent in home confinement or electronic/GPS monitoring.
HB 1477 (Windhorst) – Reduces and restricts detainees’ phone-call rights, bars contact with victims, allows statements to be reviewed for voluntariness, and permits arrest for minor offenses to verify identity.
HB 4002 (Ugaste) – Expands when police may issue citations instead of making arrests for low-level offenses while keeping discretion to arrest when safety, continued criminal activity, or health risks are concerns.
ENERGY
Grain Belt Express power line gets green light from Illinois Supreme Court. Developers are proposing the construction of a new 800-mile-long high-tension power line. Named the “Grain Belt Express”, the proposed 4-gigawatt (4 GW) line would originate near Dodge City, Kansas, and would terminate in western Indiana. The purpose of this line would be to enable the transmission of electricity, including but not limited to electricity generated by wind farms in western Kansas, to customers east of the Mississippi River, including but not limited to data centers in Indiana. The Hoosier State has strongly pro-data center state tax laws; a law enacted in Indianapolis grants significant tax breaks, including sales tax breaks for periods of up to 50 years, for data centers that choose Indiana as their place of operations.
The proposed $11 billion power line would be built in a corridor, set to span Missouri and Illinois, using many existing pro-development laws and case laws, including the active use by the developers of eminent domain and land condemnation. Many Illinoisans, including those opposed to what they see as the over-use or misuse of eminent domain for a private “green power” project, have taken a variety of steps to try to discourage or prevent the construction of the Grain Belt Express line across south-central Illinois. Opponents have pointed out that many of the jobs that could be created or supported by the construction of this proposed high-tension power line would be located outside of Illinois. They also point to the lack of research into the health effects upon adjacent humans of a 4 GW direct current (DC) power corridor. Most or all of the high-tension lines that currently operate safely in Illinois carry power loads that are a tiny fraction of this gigawattage.
Based on the significant capital costs of the proposed new line (a reported $13.7 million per mile), and the unconventional ties between this capital and the use of government-permitted eminent domain, plaintiffs filed suit in Illinois against the proposed Grain Belt line. This case has gone to the Illinois Supreme Court, which last week ruled against the plaintiffs. This decision was a point in favor of the continued development of the controversial line.
GAMBLING
State suspends license of Hawthorne Race Course. The Illinois Racing Board (IRB), the State’s regulatory and licensing authority over Illinois horse racing, took action this week to suspend the operating license of Hawthorne Race Course, the thoroughbred/standardbred horse racetrack in west suburban Cook County. The move quiets the track at the last remaining live race course in the Chicago area. Other tracks in Greater Chicago, including Arlington, Balmoral, and Maywood, have permanently ceased operations. Horse betting activity continues at “off-track betting” parlors in Greater Chicago.
Hawthorne was also the only remaining Illinois entity licensed to host a seasonal schedule of standardbred harness racing. In this variety of horse racing, purpose-bred harnessed trotting horses and pacing horses pull extremely light carts and drivers around the track. Hawthorne had been licensed to offer harness racing to spectators and bettors in the winter and early spring of 2026. Several days of live harness racing are expected to continue at the Illinois State Fairs hosted each summer in Springfield and Du Quoin.
In addition to suspending harness racing action, the Racing Board’s notice of suspension casts serious doubt upon Hawthorne’s ability to start up live thoroughbred racing. The saddle-horse-and-jockey racing had been set to start on March 29, 2026. In its suspension letter, the Racing Board raised questions about the long-term financial viability of the Hawthorne racetrack. Harness horsemen, owners who had committed to show and race their horses at Hawthorne, say they have stopped getting paid. Starting on January 3 and 4, 2026, Hawthorne races have been canceled.
The Racing Board’s suspension action came amidst what appears to be a significant movement in betting activity from horse racing to other forms of gambling, including sports betting and casino betting. The racetrack at Fairmount Park, in the Metro-East area near Collinsville, Illinois, continues to plan to host Illinois thoroughbred race from mid-April 2026 through October. At Fairmount, seasonal horse racing is now commingled with the 12-month operation of a casino gaming floor, inside the racetrack grandstand, to create a horse-themed gaming experience.
