Last year, Illinois farmers raised almost 649 million bushels of soybeans, a slight decrease from the previous year, making Illinois the top soybean-producing state. However, the state fell to second in corn production last year, losing to the nearby state of Iowa. The 43,000 soybean farmers […]
The Army Corps of Engineers is taking further efforts to stop the spread of invasive carp in Illinois waterways and lakes. The Brandon Road Interbasin Project is designed to prevent invasive carp from leaving the Illinois and Des Plaines Rivers and moving into Lake Michigan and […]
A new bill introduced by Illinois Senate Republicans aims to prevent potentially hostile entities of the United States from buying up farmland for potentially nefarious purposes. Senate Bill 2668 looks to address fears about the dangers of Illinois land being sold to individuals and organizations from […]
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Illinois Department of Revenue (IDOR) announced that they will begin accepting 2023 tax returns on January 29, 2024. Illinois residents can file state returns for free online through the MyTax Illinois website. IDOR is expecting more than 6.2 million individual […]
This week, Illinois Senate Republican Leader John Curran (R-Downers Grove) outlined Gov. Pritzker’s efforts to turn Illinois into a noncitizen welfare state in his op-ed, Gov. J.B. Pritzker invited, then mismanaged Illinois’ migrant crisis, printed in the Chicago Tribune.“Some crises are unexpected. Others, such as Gov. […]
In the early summer of 2023, under pressure from the Illinois Legislature, Gov. JB Pritzker promised to implement mandatory co-pays for undocumented immigrants receiving otherwise free healthcare in Illinois. However, his Administration quickly put the plan on hold, allowing undocumented noncitizens enrolled in the program to […]
Continuing upon her desire to gather input from parents, educators, and mental health professionals throughout the state regarding her “Safe Screens, Healthy Minds” initiative, Senate Minority Deputy Leader Sue Rezin (R-Morris) has announced two new locations and dates for her roundtable series, as well as the […]
The Illinois Department of Agriculture is working to give the middle sections of the food supply chain a boost, designating $6.4 million to go to Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure (RFSI) grants. This allocation will go toward the post-harvest, pre-retail sale level of the food supply chain. […]
Senate Bill 1623 established the Illinois Underground Railroad Task Force last year to create a cohesive history of the Illinois portion of the Underground Railroad. This task force includes members from the Illinois State Historical Society, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, and several lawmakers. The […]
News deserts are a growing issue throughout much of the state. More than a third of Illinois’ 102 counties rely on a single source for their news. This was part of the findings from a state task force created to study the decline of local news […]