.png)
Democrats Want to Tax Your Campfires. When it comes to staying warm and enjoying time outdoors, Illinois House Democrats seem determined to make it as expensive as possible. First came their massive energy rate hike last fall. Now, Representative Murri Briel and House Democrats are proposing legislation that would allow municipalities to charge a fee just for lighting a campfire.
House Bill 4459 would open the door for local governments to impose a $5 charge on open burns, including campfires. For families, campers, and anyone simply trying to enjoy the outdoors, this is effectively another tax on everyday life.
For a party that claims to be fighting for affordability, it’s fair to ask: how does taxing campfires accomplish that? The answer is simple. It doesn’t. This is just the latest example of Democrats driving up the cost of living for Illinois families.
Their record speaks for itself:
o Passed an $8 billion energy rate hike to subsidize unreliable green energy.
o Approved a transit bailout that allows for toll increases and higher RTA sales taxes.
o Enacted the largest budget in state history, relying on $700 million in new taxes.
For Illinois Democrats, if families enjoy it, they will find a way to tax it. Whether it’s energy, transportation, or now even a campfire, their approach continues to make Illinois less affordable.
House Republicans remain committed this legislative session to real solutions that address affordability by reining in spending, cutting taxes, and opposing unnecessary taxes and fees like the campfire tax. Illinois families deserve relief, not another bill to pay.
With Bag Tax, Democrats Keep Raising the Cost of Living
Democratic State Representative Laura Faver Dias has filed a bill to bring back the Democrats’ proposed bag tax, just another example of their push to raise the cost of living on Illinois families.
As more legislation is introduced, it’s becoming clear that Democrats’ agenda for the 2026 session is to make everyday life even more expensive. Under Faver Dias’ proposal, a new carryout bag tax would be imposed and then increased by five cents each year through 2030. The tax would apply to paper, plastic, and even reusable bags.
Bag fee schedule:
o 10 cents per carryout bag starting January 1, 2027
o 15 cents in 2028
o 20 cents in 2029
o 25 cents in 2030
As if working families weren’t already feeling the squeeze, this is just the latest example of policies that drive up costs. And it comes on the heels of another Democrat proposal that would charge families a fee just to light a campfire.
And let’s not forget, Democrats have already:
o Imposed an $8 billion energy rate hike last fall
o Passed the largest budget in state history, packed with tax and fee increases
o Made Illinois one of the most expensive states in the country
Just last month, Speaker Welch claimed Democrats were fighting for affordability. But based on the bills they’ve filed so far, it’s clear they’re doing the exact opposite.
House Republicans have continued to call for lowering the cost of living and reining in out-of-control spending. We have filed numerous bills to help working families, including Representative Spain’s HB 1383 to eliminate taxes on tips.
BUDGET
CGFA reports mixed revenue picture for January 2026. The Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability (CGFA), a nonpartisan economic and fiscal office within the General Assembly, continuously monitors trends in Illinois tax revenues. This duty is part of the constitutional requirement imposed on the General Assembly to enact an annual balanced budget. The CGFA report that comes out soon after the end of January in every calendar year is of special importance, because it is the final monthly report to be released prior to the public release of the Governor’s proposed annual budget for the next fiscal year. Gov. Pritzker will deliver his annual budget address on Wednesday, Feb. 18.
The CGFA revenue report for January 2026 presents a mixed picture for Springfield. Counted on the basis of the year-over-year numbers used by economic analysts and accountancy professionals to prevent nonstatistical fluctuations, Illinois’ general revenue numbers continued to show a slight increase in January 2026. Up by 1.8% from the year earlier were key revenue numbers representing taxes paid by Illinois taxpayers, including income tax, sales tax, and estate taxation. The 1.8% increase meant that “in-house” Illinois general revenues reported by the Department of Revenue (IDOR) and other State agencies were up by $82 million, from $4,664 billion in January 2025 to $4,746 billion in January 2026.
