When something is killing Americans at an astonishing rate, and millions are willfully and dramatically increasing the risk for their fellow citizens, the federal government is compelled to take drastic measures to stop the madness.

The next legislative inspector general will fare little better than the current one.

We thank Effingham County Board Chairman Jim Niemann for withdrawing the proposed “Medical Freedom Resolution” from consideration this week.

Democrats in the General Assembly seem to think a swatch of ethics reform is better than none at all.

The community has seen — once again — that sunlight is the best disinfectant.

Effingham County Board members recently tabled a resolution that embraces the idea of “My Body, My Choice,” spurred by the state’s mask mandate for schools.

An attack on a journalist is an attack on democracy itself.

Illinois struck a blow for human rights recently, when Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed bills requiring colleges and universities and many homeless shelters, to stock menstrual products.

Wearing a mask isn’t any fun.

Two years ago, Democratic lawmakers fast-tracked a proposed constitutional amendment that would have permitted replacing Illinois’ flat-rate income tax with graduated rates. But citizens didn’t trust that politicians would raise taxes only on high earners. Sooner or later the pols would come…

The administration of President Joe Biden faces numerous challenges related to the behavior of Russia, perhaps none as critical and immediate as Vladimir Putin’s alliance with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The Illinois General Assembly is a master of approving phony reform bills.

These many pandemic-rattled months, the Tribune Editorial Board has argued many times that the residents of Illinois should shoot off to their vaccination appointments, ideally faster than Jeff Bezos’ rocket ship.

Just a generation or two ago, Tom Wolfe described the mettle of test pilots turned astronauts as “The Right Stuff.” Now, all one needs to get to outer space is a big pile of green stuff, or perhaps gold.

The news this week that the delta variant of COVID-19 has been identified in Effingham County is disturbing. But it doesn’t have to be frightening – if we all step up our game in combating the pandemic that has gripped this nation for a year and a half.

The U.S. Supreme Court turned back the latest challenge to the Affordable Care Act.

Any little bit helps.

Next year’s primary election in Illinois won’t be held in March, as has been the norm for most of the last 50 years. Instead, it will be held June 28.

The U.S. Supreme Court this week proved a formidable bench for college athletes, when all nine justices backed education-related payments to the students.

The designation of Juneteenth as a national holiday is a decision worth celebrating.

Internal Revenue Service data obtained by ProPublica and published last week shows in black and white just how rigged toward the rich the U.S. tax code has become.

Some poor and working-class parents buttonholed legislators at the Capitol in Springfield. Others pursued lawmakers by phone, frantic to protect their children’s chance at a rigorous education. And General Assembly members evidently got the message — even Democratic legislators whose constit…

A CBS survey released last week found that more than 70% of Americans are now comfortable gathering with friends or going to a restaurant or a bar.

The announcement of a new drug to treat Alzheimer’s disease was greeted this week with celebration and skepticism. The Food and Drug Administration approved the use of the drug Aduhelm over the objections of an FDA advisory committee and expert panels that questioned the medicine’s effective…

Falling between Memorial Day and Independence Day is another important day that’s sometimes overlooked – Flag Day.

The Senate tradition of unlimited debate has allowed for the use of the filibuster, a loosely defined term for action designed to prolong debate and delay or prevent a vote on a bill, resolution, amendment, or other debatable question. Prior to 1917 the Senate rules did not provide for a way…

Messing with the Illinois Constitution opens the door to all kinds of potential problems.

On a night in mid-December 1773, a group of about 60 men who had disguised themselves as Native Americans boarded three merchant ships at a Boston wharf and dumped dozens of chests of imported tea into the cold dark waters — an act of civil disobedience that damaged private property in prote…

The Illinois Legislature this week abolished the criminalization of HIV transmission. Thirty-three other states should do the same.

The Internal Revenue Service is not an agency that gets a lot of love — particularly at this time of year as Americans have just sent in their tax payments.

We’re all for a bill that passed out of an Illinois Senate committee this week that would require high schools to offer instruction about understanding and evaluating news and social media as part of their computer literacy courses.

No wonder Joe Biden picked former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm as Secretary of Energy — they’re cut from the same green cloth.

Release of an investigative report on the coronavirus outbreak at a state veterans home has produced the expected political whirlwind.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker has an opportunity to rebuild trust with voters who repeatedly have demonstrated their lack of confidence in state government.

Small victories in great wars are worth savoring, but not for long.

Gov. Pritzker’s clean energy plan, introduced Thursday, has a lot to like in it. But it needs an upgrade before the Legislature’s adjournment on May 31.

There are more questions than answers as the state legislative map-drawing drama unfolds.

Illinois will lose one congressional seat in 2022, from 18 to 17, following the release of preliminary U.S. census numbers on Monday. This should come as no surprise. In fact, if you want to uncork the bubbly, go right ahead. It could have been worse.

Once a law or regulation is in place, it’s usually hard and time-consuming to remove. But when the pandemic shut down much of normal life last year, lawmakers showed they could move quickly in a crisis.

We want to underscore what Jeff Workman, the administrator of the Effingham County Health Department, said this week about the “pause” placed locally and across the nation on the use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine.

Voters rarely love the idea of legislators raising their own pay, which often makes legislators reluctant to do it. The public aversion is even greater in times of economic distress and state fiscal troubles. These motives help explain why members of the Illinois General Assembly voted each …

It’s time to spend down the state’s $89 million Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust fund.

Those who know best are in agreement about the 2020 general election. It was free, secure and safe. The results were fair and accurate. There was no significant voter fraud. Anywhere.

Cynics have long said Illinois will give up partisan control of the all-important remapping process when hell freezes over.

Billions in federal money

When Nancy Marschewski’s son wore a do-rag to Effingham High School last month and was told to remove it because it violated the dress code, he did the right thing. He took it off.

The Effingham County Health Department said on Tuesday that it was having a good day because more than 400 seniors were scheduled to get their second dose of the COVID-19 vaccination.

The biggest question in Washington for the next two years isn’t about a single policy or whether President Biden will expose himself to a press conference. It’s whether Democrats use their narrow Senate majority to kill the legislative filibuster rule requiring 60 votes in order to ram a rad…

The Gloomy Guses of the world, much to their glee, found plenty to be down about in a recent analysis of Illinois’ public pensions.