CORRUPTION
Mike Madigan, once Illinois’ most influential powerbroker, now faces federal corruption trial. The former Illinois house speaker quietly wielded power in Springfield for decades while developing a reputation as a reclusive political wizard, well-schooled in the playbook of the late Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley. His trial begins Tuesday at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse.
The FBI’s decadelong pursuit of one of the most dominant politicians in Illinois history led to bombshell indictments and shocking betrayals. It toppled the untouchable and changed the course of Chicago history.
But prosecutors still have one crucial task ahead of them: proving former Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan guilty of a racketeering conspiracy.
That work finally begins Tuesday, in the courtroom of U.S. District Judge John Blakey, where the once-powerful Southwest Side Democrat is expected to face a jury of fellow Illinois residents whose lives have all been affected by Madigan — whether they know it or not. […]
Facing trial alongside Madigan will be Michael McClain, Madigan’s longtime friend and confidant, who was among those convicted last year of scheming to bribe the speaker.
Madigan spent a record 36 years leading the Illinois House of Representatives, where he controlled legislation that shaped every facet of life across the state until he resigned in 2021.
The feds now say he led a criminal enterprise over nearly a decade, enhancing his political power and generating income for his allies and associates. McClain allegedly acted as an agent of the so-called “Madigan Enterprise,” making unlawful demands on the speaker’s behalf while trying to shield the speaker from criminal liability.
Read the rest of the Chicago Sun-Times article.
BUDGETS
CGFA report shows continued State revenue decline. The report, from the nonpartisan Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability (CGFA), is based on cash-flow numbers from the Illinois Department of Revenue (IDOR) and the departments that collect matching aid payments and other payments from the U.S. federal government. These departments reported a sharp decline in September 2024 income relative to the prior year. While in September 2023 the State took in $6,171 million for purposes of General Funds spending, in September 2024 the State took in only $5,514 million, signaling a decline of $657 million (down 10.6% year-over-year) in general funds receipts.
Two key lines of recurring income, which ought to show stability from the State’s point of view, demonstrated sharp declines in September 2025. Corporate income tax payments to the State dropped by $89 million in September 2024 relative to one year earlier. Sales tax payments dropped year-over-year by $45 million during the same period, signaling a sharp decline in Illinois purchases of taxable consumer goods such as motor vehicles and furniture. Continued economic worries among U.S. consumers could be having a negative effect on Illinois consumer buying decisions and sales tax payments.
Worries about the U.S. and global economies helped spur a recent interest rate cut carried out by the U.S. Federal Reserve. This rate cut may, or may not, re-spur the U.S. economy – but will also have secondary effects on other lines of State income and expenditure. For example, in September 2024 the amounts earned by Illinois as interest on our State’s funds and investments dropped year-over-year by $36 million. If interest rates are cut, the State of Illinois is likely to earn less in interest. This was yet another segment of the overall General Funds year-over-year decline for September 2024.
CHICAGO
Annual CGFA report shows worsening pension crisis in Chicago and Cook County. In a consolidated report that follows a structure mandated by the Illinois General Assembly, CGFA looked into the most recent year-end conditions of a list of non-State, locally operated and managed pension funds. Covered in this report are pensions that are owed, or will be owed (future liabilities) by funds connected to Illinois municipalities, Chicago, and Cook County.
A pension fund, to be healthy, ought to have actuarial assets that match and equal its actuarial liabilities. A professional financial planner needs to be able to show that the current money being invested by the fund will grow enough, over time, to match the amount of money that the fund expects to have to pay out when current vested employees retire. When this happens, the actuarial assets and the actuarial liabilities are in balance. The Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF), the retirement fund that covers employees of local governments other than Chicago and Cook County, currently enjoys a status that is almost in balance. The IMRF has actuarial assets of $52.1 billion and has actuarial liabilities of $53.1 billion. While the IMRF’s future assets fall $1 billion short of its future liabilities, this is a fund of significant size, and the missing money is only 2% of future liabilities.
By contrast, the actuarial deficits facing the pension funds operated under the auspices of Cook County and the City of Chicago create substantial and growing concerns for the taxpayers of these jurisdictions. As of FY 2022, the consolidated spreadsheet of all the City of Chicago-branded retirement systems showed numbers as follows:
- Actuarial assets: $27.3 billion
- Actuarial liabilities: $78.9 billion
- Unfunded liabilities: $51.6 billion
- Funded ratio: 34.6%
The Chicago pension funds have made contractual promises that total $78.9 billion during the life expectancy of eligible vested employees. Even if the trickle of moneys now in these funds were to be prudently invested over long periods of time, these moneys are only expected to cover 34.6% of these liabilities. The remaining percentage of these liabilities, 65.4%, constitute the unfunded liabilities of these pension funds as a group.
