Two-thirds of moving van bookings in Illinois were outbound last year, according to surveys released this morning by two van line companies, underscoring the state’s seventh year of population loss.

United Van Lines, in its 44th annual report on traffic, says 66.4 percent of the 2020 interstate moves it handled in Illinois were outbound. Competitor Atlas Van Lines reports in its study that slightly under 63 percent of the interstate moves it handled in Illinois were outbound.

In typical Chicago fashion, a legitimate difference of opinion over when and how to partially reopen Chicago Public Schools to in-classroom instruction is morphing into a political brawl.

It’s the Chicago Teachers Union against Lori Lightfoot, the latter politically weakened over her response to the Anjanette Young police raid. Caught in the middle are tens of thousands of CPS students, many of them kids of color, who whatever the politicians say are not getting and never will get the same quality of education on Zoom that they would in the classroom.

Illinois statehouse Republicans raised concerns Monday that lawmakers could try to push through a tax increase during the lame-duck session.

The Illinois House will meet beginning Jan. 8.

Illinois lawmakers will return to the capital city on Friday for a “lame duck” session that is expected to focus on the state’s COVID-19 response, a nearly $4 billion budget deficit and a host of social issues being advanced by the Legislative Black Caucus.

House Speaker Michael Madigan’s office notified that chamber’s members of the plans in an email sent Wednesday, Dec. 30. Senate President Don Harmon has not officially announced his plans, but his spokesman said in an email over the weekend that senators have been advised to hold the dates open in the event lawmakers are called back into session.

Another day without indoor restaurant dining in Illinois, another restaurant in Peoria goes dormant for the duration.

Make that two restaurants.

House Republican leaders said Monday they expect their Democratic colleagues to “sneak” a tax increase into the General Assembly’s looming lame duck session, a claim a Democratic leader said was nothing more than “politics as usual.”

House Republican Leader Jim Durkin of Western Springs, along with Deputy Republican leaders Tom Demmer of Dixon and Dan Brady of Bloomington, said in a virtual news conference Monday morning that state state Speaker Michael Madigan and Gov. J.B. Pritzker “own this budget mess and its errors” after passing a budget that hinged on the passage of a move to a graduated income tax rate.

A researcher from the University of Illinois Springfield said data shows schools are safe and should be reopened.

Nearly 1.2 million of the state’s 1.9 million students were fully remote as of Dec. 18, according to the Illinois State Board of Education.

Illinois finished 43rd in a new study by the Tax Foundation that ranked which of the 50 states have the most business-friendly unemployment insurance tax structures.

The state’s ranking reflected a drop of three positions from its 2020 ranking, according to the foundation’s analysis, which is part of a wider study titled “2021 State Business Tax Climate Index.”

Some Chicago Public Schools teachers expected to report to the classroom ahead of preschool students’ anticipated return next week stayed home Monday over coronavirus concerns.

The nation’s third-largest district plans to bring students back in phases. Starting next week, preschool and some special education students can return or continue remote learning. Students in K-8 have the option Feb. 1. A date for high school students hasn’t been set.

Using a $1.6 million appropriation from the state, the Illinois Equal Justice Foundation recently created New Leaf Illinois, an initiative to help individuals get criminal records related to marijuana expunged.

By applying on New Leaf Illinois’ website, individuals can be connected with legal aid from 20 non-profit organizations to help them through the process.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot is not abandoning her controversial plan to lower the threshold for speed camera tickets. But she’s lowering the boom slowly — with a 44-day warning period.

The crackdown that became a focal point for aldermanic critics of the mayor’s $12.8 billion budget begins Jan. 15.