18 May 2026

With the Illinois Legislature’s May 31 Adjournment Looming, 2026 Looks to Be as Moribund as 2025

By Rich Miller

Every year when the Legislature arrives at mid-May, it’s always tempting to look around, see the absence of real bicameral movement on legislation, and conclude that nothing’s gonna happen in time for the scheduled May 31 adjournment. Succumbing to that temptation this year may not be a bad bet, but things can change. Right now, though, evidence of major movement is super-slim.

11 May 2026

That Sound of Loose Coins Jingling in Pant Pockets? It’s Illinois’ Tax Relief “Special Payment” for Home Owners.

By Rich Miller

Before the House passed the megaprojects bill last month, we were told that the drafters didn’t want to just do some symbolic or “token” property-tax relief. After the chamber passed the bill, we were told the property-tax component will provide meaningful statewide relief for home-owners.

04 May 2026

Illinois Progressives Ready to Play Actual Football If State Services Get Slashed Further

By Rich Miller

More than a year ago, the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget was projecting a $3.2 billion deficit for what is now the current fiscal year. Part of the problem was that existing revenues were flat while spending was growing, according to the budget office.

27 Apr 2026

Has Kam Buckner Secured a Solid Stadium Bill, or Has He Outkicked His Coverage?

By Rich Miller

“We’re almost there” on a Bears stadium bill, Representative Kam Buckner, D-Chicago, told some sports radio hosts on a Friday morning before the House returned to Springfield for three days of session last week. “We’re very close.”

20 Apr 2026

Assuming AI Didn’t Juke the Stats, the Illinois’d Want Data Centers That Don’t Leak Out

By Rich Miller

In a mid-March poll, 68 percent of likely Illinois voters said they would support legislation to “regulate data centers to minimize their impact on our utility bills, climate, and water while still allowing them to be built.” But while 21 percent percemt opposed the legislation, more than half of those opponents (56 percent) said they did so because they “oppose allowing data centers to be built at all.” That means 80 percent either want guardrails or oppose any new construction.

13 Apr 2026

April Is the Cruelest Month for Illinois’ Fiscal Health – Except Maybe Going Forward, for All the Others

By Rich Miller

State government revenues were up $1.571 billion at the end of the third quarter, according to the most recent report from the legislature’s bipartisan, bicameral Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability. The almost $1.6 billion in new revenues is an increase of 4.2 percent. The state budget was crafted last year with an expectation that revenues would rise just 2.3% for the full fiscal year, so that’s pretty darned good news.

06 Apr 2026

Sixty-Five Percent of Polled Illinoisians Want More Affordable Housing – and Don’t Call It “Granny Flats”

By Rich Miller

A YouGov poll conducted last month shows registered voters in Illinois overwhelmingly believe that the cost of renting and buying a home is a problem, think that there aren’t enough affordable homes for average folks and want the state Legislature to take action.

30 Mar 2026

Turn In, Tune Out, Drop On: The Illinois GOP Primary Election Strategy as Read by Timothy Leary

By Rich Miller

The trend in special elections around the country for the past several months has shown spiking Democratic voter turn-out and tanking Republican turn-out. And some preliminary primary election results from earlier this month show the same trend here.

23 Mar 2026

Juliana Stratton and Josh Higgins Both Pulled Low(ish) Cards, but They Played Them and Won

By Rich Miller

One of the biggest stories to come out of election day was that several candidates with the most money came up short.

16 Mar 2026

This Election Cycle, Independent Money Is Plentiful, the Messaging Positive, and the Fear of Upset Pervasive

By Rich Miller

Independent-campaign expenditures have skyrocketed this year in state legislative races. All of these numbers were current as of Friday, at 4:20 p.m., when I finished writing this column.

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