However, a troubling sign appeared in funds sent to Illinois from the federal government. This cash flow dropped sharply in January 2026 compared to one year earlier, down $169 million from $473 million to $304 million. These federal aid payments help cover the cost of major intergovernmental programs such as Medicaid, food assistance/SNAP, and education.
The federal government has begun to implement a wide variety of compliance programs intended to sharply reduce, and eventually stamp out, various examples of fraud and abuse in social welfare programs. Washington, D.C. is asking Illinois to do various things to reduce unneeded social spending. These requests include (a) a strong push towards food stamp/SNAP eligibility oversight, (b) reduced Medicaid eligibility for persons who are physically able to seek employment but are not doing so, and (c) scrutiny of school aid transmitted to state education departments and school systems that are characterized by the presence of substantial numbers of students that are non-legal residents of the United States.
As of February 2026, many of these federal efforts are facing only partial compliance, or non-compliance, from the Pritzker administration. The federal government has described itself as taking various actions against non-compliant states, including Illinois. The current sharp drop in federal payments to Illinois’ state government could be a sign of the current status of this interrelationship and hostile impasse.
Illinois taxpayers are aware that current State law requires these programs to go on even if they are not getting expected money from Washington, D.C. This could become another facet of the major “budget gap” that Springfield will soon present to Illinois taxpayers for budgetary Fiscal Year 2027, the twelve-month period that is set to start on July 1, 2026.
CHICAGO BEARS
The Chicago Bears are eyeing a move to Indiana. Since 1921, the Chicago Bears have played football in the city of Chicago. This could, however, soon change. A bill to set up and subsidize the construction of an NFL stadium in Northwest Indiana is moving rapidly through key stages of legislative approval in Indianapolis.
The “Indiana Bears” bill, already passed by the state Senate, is now being sponsored by the Speaker of the Indiana House of Representatives. Insider Indiana Business sees the speaker’s sponsorship as a sign that enactment of the bill could be imminent. Passage of the bill in Indianapolis would be a powerful incentive to Chicago Bears ownership to move away from their current ties to Illinois.
Chicago Bears ownership, which continues to be concentrated in the McCaskey family, has made no secret of its desire to move out of historic Soldier Field. Almost as old as the Chicago Bears themselves (it opened in October 1924), the Chicago lakefront stadium no longer conforms to current National Football League and global mega-arena standards. The Bears have purchased property in Arlington Heights, Illinois, to build a new stadium, but the State of Illinois has so far been reluctant to assist with this effort. Some units of local governments and education are also expressing concerns about the initiative.
The state of Indiana has a long record that trends toward the aggressive pursuit of sports teams and construction of sports infrastructure. If they move, the Bears would be hosted by the proposed new Northwest Indiana Stadium Authority, which would be based in the Lake County, Indiana area. The legal language to create and operate the new NW Indiana Stadium Authority contains organizational elements that track the existing Indiana Stadium and Convention Building Authority, an operating football stadium authority in Indianapolis. After the Indiana Convention Center built the Hoosier Dome in 1984, the historic Colts NFL franchise moved from Baltimore to Indianapolis in March 1984. The Indiana Stadium and Convention Building Authority has since built Lucas Oil Stadium (2008) to house the team.
EDUCATION
Illinois Must Make School Choice a Reality. As school choice continues to be stifled in Illinois, House Minority Leader Tony McCombie has made strides to advocate for Illinois families and work with the federal government to make it a reality.
Last summer, Leader McCombie wrote a letter to congressional leadership in support of the federal Educational Choice for Children Act saying, “I believe our best foot forward is to empower parents to choose the learning environments that best meets their children’s individual needs. Regardless of funding debates, we must recognize that traditional public schools cannot be the only option available to families, particularly in underserved communities.”
