This Thanksgiving, Illinoisans should give thanks for Illinois’ heritage, opportunities, wins against new taxes and educational freedom.

From Rockford to Carbondale, towns and cities across Illinois are creating opportunities, increasing liberty and decreasing the burden of taxes.

Here’s a look at 11 items worthy of gratitude.

Growing pride

1) Illinois grows more pumpkins than any other state.

Producing 85% of the world’s canned pumpkin, Illinois farmers produced about 485 million pounds of pumpkins. Illinois produced one-third of the nation’s pumpkins as Morton, Illinois, is dubbed the “pumpkin capitol of the world”

2) Illinois lawmakers end ban on nuclear energy

The state’s 40-year moratorium on large-scale plants has ended. Lifting the ban is a positive step towards competitiveness and reliability and a much-needed step toward energy independence and affordability.

3) Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed 5 bills to help fix Illinois education

Illinois lawmakers passed five education reforms focused on literacy, transparency and career pathways. Pritzker signed these bills into law, signaling a renewed effort by state lawmakers to improve student outcomes, empower parents, invest in literacy and diversify career pathways.

4) Chicago ordinance will remove college degree requirements for most city jobs.

Breaking down employment barriers for disadvantaged groups, new pathways to prosperity open. By endorsing a shift toward skills-based hiring, city leaders recognized some simple but powerful truths: a college degree isn’t the only path to career success and isn’t the only – or even the best – indicator of competency.

Decreasing tax burdens

5) Rockford cut property tax rate almost in half since 2017

The mayor’s office cut back on anything piling on unnecessary expenses, such as printing costs, centralizing printers and defaulting them to black and white. The city also re-bid routine contracts and merged back-office tasks.

6) Kane County, six townships and Bensenville vote “no” to more taxes

More than 75% of Kane County voters rejected a ballot question which would raise county taxes by 0.75% for public safety costs. Voters in Kane County, the six townships and Bensenville have loudly said “no” to tax increases. Taxes are too high, and local leaders who raise grocery taxes, gas taxes or property taxes do so without the consent of those who gave them power to govern.

7) Peoria Heights mayor vetoes grocery tax

“…I know we can and we will balance our budget without balancing it off the backs of families at the grocery checkout.”

Boosting housing affordability

8) Chicago and Lamont boost development, housing supply to address housing shortage

Chicago is expanding where accessory dwelling units can be built, cutting parking minimums near transit and converting ground floors of commercial spaces into residential units. Lombard allows smaller lots to lower cost.

Protecting against government overreach

9) Highly opposed “Homeschool Act” stalls on Illinois House floor

Lawmakers failed to advance a bill riddled with troubling provisions to limit families’ educational options and create government intrusion into families’ privacy

10) Pritzker signed 7 bills into law to make it easier to work

To reduce the number of government permission slips needed to earn a living, Pritzker signed seven bills into law that expand the ability of professional to work in Illinois. With the 38th-worst unemployment rate in the country, the state cannot afford barriers that block people from jobs they are qualified for.

Calling out corruption

11) Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan was found guilty on 10 counts of bribery, conspiracy and wire fraud by a federal jury.

Madigan ruled the Illinois House for 36 years, building a political machine that controlled Springfield. The end of one man’s corruption is the start to increasing transparency and trust between lawmakers and constituents.

Illinois is taking steps to relieve the burden of corruption and high taxes. The commitment to pursue economic and educational freedom must prevail over partisan politicians working in their own self-interest.

Illinois still has its issues, but these 11 beams of hope show the state can be turned around.

Danny Davis will be home for Thanksgiving, a dream for many, but for him, a goal three decades in the making after he was wrongfully convicted of murder in downstate Illinois.

Davis was just 20 years old in 1992 when he was coerced into confessing to a gruesome murder. It took more than 30 years to prove he didn’t do it, just in time for the holidays with his family.

Michael Jordan is Danny Davis’ favorite basketball player, and was still playing for the Bulls when Davis went to prison.

“I was in prison with their second championship,” Davis said.

That’s why he requested dinner at Michael Jordan’s Steak House on Monday night to celebrate his exoneration.

“I ate me a big steak,” Davis said.

In prison for more than three decades, Davis said he had learned to ignore the holidays.

“At one point, I just said all holidays are out, and focused on what needs to be done for me to get out,” he said.

Davis was convicted of the March 1992 murder of Mildred Smith, who was discovered stabbed to death in her apartment in Cairo at the far southern edge of Illinois.

“There’s nothing else to tie them. There’s no forensics tying them to the crime, no eyewitnesses, nothing like that,” said Davis’ attorney, Lauren Myerscough-Mueller, with the Exoneration Project at the University of Chicago Law School.

Myerscough-Mueller said Davis and his younger brother were coerced into a guilty plea.

“They said, ‘If you go to trial, Danny will get the death penalty, and he will die.’ So they were at jury selection, they pull him into a room, they threaten them with this, and so they say, ‘Okay, we’ll plead guilty,’” she said.

Davis was sentenced to life in prison without parole, but he and his legal team never stopped fighting. In 2018, Smith’s fingernail clippings were finally tested for DNA. The male DNA found did not match Davis.

His conviction was vacated and he was released from custody last year, but he was still a long way from truly free.

His case was expected to go back to trial next month, until – out of nowhere – prosecutors filed a motion to dismiss the case altogether earlier this month.

“I knew we would be here at this point one day. We didn’t know how long,” Davis said. “Man, it’s just a blessing that I don’t have to go through that.

Now 53 years old, Davis spent more of his life behind bars than on the outside. On Tuesday, he got a special visit from three men who understand that better than anyone.

Jimmy Soto, Darien Harris, and Robert Johnson also spent years in prison for murders they did not commit. Between the four of them, Davis, Soto, Harris and Johnson spent more than 115 years behind bars before they were able to clear their names.

“They’ve lived the same things, they’re going through the same things, and can be a good support for each other,” Myerscough-Mueller said.

Davis said he said he’s ready to make up for lost time with his supportive family.

“Now I don’t take anything for granted in life; nothing,” he said. “I enjoy every bit of whatever that I’m able, the good Lord is able to give me the strength to do, I enjoy,” he said.

Davis’ attorney said the last step for them is the obtaining a certificate of innocence. They will file a court petition to get it.