This past Friday, the Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association (IHLA) hosted an event to close out Human Trafficking Prevention Month where more than 100 hotel employees across Illinois received training to ensure they are prepared to take action against human trafficking.

Hotels across the state do their best every day to welcome guests and build stronger communities. Sometimes, that means doing the hard and important work that is outside the boundaries of excellent guest service. For years, hotels have led the effort to protect our communities from human trafficking, and Human Trafficking Prevention Month is a time to reaffirm that responsibility.

The hotel industry is proud to play a leadership role in this effort, serving as a critical first line of defense in identifying and taking action to stop human trafficking and supporting survivors of this heinous crime.  We have prioritized collaboration with local, state, and national officials, and community-based organizations to support survivors, hold traffickers accountable, and turn awareness into meaningful action.

We believe that every hotel employee must play a role in prevention. Hotel employees across Illinois are trained to recognize the warning signs of human trafficking and to know how to respond appropriately. This training is not optional. In 2019, IHLA worked alongside lawmakers and law enforcement to enact the Human Trafficking Recognition Training Act to require that all employees are prepared and educated on how to spot the signs of human trafficking. This law standardized best practices that many hotels had already adopted, requiring hotel employees to complete training every two years to identify warning signs and understand best practices for reporting suspected criminal activity. This is central to the hotel industry’s commitment to protecting guests, employees, and communities.

The hotel industry’s work doesn’t just stop at prevention, it helps make communities and survivors safer by working with local organizations to equip survivors with the support they need to thrive. This includes support for emergency housing, workforce training programs, job placements within our companies, and mental health support for survivors of this crime.

The unfortunate reality is that traffickers sometimes exploit legitimate businesses, including hotels, without the knowledge of hotel operators.  By working together, we’re creating an environment that deters traffickers and safeguards the well-being of our guests, staff, and the communities we serve. That is why the hotel industry has long championed a proactive approach—ensuring employees are trained to identify suspicious behavior, understand the indicators of trafficking, and report concerns to law enforcement. Hotel employees are often among the first to notice warning signs, and proper training gives them both the tools and confidence to act safely and responsibly.

Last year, Illinois further strengthened these efforts with the passage of Senate Bill 1422, which gives municipalities the ability to ensure local hotels remain in compliance with training standards. This additional layer of accountability helps ensure training requirements are not only established, but followed—reinforcing a shared commitment to prevention and enforcement statewide.

Illinois has emerged as a leader in the effort to protect communities from human trafficking, but there is still more work to be done. Addressing this crisis requires sustained attention, strong partnerships, and a comprehensive approach that prioritizes prevention, enforcement, and survivor support year-round.

The hotel industry remains committed to doing its part and leading by example. We encourage other industries to join us in raising awareness of the warning signs of human trafficking and understanding how to report concerns safely. Together, we can protect the vulnerable and help prevent this deplorable crime.

To get help from the National Human Trafficking Resource Center, please call 1-888-373-7888. Do not attempt to confront a trafficker or a victim, instead contact law enforcement. Please all 911 for emergency situations, including threats of violence, assault, or emergency medical needs.

Michael Jacobson is the President and CEO of the Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association (IHLA).

I have spent my career in public service focused on who gets access and who is too often left out. When it comes to our democracy, the most alarming exclusion today is not a lack of interest from young people. It is the lack of opportunity we give them to participate.

Imagine starting your day in Chicago or one of our Cook County suburbs and turning on the faucet, only to find no water comes out. For many of us, that sounds unimaginable. But for some Cook County residents, especially in neighborhoods facing flooding, aging pipes, or concerns about lead, the challenges around water are already real and constant.

As football season is fully underway, a new Chicago tax proposed by Mayor Brandon Johnson is doubling down on a bad idea for sports fans. The mayor’s budget includes a city of Chicago tax on sports betting companies that would be delivered on top of a brand-new state tax – which added a 50-cent tax on each bet customers make. That state tax, which was fully implemented by the sportsbooks on September 1, is already making every bet placed in Illinois more expensive for customers. As an expert in responsible gaming, I have been advocating for legal sports betting laws that empower bettors with information about their spending and avoid impulsive betting before it begins. But these new taxes push the state in the opposite direction, pushing bettors to make more expensive bets or seek out cheaper, tax-free illegal betting options that don’t have any of the protections of Illinois’ legal market. Ultimately, these changes will add more pressure to push gamblers back towards the black market.

Why Chicago’s Business Community Should Support the Hazel M. Johnson Ordinance

I’ve seen firsthand over decades of building and buying housing and commercial developments across the country how a city can reinvent itself. As the Chairman of Banner Real Estate Group, I’ve led our firm through many market cycles, always with a view toward long-term value, community impact and sustainable growth. That’s why I believe the Hazel M. Johnson Cumulative Impacts Ordinance is not just good policy — it’s good for business.

Illinois’ economy is on the road to recovery, with our annual GDP recently surpassing $1 trillion a year, fueled by more than 660 business expansions and relocations in 2024 alone. This is due in no small part to Gov. JB Pritzker’s efforts to expand our state’s economy and demonstrate that Illinois is “Open for Business.”

The road to reform in Chicago is never smooth, but sometimes leaders with courage and foresight clear a path forward. That’s why we’re grateful to the 39 City Council members — three-quarters of the council — who voted to advance an ordinance safeguarding the independence of inspector general investigations to the Council’s Ethics Committee, where it will get a hearing on Monday.

SEIU Local 73 represents 12,000 members, primarily black and brown women, who work tirelessly across Chicago Public Schools (CPS).  These dedicated individuals serve essential roles, including Special Education Classroom Assistants (SECAs), Sub SECAs, Custodians, Security Officers, Bus Monitors, Parent Workers, and Crossing Guards.

Last September, Chicago's City Council enacted the so-called “Northwest Side Preservation Ordinance,” an ill-conceived law that will reduce housing affordability in several northwest side wards and hurt the small and mid-sized housing providers represented by my organization, the Neighborhood Building Owners Alliance (NBOA).

The ordinance, which imposes draconian restrictions on the sale of rental property in Logan Square, Hermosa, Humboldt Park, and Avondale just went into effect on March 1.

This ill-conceived ordinance has many harmful provisions, but the most harmful to housing affordability gives tenants of a rental building a “right of first refusal.” This gives the tenants an “opportunity to purchase” the building if they can match the selling price, and imposes a chain of complicated and time-consuming requirements before the transaction can close with the tenants or with another buyer.