Illinois Legislative News: July 20, 2026

Illinois Legislative News: July 20, 2026

Third Reading Consulting Group

Illinois ranked 12th in the 2026 CNBC ranking of America’s Top States for Business, one spot above its 2025 ranking and the state’s highest position since the study began in 2007. The annual report evaluates all 50 states across 138 metrics within 10 categories to determine competitiveness. Illinois earned high marks in infrastructure (3^rd), education (7^th), and access to capital (12^th), while scoring lower in areas such as business friendliness (44^th), cost of living (41^st), and workforce (31^st).

Illinois was long near the bottom of CNBC’s rankings, but since Gov. JB Pritzker took office in 2019, the state has climbed 18 spots. A press release from Pritzker’s Office attributes this rise to several policy achievements, including 10 credit rating upgrades, paying down $17B in debt, and investing in Illinois’ education, infrastructure, and site readiness, among other programs.

Relative to the 2025 rankings, the most significant gains came in the economy (29^th) and infrastructure (3^rd) categories, where Illinois improved by 15 and 5 places, respectively. The jump in Illinois’ economy ranking reflects GDP growth, credit rating improvements, and the elimination of the state’s long-term bill backlog. Under Gov. JB Pritzker, Illinois’ GDP grew to $1.23T, up from $895B in 2019. Illinois’ infrastructure improvement reflects the 2025 $50.6B investment, the largest in state history, building on the Rebuild Illinois Capital Plan. Additionally, CNBC added ease of permitting as a factor in its infrastructure rankings, since companies want strategic locations that provide efficient access to customers, suppliers, connectivity, and computing power. CNBC argues that states able to implement such changes quickly are better positioned to support business growth.

Conversely, Illinois dropped 12 places from 2025 in the workforce category (31^st), its lowest ranking in this metric since 2020. This category factors in each state’s concentration of STEM workers, work productivity based on economic output per job, and how successful it is at attracting talent at all levels. One factor influencing the decline in the state’s workforce ranking is Illinois’ unemployment rate, which rose over the last year to 5.1% in April 2026, a 12.7% increase from the prior year. Recent immigration trends have also contributed to the decline: Illinois experienced domestic outmigration throughout the early 2020s, and international immigration—the main driver of the state’s recent population growth—has since slowed due to recent federal immigration policy changes.

CNBC considers Illinois to have become a more attractive place to do business in recent years, now ranking 5^th among Midwestern states. Ohio (1^st), Minnesota (5^th), Michigan (6^th), and Indiana (10^th) rank ahead of Illinois, while Iowa (19^th), Wisconsin (22^nd), and Missouri (38^th) rank below Illinois in the region. Among larger states nationally, North Carolina (2^nd), Texas (4^th), Georgia (7^th), and Florida (8^th) rank above Illinois, while Pennsylvania (13^th), California (17^th), and New York (18^th) fall below. 

Important Upcoming Dates – Statewide

November 3 – Illinois General Election

November 17-19 – Veto Session Week 1

December 1-3 – Veto Session Week 2