Wednesday, July 2, 2025
The Mendota Reporter • A1
VOLUME 147, NUMBER 27
ONE DOLLAR, 25 CENTS
WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2025
Illinois gas tax increases to JB Pritzker running for term; running mate 48.3 cents per gallon as of July 1 3rd is not yet announced q Illinois remains among nation’s most heavily taxed states at the pump
q Gov. says he has unfinished business
By CATRINA BARKER The Center Square SPRINGFIELD – Illinois drivers face another gas tax hike as of July 1, despite already paying the nation’s second-highest rates. Illinois drivers now see the state gas tax rise to 48.3 cents per gallon – up 1.3 cents from last year – as part of an automatic inflation adjustment that keeps Illinois among the nation’s most heavily taxed states at the pump. Supporters say it’s needed for infrastructure, but critics argue it burdens consumers, drives business out of state, and hasn’t improved roads. Illinois Policy’s Dylan Sharkey says the state collects $6 billion a year for transportation, yet roads show little improvement. “The U.S. Department of Transportation grades the percentage of roads in each state under acceptable conditions, and in Illinois, those numbers haven’t gone up in six or seven years,” said Sharkey. Nate Harris, CEO of the Illinois Fuel and Retail Association, says the average consumer doesn’t realize how much of their fuel cost is taxes and fees. “With state, county, local, environmental and other taxes and fees, Illinois is second behind only California in cost to the consumer,” said Harris. Sharkey said a natural way to boost road funding would be to attract more drivers to Illinois. “Out-migration, Illinoisans choosing to live some-
By JIM TALAMONTI The Center Square CHICAGO – Gov. J.B. Pritzker says he will continue the fight as a happy warrior as he seeks a third term as Illinois governor. Pritzker made the announcement June 26 at the same Chicago Park District fieldhouse where he launched his first campaign eight years ago. The governor said he has unfinished business. “We’ve got to keep moving toward credit upgrades in our state, and we’ve got to make sure we’re funding K-12 education,” Pritzker said. The governor discussed his values Pritzker and accomplishments as he addressed supporters and fellow Illinois Democrats. The governor said he preferred optimism and criticized those who talked in negative terms about Illinois. As his speech shifted from state to national politics, Pritzker criticized President Donald Trump, calling him a “megalomaniac narcissist” and referred to congressional Republicans as a “malignant clown car.” Former Republican candidate for lieutenant governor Stephanie Trussell is running for the Illinois House seat currently held by state Rep. Terra Costa Howard, D-Glen Ellyn. Trussell pointed to the governor’s record during his first two terms. “Let’s talk about losing a congressional seat. Numbers don’t lie. People are fleeing Illinois. Let’s talk about all the major corporations that have moved their headquarters or much of their operations to other states that are friendlier to businesses,” Trussell told The Center Square. When pressed by reporters, Pritzker would not promise that he would stay in office for a full four-year term. The governor has not ruled out a run for President of the United States in 2028. Pritzker did not announce a running mate as he kicked off his campaign. Current Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton is running for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Dick Durbin, D-Springfield, who said he would not seek reelection. Pritzker praised Stratton as “the best lieutenant governor” Illinois has ever had and said he would choose a replacement soon. “They’ve got to be someone who could do the job if something happens and they had to take over and,
Illinois drivers now see the state gas tax rise to 48.3 cents per gallon – up 1.3 cents from last year – as part of an automatic inflation adjustment. where else, just increases the cost for everyone else who chooses to stay,” said Sharkey. Fuel retailers warn that high gas prices are driving Illinoisans across state lines to fill up and shop, costing the state sales tax revenue. “The annual inflation adjustment to the state’s motor fuel tax is not going to impact independent retailers any differently than the big companies. These taxes are passed on directly to the consumer. Where this does impact the retailers, and the communities their sales tax revenue helps, is on the borders with Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri and Kentucky,” said Harris. “Someone in the Quad Cities has all the more reason to
fill up in Davenport instead of Rock Island and get their tobacco or vape products from there as well.” Separate from the annual gas tax increase, beginning as part of the fiscal year 2026 budget July 1, taxes on tobacco and vaping products goes up to 45%. As electric vehicles and hybrids become more common, Illinois lawmakers are considering new ways to fund road maintenance – including a possible vehicle mileage tax. Harris said the shift away from gas-powered cars is straining the current system. “These proposals all come with their own challenges, but taxes on liquid fuels will not cover increased road usage by EVs forever,” said Harris.