CGFA’s scrutiny and report indicates that in some cases tied to particular Chicago and Cook County workplaces and individualized pension funds, there are more retirees than people actively employed by the system connected with the fund. For example, many Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) employees are vested in the Chicago Transit Authority Retirement Fund. The CTA Retirement Fund currently has 7,409 active employees and has 8,128 employee annuitants. This means that the pension fund that pays retirement benefits to eligible workers on Chicago public CTA buses and public CTA electric trains has more pensioners than workers.
Many financial planners, looking at these figures, would project a significant degree of problems in the future.
ENERGY
LIHEAP program applications available now. The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) is available for income qualified households. This energy bill assistance program can assist with natural gas, propane, electricity bills and furnace assistance. Applications are open now through August 15, 2025, or until funds are exhausted.
LIHEAP provides one-time payments directly to energy service providers on behalf of recipients. While the amount of support varies based on the needs of individual families, last year over 333,000 households received LIHEAP with an average of over $724 per household.
Residents in need are urged to visit helpillinoisfamilies.com to get started or to visit their local agency (a list of partners throughout the state can be found here). Families can also call 1-833-711-0374 for assistance in 30 languages.
STATE PARKS
Shoreline-preservation project completed at Illinois Beach State Park. The project is expected to protect the natural Lake Michigan beaches that continue to exist along the 6.5-mile shoreline of this park. Natural lake erosion patterns cause parts of these Illinois beaches to build up while other sections erode and disappear. In addition, shoreline alterations along adjacent strips of the shore (especially to the north in Wisconsin) create unnatural lake currents that worsen erosion. Engineers and mapmakers have pointed to erosion patterns at the State Park that were chewing up to 100 feet of shoreline annually. These numbers were a warning that key sections of the park could disappear in the absence of remedial action.
In an extensive $73 million engineering project that began in 2023, Illinois has built structures intended to beat back Illinois Beach State Park erosion from the lake. The erosion control structures center on a north-to-south line of riprap breakwaters filled into offshore waters from a point starting at the northern tip of the park’s shoreline. In a series of precise stone dumps, 4,000 tons of riprap were used to build twenty-two State Park offshore “islands.” These boulder installations will act as barrier islands, quieting the waves that would otherwise pound onto the shore and suck beach sand out into the lake. In addition, 35,000 truckloads of sand replaced some of the lost beach space that had already been eroded away during recent storm seasons.
The Illinois Beach State Park project has received nationwide acclaim for its successful use of cutting-edge beach restoration technology. The project used concepts that are coming into use on saltwater coastline spaces on the Pacific Coast, and here on the Great Lakes.
FALL IN ILLINOIS
Illinois is the top pumpkin-producing state in the nation. When fall arrives and homes across America start filling with pumpkin pies and jack-o’-lanterns, chances are those pumpkins came from Illinois. Known as the nation’s pumpkin powerhouse, Illinois leads by a wide margin, producing over 650 million pounds of pumpkins annually. This accounts for nearly 40% of the entire U.S. pumpkin production, which is more than the next five states combined!
Much of this dominance is due to the rich soil and ideal growing conditions in central Illinois. The region boasts two major pumpkin processing plants, Nestle Libby in Morton—often called the “Pumpkin Capital of the World“—and Seneca Foods in Princeville. These plants process over 85% of the pumpkins used for canning across the U.S.
Beyond the well-known canned pumpkins, Illinois also produces plenty of decorative jack-o’-lantern pumpkins and sugar pumpkins, a sweeter variety commonly used in pies. Pumpkin patches across the state also offer visitors the chance to pick their own pumpkins directly from the fields, creating a fun fall tradition for many Illinois residents.
Morton, Illinois, home to the Libby’s plant, processes more than 90% of the nation’s canned pumpkins. These products end up in everything from pies to soups and even trendy pumpkin-flavored beverages. During peak season, the small town of Morton celebrates its annual Morton Pumpkin Festival, a tradition that dates back to 1967. With Illinois continuing to dominate this industry, its reputation as the “Pumpkin Capital of the World” remains well earned.