Rich Miller

The announcement last week that the Illinois AFL-CIO was withdrawing from the “agreed bill process” at least 40 years after its inception took almost everyone by surprise, but nobody was really shocked.

The goal of the majority of Democrats has always been to have support from unions and the major environmental groups when it comes to big energy bills.

Jim Edgar ran a brilliant campaign for governor in 1990. He set the template for every winning statewide race since then by focusing on the importance of independent suburban women.

It’s always been difficult to see how either Pritzker or Trump could negotiate in this environment. They both clearly want capitulation and they both say they believe that they are the true patriots.

A lawsuit filed by House and Senate Republicans was recently tossed out by Sangamon County Circuit Court Judge Jack Davis, II. The suit sought to strike down a new law backed by trial lawyers (Senate Bill 328). The Republicans say they will appeal.

The breadth of invited attendees at the event organized last week by Gov. JB Pritzker really stood out.

Opinion from Rich Miller: What the Chicago Teachers Union really wants is an immense expansion of the state tax base

Like every Democratic governor, Gov. JB Pritzker needs his party to win back the U.S. House next year to prevent further fiscal damage to his state (among many, many other things). Hence, his intense attention to Texas attempting to pick up five seats with an intercensus remap.

The statewide ticket recently endorsed by the Cook County Democratic Party is overwhelmingly made up of white Chicagoans, with two Black Chicagoans and no Latinos or Asian Americans.

Illinois’ transit funding crisis is being reshaped by a sales tax windfall, sparking debate over whether the Regional Transportation Authority should spend the unexpected $150 million now or wait for legislative reforms.

The costs to Illinois’ government because of the new Republican congressional budget reconciliation law will be steep.

Once a brash young political outsider dubbed “The Chosen One” for his rapid rise under Toni Preckwinkle, Christian Mitchell now returns to the spotlight as Gov. Pritzker’s running mate –battle-tested, bridge-building and still fiercely ambitious.

More legislators than you may realize have received credible threats of violence or have been stalked. Most refuse to talk about it for the record, but those shootings showed what could’ve happened to them and what still may happen in the future.

Human beings tend to wait until the last minute to do things. But the leaders need to start enforcing earlier deadlines for giant issues like this energy proposal so they can deal with other time-sensitive things (the budget and revenues, for instance) at the end.

For quite a while now, most folks in politics have assumed that Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias and Comptroller Susana Mendoza will probably run for mayor of Chicago in 2027.