Capital Facts

Bears stadium saga not done yet

Published by admin on Sun, 06/07/2026 - 1:29pm

Six days before the last day of the spring state legislative session, Sen. Bill Cunningham (D-Chicago) gave me two big reasons why it was so difficult to push a Bears stadium bill across the finish line.
Cunningham, as you know, is the chief sponsor of the Senate’s Bears bill.
Every stadium-related legislation passed in Illinois included the Chicago mayor and the Illinois governor pulling in the same direction. This time, that didn’t happen;

Bears ‘study’ makes me cringe

Published by admin on Sat, 05/30/2026 - 9:07am

Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas released a “study” last week about the state megaprojects proposal including a new Bears stadium complex that was mostly uncritically received by local news media. But it’s not her best work, to say the least.
OK, before we go any further I should say I find corporate tax breaks distasteful and even sometimes counterproductive. I have no official or personal position on a deal to move the Chicago Bears to Arlington Heights (except for my personal hatred of Indiana). It’s just that “studies” like this make me cringe.

Legislators oppose Gov. Pritzker’s budget cuts

Published by admin on Sat, 05/23/2026 - 10:41am

In response to a question last week from my associate Isabel Miller, Gov. JB Pritzker said he didn’t think a group of progressive legislators could pass their progressive revenue bills through both chambers by the end of the spring session.
“They've been working very hard on getting something done,” Pritzker said of the bicameral progressive effort to at least raise enough money to prevent the governor’s proposed budget cuts to a host of state programs.

Big issues have stalled in Springfield

Published by admin on Sat, 05/16/2026 - 3:03pm

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.

New tax increases keeping state afloat

Published by admin on Sun, 05/03/2026 - 6:29pm

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.
This is a recurring problem in Illinois. The previous fiscal year’s projections were also astonishingly poor. The Chicago-based Civic Federation issued a report last week that delves a bit deeper into why it is a recurring problem.

There’s still work to do on the Bears bill

Published by admin on Sat, 04/25/2026 - 3:38pm

“We're almost there” on a Bears stadium bill, Rep. Kam Buckner (D-Chicago) told some sports radio hosts on a Friday morning before theHouse returned to Springfield for three days of session last week.“We're very close.”
Asked if the rumor spread by sports business pundit Marc Ganis earlier that week was true about House Speaker Chris Welch holding up the Bears bill, Buckner, the House's point person on the state megaprojects bill that includes the Arlington Heights Bears stadium complex, flatly denied it.

Poll: Illinoisans want real regulation for data centers

Published by admin on Sun, 04/19/2026 - 10:29am

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 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.

It’s too volatile to know what to expect

Published by admin on Sun, 04/12/2026 - 4:37pm

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 percent for the full fiscal year, so that’s pretty darned good news.

Poll: Affordable housing is a major problem

Published by admin on Sat, 04/04/2026 - 12:16pm

A YouGov poll conducted last month shows Illinois registered voters overwhelmingly believe that the cost of renting and buying a home is a problem in Illinois, think that there aren’t enough affordable homes for average folks and want the state legislature to take action.
The poll of 806 Illinois registered voters was taken March 1-9 and has a margin of error of +/-3.8 percent. The survey was conducted on behalf of YIMBY Illinois, a nonprofit which “advocates for abundant housing and sustainable, inclusive cities throughout Illinois.”

Republican voters missing at the polls

Published by admin on Sun, 03/29/2026 - 2:22pm

The trend in special elections around the country for the past several months has shown spiking Democratic voter turnout and tanking Republican turnout. And some preliminary primary election results from earlier this month show the same trend here.
What follows is a quick look at governor’s race turnout in the state’s five most populous counties. Not all votes were counted when I wrote this, so the numbers are accurate as of early March 27th. But the final count will be very close to what I have here.