She has gone a step further to file legislation in the Illinois House to hit her priority home. Her two bills include:
HB 4098: requires the State Board of Education to create a list of scholarship organizations that meet the requirements of Section 70411 of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act to facilitate opting the State of Illinois into the school choice tax credit provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
HB 4099: requires the State Board to create a list of scholarship organizations and grants the State Board the authority to transmit the list to the federal government to opt Illinois organizations into the federal tax credit.
The Educational Choice for Children Act, signed into law by President Donald Trump on July 2, 2025, creates a federal tax credit for donations to approved scholarship organizations– which include funds for tutoring, fees for enrollment, educational therapies for students and other academic programs. For Illinois to take advantage of this tax credit, the state must opt-in to allow its students to accept the donations. The state, under direction from Governor Pritzker, has failed to do so.
According to a report by the Illinois Policy Institute, while at least 28 other states benefit from this tax credit, Illinois does not. Further, Governor JB Pritzker has until January 1, 2027 to opt-in to this credit.
Rep. Ugaste Calls on Governor Pritzker to Opt In to Federal Tax Credit Scholarship Program
It is time for Illinois to again put our children first! We need to opt in to the federal scholarship program. The program is funded entirely through a federal tax credit; and the framework allows for donations to support tutoring, after-school programs, and other educational expenses for public school families. Every state has the option to opt in, and the decision in Illinois belongs to Governor Pritzker.
This is a no-brainer, Governor. Students of both public and private schools can benefit. Politics or disagreements with the federal government should have no bearing on whether or not we help students succeed. Nothing is more important than our children and their futures.
If Governor Pritzker doesn’t opt in to help Illinois families, the benefits our kids could have will just go elsewhere.
Learn more here: Opinion: Gov. JB Pritzker shouldn’t block free help for students
JOBS
Year-to-year unemployment rate increased in 11 of Illinois’ 12 metro areas. From December 2024 to December 2025, Illinois’ overall unemployment rate rose from 4.3% to 4.8% when counted by metro area. This increase hit every metro area except Chicago, where the non-farm unemployment rate remained steady at 4.4%. All other regions of Illinois, including Lake County, Elgin/Kane County and nine large Downstate Illinois metro areas, showed jobless increases of 1.1% or more in 2025. The published numbers for December 2025 signaled a possible return to recession-level jobless numbers in Kankakee (6.7% unemployment), Decatur (6.6%), Rockford (6.2%) and the Quad Cities (6.1%).
While the metro Chicago area, centered on Cook and adjacent DuPage County, created an estimated 28,800 net new payroll jobs in 2025, every other region of Illinois lost jobs during the same period. For example, there was a net loss of 3,000 jobs in Metro Peoria, the largest Illinois metro area between greater Chicago and eastern St. Louis. Peoria, with its historic worker connection to construction machinery and off-road vehicles, was also affected by changes in U.S and global manufacturing patterns.
PENSIONS
Illinois’ pension systems are running a staggering $140 billion deficit. The State of Illinois operates five “state-managed” pensions systems that provide defined pension benefits to a wide variety of public-sector employees. Beneficiaries include public school teachers and educators, State government workers, State university educators, judges, and members of the Illinois General Assembly. Because these are contractual obligations of the State, professional actuaries can look at the age profiles of the future beneficiaries and develop relatively close estimates of how much money will be paid to them, as a group, in between their retirements and their deaths.
House Republican Rep. Steve Reick in one of the people who have done these calculations. He has found that for these five systems, this calculation generates a high-quality estimate of a deficit of $140 billion. Different actuarial assumptions can, for the same population, generate projected State deficits of $200 billion or more. In any case, this “pension gap” is creating massive additional woes for Illinois’ troubled credit rating and for the burdens faced by Illinois taxpayers as they try to fill this gap.
This week, Gov. JB Pritzker asked the State to extend the State’s pension buyout program. In this program, persons with vested pension status are asked to consider accepting an immediate lump sum in lieu of future pension payments. Pritzker also suggested the State could use money from the Income Tax Refund Fund for pension commitments.