The Illinois Fuel and Retail Association is advocating for a halt to the automatic inflation adjustment built into the state’s motor fuel tax, citing the billions already sitting in the state’s Road Fund. “With billions of dollars ready to use for construction projects in the Road Fund, the state does not need to automatically increase the tax right now,” said Harris. In 2019, 20 Republicans in the House and three in the Senate voted in favor of a bill that included a fuel tax hike. Sharkey emphasized Illinois pays the second-highest gas taxes in the nation. “But some state lawmakers think Illinoisans don’t pay enough toward roads,” said Sharkey.
See Pritzker, Page A5
Illinois’ soil conservation funding stagnates amid recent dust storms
q Experts say the funding for state conservation districts has been ‘deprioritized,’ even in more robust budget years By JADE AUBREY Capitol News Illinois SPRINGFIELD – Three main factors contribute to the formation of Midwest dust storms: strong winds, dry soil in farm fields and large amounts of loose soil. That’s according to Andy Taylor, the Science and Operations officer at the National Weather Service’s office in Lincoln. He said these are key ingredients that meteorologists, farmers and experts in the agricultural community have found cause dust storms when they converge. On May 16, Chicago saw its first major dust storm since the Dust Bowl, which stretched from Texas to New York in the early 1930s and deposited 300 million tons of soil across the nation – 12 million tons of which settled in the Chicago region, ac-
cording to the Bill of Rights Institute. The storm in May dropped visibility in the city to near zero as wind gusts blew over 60 mph at times, according to the National Weather Service. Taylor said the atmospheric environment that day was more characteristic of the dry environments in the High Plains or Southwest U.S., not the Midwest. As rain began to fall near Bloomington, it quickly evaporated and cooled the atmosphere, creating strong pockets of wind that began to move North. And as winds sped up, the storm began to pick up and move dry and loose soil from fields it passed over, which created the dust storm. “The type of dust storm event that we had that affected the Chicago area, I wouldn’t necessarily take that occurrence as saying
Three main factors contribute to the formation of Midwest dust storms: strong winds, dry soil in farm fields and large amounts of loose soil. we’re going to see an increase in those type of events from this point on,” he said. “Although, anytime you see all those ingredients come
together, we certainly could see that again.” Soil conservation funding ‘deprioritized’ While there were no
deaths due to the storm in Chicago, a major dust storm that occurred in central Illinois on a portion of I-55 resulted in a multi-car pileup that took the lives of eight people and injured dozens more in May 2023. That dust storm also dropped visibility to zero on the stretch of the interstate between Farmersville and Divernon, and was again caused by dry, loose soil being picked up and moved by winds. Although Taylor said dust storms are not new to Illinois – as his office has documented events back to the 80s – most of the storms don’t move across vast expanses of the state. Instead, he said they often occur in more localized areas, like the storm near Divernon in 2023. “When we’re seeing the
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right weather-related factors coming together and the ground is fairly dry, which matches up with loose soil so we know we’re going to be more prone to blowing dust, we coordinate with partners in the agricultural community to determine when we might anticipate those blowing dusts events,” Taylor said. The Association of Illinois Soil and Water Conservation Districts has been lobbying for increased funding for additional district employees. This year’s state budget allows for each district to staff one full-time employee, which AISWCD Executive Director Eliot Clay called “wildly inadequate” as he said each district needs at least two. See Soil, Page A5