Treasurer’s Note Newsletter

October 23, 2026

This Year’s Costumes Mean a Little More

I have always been a little jealous of people who have intricate, creative, and homemade Halloween costumes. Maybe it’s because as a kid, I frequently had the plastic costumes you would wear over your clothes with a plastic mask pressed against your face, hoping the elastic string wouldn’t break. I wish I could say that I did better with my kids, but with the twins, we have taken the easy route. They have dressed as a pair of pumpkins, as ketchup and mustard, and as M&M’s.…

October 21, 2026

The Illinois Ideas That Helped Shape the World

Last week’s Treasurer’s Note unleashed a lot of pride in Illinois’ history of innovations, and readers were quick to let me know about their favorites. Several of them, I was aware of. A few of them were new to me. Thank you for enlightening me! Now I’d like to enlighten our readers by picking out a baker’s dozen of great Illinois innovations. We didn’t have space for them all. Hopefully, highlighting these inventions will help you learn something you didn’t…

October 9, 2026

From Feeling Out of Place to Finding Pride

I distinctly remember the fear I felt when my aunt and uncle dropped me off on Yale’s campus 35 years ago this fall. I had never visited the school and didn’t know anyone. As I met people, I realized there weren’t many people like me there. I grew up the son of a Teamsters truck driver in a small farming town of about 800. My parents hadn’t gone to college. My grandparents hadn’t even attended high school after dropping out in junior high to work on the farm. I wasn’t the only…

October 2, 2026

Make the Most of Every Season of Life

I choose to remain a Midwesterner for many reasons, but one of them is that I really appreciate having four seasons. That doesn’t mean that I like all four seasons equally. In Illinois, spring holds the promise of warming days. It also frequently disappoints us with cold, rainy days and the occasional snowstorm. I’m guessing most people look forward to warm summer days. As someone who often wears a suit to work, anything over 80° can leave me a sweaty mess. I do enjoy freshly fallen snow,…

September 30, 2026

What Keeps Us Up Can Also Move Us Forward

When you have a problem, people often tell you to “sleep on it.” But what happens when an inability to sleep is the problem? The last few decades, I have suffered from frequent bouts of insomnia. Like many people who have trouble sleeping, I worry about my children, my parents as they get older, and challenges at work. When this happens, rather than getting worried about a lack of sleep, I have learned to accept that my mind will be active, and to direct it to creative thoughts. It’s not…