By TIM DREA President, Illinois AFL-CIO Labor Day is more than a holiday. It’s a reminder that every workplace protection, every step toward fair wages, and every safety standard we enjoy today was fought for by generations of working people. And it’s a time to remember that those gains are never permanent unless we defend…
By MATT TOMC Vice President – Regulatory Policy and Electric Supply Ameren Illinois This spring, we began notifying our customers about an increase in the price of electricity and the projected impact on summer energy bills. The price of electric supply spiked because there is not enough surplus generation available to meet demand in the…
By KELLY BOMBARDIERE Launched nationally in July 2022, 988 is the three-digit dialing code for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, created to provide an easier, more accessible way for people experiencing emotional distress to get help. Since its launch three years ago, the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline has connected millions of Americans in distress…
By DAVID J. BOBB, Ph.D. Business leaders understand that possessing the technical skill to perform a job is only one element of career success. Employers increasingly value soft or “durable” skills, like communicating effectively, thinking critically, working through disagreement, and collaborating in a group. But evidence is mounting that many members of Generation Z –…
By JUSTIN WARD President, Illinois Healthy Alternatives Association Imagine if a single law could wipe out years of progress in a federally legal industry. That’s the threat facing Illinois’ hemp producers and retailers today. Hemp isn’t a loophole — it’s a lifeline for small businesses and communities. Policies must support innovation and safety, not criminalization.…
By ILLINOIS SENATOR ERICA HARRISS (R-56th-Glen Carbon) In Illinois, families shouldn’t have to choose between putting food on the table and filling a prescription. Yet every day, that’s exactly the choice too many parents, grandparents, and caregivers are forced to make. Not because they’ve done anything wrong, but because a powerful, hidden middleman known as Pharmacy…
By REP. ADAM NIEMERG (R-Dieterich) Illinois families and small businesses are opening their electric bills in shock—some reaching $4,500 a month. These skyrocketing costs are unsustainable and will soon be passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices on everyday goods and services. Constituents contact my office daily, desperate for answers. Their question…
By DENNIS GRUBAUGH In this, the summer of entitlement anniversaries, we say happy birthday to Social Security and Medicare. One of the institutions turns 90 and the other celebrates 60. In essence, the agencies serving the needs of older people are themselves officially old age. The question is, how many years do either of them…
There’s a movement happening quietly, emotionally, almost desperately. I call it The Great Unplug. For Gen Z, the Zoomers, raised on swipe screens and cloud-based everything, ownership is virtual and fleeting. Their books? In the cloud. Their music? Streamed. Their social lives? Curated, filtered, and timestamped. They don’t collect things, because they were never taught…
By LAURA MINZER, president Illinois Life & Health Insurance Council Illinois is known for many things: its hardworking people, dynamic urban center, rich farmland, and robust manufacturing base. But quietly and powerfully, the insurance industry has emerged as one of the state’s most significant economic engines. It provides more than just peace of mind in…