I’m assuming you’ve already seen coverage of the Democratic Texas state legislators who fled to Illinois to prevent a Republican-backed redrawing of congressional district lines in their home state. Their absence means their Legislature doesn’t have enough members to legally conduct business.

The Taxpayers’ Federation of Illinois and the Regional Transportation Authority agree that a change to Illinois’ sales-tax law will net the RTA an additional $150 million this year and another $225 million next year. That money will drastically reduce the impact of the looming $770 million “fiscal cliff,” which begins in January.

The costs to Illinois’ government because of the new Republican congressional budget-reconciliation law will be steep. However, the state has some time to prepare itself, and possible Democratic gains in the U.S. House and Senate next year might be able to reverse or mitigate some of the steepest cuts to food-security and health-care programs before the vast majority of them take effect after the 2026 elections.

I reached out last week to several members of the “19” – the Democratic House members who refused to vote to re-elect House Speaker Michael Madigan in 2021, thereby forcing him into retirement. I asked for their reaction to Madigan’s 90-month federal prison sentence handed down a few days earlier. Because it was a holiday (Father’s Day), I didn’t expect to hear much back.