The threat of wars overseas could have a financial impact here in the stateline.

A Russian invasion into Ukraine could drive up U.S. gas prices to an all-time high. The U.S. is the largest producer of oil in the world. Russia is the second, churning out 10% of the globe’s crude oil.

With the statewide mask mandate set to expire in the coming week, a Republican lawmaker is taking action against an order that would still require facial coverings inside the statehouse.

When nine GOP lawmakers refused to wear masks during session last week, a majority of their colleagues voted to kick them out and Springfield guards ejected them from the House chamber.

Using his statutorily provided emergency powers, Gov. J.B. Pritzker has ruled like a king for months.

To combat the coronavirus pandemic, he’s ordered the state locked down. He barred local sheriffs from transporting to prison inmates sentenced to prison while releasing hundreds of other inmates already in prison. He put masks on schoolchildren and shoppers.

The nation’s supply of semiconductors is alarmingly low, and we’ve already seen the shortage bring factory floors to a grinding halt. Central Illinois manufacturers like ACC Electronix have had to cut back production as they wait on chips, while Ford idled lines at a Chicago plant because their supply of microchips needed to get vehicles off the assembly line had run out.

While supply chain disruptions caused by the pandemic are to blame for this problem, the real culprit is our increasing reliance on a handful of overseas providers. Nationally, the U.S. share of chip production has decreased from 37 percent to 12 percent since 1990, while our demand has increased by 20 percent in the last two years. Seventy percent of chips are made in Asia, a figure that increases to 90 percent for more sophisticated chips. It’s clearly time for policymakers to prioritize production here at home.