For Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, “Turn out the lights, the party’s over.” That’s particularly embarrassing for her because a sitting mayor is supposed to be reelected. She failed to impress voters, yet announced that Chicago moved forward during her term. Voters disagreed. Opponents pointed out the rise in crime and a consistently divisive leadership style. So who is next up?

When the Equitable Restrooms bill was introduced in Springfield, a familiar pattern started to emerge. As IFI readers know, HB1286 legalizes “all-gender, multiple-occupancy restrooms” in sporting complexes, stadiums, entertainment centers, conference centers, and other big venues in Illinois. Yes, “all-gender” is just what it sounds like – males and females using the same multiple-occupancy restroom at the same time, anytime. There are urinals and stalls and partitions.

The Springfield Capitol is teeming with activity. Some of the bills we notified you about last week have not yet been called. There is still time to file witness slips on some of them. They are listed at the end.

Dozens of government schools across Illinois have been unable to produce even one single student proficient in reading or math, according to new data from the Illinois State Board of Education. In hundreds of schools across the state, just 10 percent of children are proficient in the basics. And it is getting worse.

With the vast number of books, movies, and songs written commiserating the consequences of bad choices (which would include most every Country and Western song written), one would think that young Americans would not need to be told to think carefully about their choices in life.  A popular British band sang, “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” not that long ago, but America’s youth apparently never got the memo! 

U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) recently introduced H.R. 128, also known as the Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2023, to the U.S. House of Representatives. This proposal would restrict the federal funds Planned Parenthood receives for abortion (except in cases of rape or incest or danger to the woman’s life) for one year to redirect $235 million toward community health centers. Currently, 40 representatives have cosponsored the bill.

According to Plato the two most important questions for society is who will teach the children and what is taught to them. That was true 2,500 years ago and it is still true today. Sadly, today there simply is no agreement on who teaches the children and nothing but confusion and wildly different positions on what should be taught. Therein lies the greatest threat to children in our modern age.

To help you and your neighbors navigate this critical election, IFI has put together a list of 10 questions for school board candidates. We need your help to get them into the hands of the candidates and then out to voters. You can send these questionnaires to candidates via Facebook messenger, email or contact them by another means and ask them to answer and return the questionnaire.     

State Representative Mary Beth Canty (D-Arlington Heights) is working to expand the state's compulsory school attendance laws in order to capture the hearts and minds of innocent and impressionable children. The bill she has sponsored is HB 3143.

By definition, obstetric and other perinatal care providers always have two patients: a mother and her unborn baby. Both parties are considered equal in value and worthy of the full attention and effort of the provider, and in no case are they viewed as set against one another... But as the pro-abortion lobby in Illinois has grown bolder and more desperate, especially considering last year’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, there is now an expectation that a growing number of perinatal healthcare providers should be permitted to destroy the very lives they have been trained to guard.