The last time a sitting Illinois Republican congressperson faced a real primary challenge from a non-incumbent was more than seven years ago, when then-state Senator Kyle McCarter (R-Lebanon) challenged US Representative John Shimkus (R-Collinsville). Even so, nobody really thought McCarter had much of a chance, and, as expected, he ended up losing to Shimkus by more than 20 points. We’ve seen reapportionment-related GOP primaries between congressional incumbents - the most recent being U.S. Representative Rodney Davis’s 2022 crushing loss to fellow U.S. Representative Mary Miller (no relation) - but serious challenges of sitting Republican US Representatives are otherwise fairly rare here.

Back in May, Governor JB Pritzker told reporters that his administration had given lawmakers seven options to rein in costs of a health-care program for undocumented immigrants, which was growing well beyond affordability.

Back in February, the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago proposed some sweeping revenue changes designed to significantly boost the state’s credit rating to “AA” over time and help accelerate the state’s pension payments to bring down its huge, unfunded liabilities. The group’s proposals were striking because their members are some of the wealthiest people in the state. In the country, even.

House and Senate Republicans claimed during budget-related floor debate last week that the super-majority Democrats had masked the true size of their plan by delaying the start of some spending until the second half of the upcoming fiscal year. Yes and no. Republicans pointed to the $317 million cost of increasing Medicaid provider reimbursement rates, including for hospitals. But that new spending doesn’t begin until January 1, the halfway point in the 2024 fiscal year, which begins July 1.