The Illinois Racing Board states that they could rescind this letter of suspension upon presentation, by Hawthorne’s owners, of evidence that the club can meet its financial obligations and contracts. The letter of Hawthorne suspension was issued on Monday, January 26.
IMMIGRATION
State Rep. Norine Hammond: Here’s what Democrats in the General Assembly can do to reduce ICE operations. The following op-ed was originally published by the Chicago Tribune on January 29, 2026
The way to fewer Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in neighborhoods is not through chaos, protests or citizen intervention into law enforcement actions. It is through policy change to decrease the need for immigration enforcement in neighborhoods.
I’ve voted for policies to make that happen.
If my Democratic colleagues in the Illinois House also want fewer ICE agents on the sidewalks of our communities, there is an immediate step they can take: Repeal the Illinois TRUST Act and the Illinois Way Forward Act.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, in 2025 alone, Illinois released 1,768 criminal illegal immigrants with active detainers. Those allowed to go free included individuals accused of committing homicide, assault, burglaries and sexual crimes. What these Illinois laws have done is create legal barriers that push enforcement into street operations, where federal agents are left to track individuals without local support.
Sanctuary policies are directly responsible for the headline-making public interactions with ICE.
Read the rest of Rep. Hammond’s op-ed here.
JOBS
Illinois’ unemployment rate jumped in December. The Illinois Department of Employment Security (IES) has revealed that Illinois’ jobless rate rose sharply in December. The BLS/IDES numbers showed a significant 0.2% increase in Illinois’ unemployment rate. In 2025’s final month, the Illinois unemployment rate rose from 4.4% to 4.6%. While this 4.6% rate does not yet signal a recession, it reveals hard numbers that back up the experience of Illinois residents who are currently looking for a job.
Furthermore, the December 2025 unemployment cross-tabs showed continued movement of the Illinois job picture away from manufacturing and construction, and away from bricks-and-mortar retail sales, towards public-sector-oriented services sectors headed by health care and government. The Illinois sector that includes health care, added 4,000 jobs in December 2025, and government added 2,800 jobs. The same month, the Illinois sector that includes retail sales lost 3,400 jobs, manufacturing lost 2,800 jobs, and construction lost 700 jobs.
· Alton Steel announces abrupt shutdown of operations, lays off all 253 workers
Alton Steel, one of the Metro-East’s largest remaining manufacturing operations, announced the complete shutdown of its electric-arc mill operations this week. The mill specialized in steel recycling, taking in scrap steel from motor vehicles, building demotions, and other sources. Alton Steel’s 253 workers unloaded shipments of scrap steel, loaded steel into their furnace, and fabricated the remelted metal into useful shapes. 220 of the 253 laid-off workers were members of United Steelworkers Local #3643. The Alton mill was a surviving fragment of once-mighty Laclede Steel, a major St. Louis-area metals firm in the 1970s.
Chris Ervin, CEO of Alton Steel, stated that the mill’s equipment had become obsolete and the firm had not been able to finance the retooling of its key factory. This report fits into a fact pattern in which global lenders are said to be increasingly reluctant to finance manufacturing operations in Illinois. The state’s overall job climate and economic outlook are described as being indifferent, or even hostile, to job creation. This atmosphere is said to be especially salient with respect to factories and the creation of jobs that handle material goods.
A repossession crew entered the mill complex on Saturday, January 24, and removed most of the scrap steel that was being prepared for re-melting. The shutdown announcement, which was made abruptly and under conditions apparently not in compliance with the State’s WARN Act, was made on Monday, January 26. The WARN Act mandates that employers give their workers at least 60 days’ paid notice before completion of a major layoff action. The State law, which is enforced by Gov. Pritzker’s Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO), applies to layoffs of 75 or more employees at a single location or complex.