AROUND THE DISTRICT
I was honored to visit Heartland Community College’s Normal campus this week to enjoy the President’s breakfast and presentation in the Agriculture Complex.
Dean of Health Sciences, Kelly Pyle, shared HCC’s incredible plans for the future of the Health Sciences programs.
CONSUMER SAFETY
A new study from the Better Business Bureau reports investment scams are on the rise, especially cryptocurrency and romance scams.
ROUTE 66
In celebration of the historic highway’s 100th anniversary in 2026, the Illinois State Museum is collecting stories from individuals who experienced the Illinois leg of the original Route 66.
The Caucus Blog of the Illinois House Republicans: Did you get your kicks on Route 66?
BUDGET
General Assembly monitor reports largely flat State revenues in August 2024. The monthly report tracks State general funds revenues, equivalent to inflows into the State’s overall ‘checking account.’ Money coming into Springfield-based general funds totaled $3,485 million in August 2024, up only $50 million (1.5%) from the $3,435 million in equivalent State revenues enjoyed in the year-earlier period, August 2023. This 1.5% increase concealed a decline in real State income during this 31-day period, as 2023-2024 inflation has caused the prices of goods and services to rise faster than 1.5%.
August 2024 State general funds income was held back by a slight fall in personal income tax receipts, with this key State revenue cash flow dropping $54 million from August 2023 to August 2024. While some other State revenue sources showed slight increases, this key area of relative weakness held back the consolidated bottom-line number for all State revenues.
Most Illinois personal income tax cash flow is funneled to Springfield through automatic deductions from paychecks paid to employed Illinois residents, and this cash flow is heavily dependent on the overall employment picture in Illinois. During a comparable 12-month period starting in July 2023 and ending in July 2024, Illinois unemployment has gone up from 4.4% in July 2023 to 5.2% in July 2024. This increase in Illinois joblessness, of 80 basis points, could be affecting cash flow into the Illinois personal income tax top line.
Sums of Money paid in income tax go to the Illinois Department of Revenue (IDOR), which reports their monthly revenue numbers to the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability (CGFA), the nonpartisan budget monitoring arm of the Illinois General Assembly. As the State of Illinois’s independent fiscal watchdog agency, CGFA monitors monthly general funds revenue trends in Springfield.
FINANCIAL BURDEN
As the economic landscape in Illinois becomes increasingly challenging, small businesses – particularly manufacturers – are finding it more difficult to thrive. The phenomenon of “stacked costs” has become a significant hurdle, imposing financial burdens that stifle growth, innovation, and job creation.
As a result, Illinois manufacturers are seeing a decline in output and orders, layoffs are becoming a norm, and plants are closing and going out of business.
Op-Ed: The burden of stacked costs on Illinois manufacturers | Opinion | thecentersquare.com
JOBS
Progress towards startup of a new Central Illinois school focusing on the building trades. The San Damiano College for the Trades will provide adult-level education aimed at skilled-trades career pathways. The College will focus on carpentry, plumbing, and electrical contracting, which will be taught through a Catholic framework that will concentrate on the future of households and families in Illinois. The current scheduled operational startup date is the fall of 2025.
The San Damiano College will be located on a repurposed footprint on the grounds of the Hospital Sisters of St. Francis near Springfield, Illinois. The location will continue and step up the Catholic educational heritage of its predecessors, with the goal of enabling the formation of adults with strong, family-oriented values. It will be geared towards young male applicants. Together with hands-on training in the building trades, the new College plans to offer coursework that will be oriented towards the awarding of associate’s degrees to student learners.
AGRICULTURE
The Illinois Department of Agriculture will distribute nearly $525,000 in federal funding over a three-year period to support the state’s specialty crop industry.
IDOA to Distribute Federal Funding to Fortify Illinois’ Specialty Crop Industry – Morning Ag Clips
MONARCH BUTTERFLY
The monarch butterfly is on the watch list for becoming an endangered species. Here’s how you can help monarchs and other pollinators in Illinois.
Monarch sightings vary across Illinois | General | farmweeknow.com