(SPRINGFIELD) The group “Judicial Watch” is calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse federal court rulings that upheld Illinois’ law allowing mail-in ballots to be counted for 14 days after Election Day. The Illinois election integrity group says that in a split decision, a Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found that U.S. Representative Mike Bost of Murphysboro had no standing to challenge the provision. But now, the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled in a separate Judicial Watch lawsuit that counting ballots received after Election Day is unlawful. Officials say a separate case in Mississippi might just boost the chances that the U.S. Supreme Court will eventually review the Illinois case.
(SPRINGFIELD) A new study, that the authors say in intended to enable policymakers, taxpayers, and business leaders to gauge how their states’ tax systems compare, gives Illinois a poor ranking overall. The Tax Foundation has released its annual State Tax Competitiveness Index, which compares each state on more than 150 variables in five areas of taxation, including corporate taxes, individual income taxes, sales & excise taxes, wealth & property taxes, and unemployment insurance taxes. Illinois ranked 37th overall and near the bottom in the corporate, unemployment insurance, and property tax categories. While New York & New Jersey are the two worst states, the top two are Wyoming & South Dakota.
(BLOOMINGTON) The cost of a 2024 Thanksgiving dinner has declined for a second year in a row, but remains nearly 20% higher than five years ago, that’s according to the American Farm Bureau Federation’s annual survey. The average cost this year for a classic holiday feast for ten people, is at $58.08, or about $5.80 per person. While the meal list includes turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, rolls, peas, cranberries, a veggie tray, and pumpkin pie with whipped cream, most ingredients saw a decline in prices from last year. Cranberries saw the largest price increase, up 12% from a year ago, while stuffing and rolls are up about 8% due mostly to transportation costs. As the cost of whole milk dropped more than 14%, the cost of the turkey is down 6% from last year. And by the way, if you’re wondering, on average, 9.3 cents of every dollar spent on food goes back to the farmer producing it.