Illinois Politics
CHICAGO — A state watchdog has identified at least $7.2 million in fraudulent claims and more than 275 instances of misconduct by state employees accused of bilking a federal program designed to help businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2022, the Office of the Executive Inspector General has been investigating allegations that state employees fraudulently…
Read Full Article SPRINGFIELD – For the second time in seven months, then-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan called up Chicago Alderman Danny Solis after reading about a proposed real estate development in the alderman’s ward. “Danny, I think there’s a, a proposed development in – it’s called Peoria Park,” Madigan said in the January 2018 call, apparently conflating…
Read Full Article SPRINGFIELD — State Senator Jil Tracy (R-Quincy) joined several legislative colleagues during a Capitol press conference Tuesday to address a number of reported medical reactions involving Corrections staff exposures to illicit drugs — and inmate exposure deaths from illicit drugs — at correctional facilities in Illinois. Tracy and fellow Senators Terri Bryant (R-Murphysboro), Chapin Rose…
Read Full Article CHICAGO – It’s been a month since the jury in former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s federal corruption trial last heard the name of star government witness Danny Solis during opening statements. The government’s brief explanation that the ex-Chicago alderman agreed to cooperate with the FBI after “abusing his own office” – and the defense’s…
Read Full Article BUSHNELL — The State of Illinois has provided a $5 million grant to enable Marshalltown Hammer to acquire and establish operations in the former Vaughan & Bushnell facility. “Economic prosperity for the working families of Illinois ought to be our state’s North Star,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “Today, we celebrate an important milestone, securing jobs, facility improvements…
Read Full Article Just about nothing happened in the first week of veto session in the House and the Senate. The Democratic legislative leaders are still trying to figure out what their members want to do in the wake of Republican President-Elect Donald Trump’s victory and whether that can be done. Whether that action starts in the second…
Read Full Article CHICAGO — Illinois isn’t following the lead of California Gov. Gavin Newson and convening a special session in the wake of President-elect Donald Trump’s win. There’s no need, given that Illinois legislators are already set to return to Springfield on Tuesday for a previously scheduled two-week veto session, as they customarily do each fall. But Illinois Gov.…
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Read Full Article 'It isn’t as simple as a pro-life vote’: Sanctuary city ordinance struck down by aldermen a year ago
QUINCY — Jake Reed, president of Right to Life Adams County and a Republican alderman representing Quincy’s 6th Ward, doesn’t believe the overturning of Roe v. Wade did enough. He does believe, however, that it set up the necessary framework for further restriction on abortion access to happen gradually across the country at various levels. With…
Read Full Article In the spring of 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the longstanding abortion protections established under Roe v. Wade, leaving decisions about the reproductive health care procedure up to the states. For Hoosier Abbey Hall, she never imagined such a change would impact her. “When Roe v. Wade got overturned, I remember thinking, ‘Oh…
Read Full Article CHICAGO – It had been a tumultuous winter and spring for Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan as he was forced to fire or distance himself from several top allies, three of whom were accused of sexual harassment at the height of the #MeToo movement. But after the seismic events of June 6, 2018, when Madigan…
Read Full Article As usual, plenty of false claims have been made during this state legislative election cycle. But the campaign I keep going back to in my own mind is the battle in the 97th House District. The race features freshman incumbent Rep. Harry Benton (D-Plainfield), a union ironworker and a former local elected official. The Republican challenger…
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