Vague, arbitrary and overly protective rules, like we see often in Illinois, don’t do anyone any favors.

Sen. Dick Durbin, long known for his anti-smoking campaigns, released a new report Monday alleging that e-cigarette companies target youth smokers, and then proposing a new set of Food and Drug Administration regulations for the products. Durbin’s 40-page report urges a slew of restrictions on e-cigarette marketing and sales. Durbin commented upon release of the...

Should you need a prescription to buy cold medicine? State Sen. Dave Koehler thinks so, and he has introduced a bill that would require just that for medicines you’ve always been allowed to buy over the counter. Senate Bill 3502 would amend the Illinois Controlled Substances Act to categorize ephedrine and pseudoephedrine as “Schedule III”...

Why are regulators so out of touch? At a Chicago City Council committee hearing on ride-sharing services last week, taxi-industry lobbyist Matthew Daus, president of the International Association of Transportation Regulators, reportedly said that “millennials” were responsible for the rise of companies such as Lyft and Uber because they care more about “cost” than about the public...

Why are regulators so out of touch? At a Chicago City Council committee hearing on ride-sharing services last week, taxi-industry lobbyist Matthew Daus, president of the International Association of Transportation Regulators, reportedly said that “millennials” were responsible for the rise of companies such as Lyft and Uber because they care more about “cost” than about...

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has proposed an ordinance that would force the popular ride-sharing services Uber and Lyft to drastically change the way they do business, if not shut down operations in the city entirely. The proposal contains numerous unnecessary provisions that would harm Uber and Lyft drivers as well as consumers and serve no...

You can’t buy Google Glass in Illinois yet, but that’s not stopping lawmakers from trying to ban it from the state’s streets and highways. Senate Bill 2632, currently pending in the Illinois General Assembly, would prohibit drivers from wearing a “mobile computing headset,” defined as a “computing device with a head mounted display that can project visual...