Illinois Politics
Although the mask sightings have been fewer and fewer in our area as the weeks have passed, as of 12:01 a.m. Monday, masks are no longer “mandated” to be worn indoors in many locations in Illinois. Some areas will still see a restriction including long-term care facilities, day cares and health care facilities. Federal regulations…
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PETERSBURG, IL – Republican candidate for governor Jesse Sullivan announced Adams County State’s Attorney Gary Farha as a member of his Safe Streets Leadership Council, a bipartisan group of more than 20 Illinois leaders who support Sullivan’s plan law enforcement initiative. “I’ve experienced firsthand the denigration and destruction of law and order as a result of…
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SPRINGFIELD – A House revenue committee this week heard projections of an Illinois economy that is steadily moving back toward a level of pre-pandemic normalcy, which means revenue spikes realized due to temporary changes in consumer spending habits and federal stimulus packages are expected to subside. Illinois Department of Revenue Director David Harris characterized the…
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The Illinois Supreme Court denied Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s appeal over his school mask mandates on Friday, determining that the lower court decisions were moot, vacating the temporary restraining order by the circuit court and remanding the case to the circuit court for further consideration. This decision likely brings to an end the litigation over mask mandates in…
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QUINCY — Illinois Democratic Party Chair and Congresswoman Robin Kelly (D-Illinois) made a stop in Quincy Friday evening to meet with local Democrats to encourage participation in local government at all levels. Kelly met with party leaders, then met with local media, before addressing Democrats as a whole in a function at The Taproom in…
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CHICAGO — The blind trust set up to manage Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s vast wealth bought stock in one of the state’s biggest Medicaid contractors in 2020, the same year his administration made several decisions that benefited the company’s bottom line. The purchase of stock in health insurance giant Centene Corp. was made on behalf of…
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SPRINGFIELD — State Sen. Tom Cullerton, D-Villa Park, resigned his seat Wednesday and will reportedly plead guilty next month to federal corruption charges. Cullerton, 52, a former chairman of the Senate Labor Committee, was first elected to the Senate in 2012 and was seated in 2013. In August 2019, he was indicted on multiple charges…
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SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Supreme Court is being asked to review the state’s mask mandate and other COVID-19 mitigation orders for K-12 schools on an expedited schedule. Attorney General Kwame Raoul filed a petition for appeal Tuesday, along with a motion for an emergency stay of a Sangamon County judge’s order to block enforcement of…
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The attorney who has challenged Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s school mask mandates with lawsuits has set his sights on statewide office. Greenville attorney Thomas DeVore has confirmed he will run for Illinois Attorney General. DeVore, a Republican, had earlier launched a campaign for appellate judge, but will now join Rockford Attorney Steve Kim in a primary…
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Saying private dollars shouldn’t be used to pay public employees, an Illinois lawmaker has introduced legislation that would prevent Gov. J.B. Pritzker from paying state employees out of his pocket on top of the salaries taxpayers already pay for. Pritzker doles out $1.5 million a year to subsidize the salaries of 15 employees in his administration in…
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QUINCY — U.S. Congresswoman Robin Kelly, chair of the Democratic Party of Illinois, is traveling the state on a listening tour Friday. She will meet with Adams County Democrats from 6-7 p.m. at the Taproom, 104 N. Sixth. Kelly has dedicated her career to public service. Since being elected to serve the 2nd Congressional District in…
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SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois House voted to remove nine Republican members from the House floor Thursday afternoon for their refusal to comply with face covering requirements, delaying the start of the legislative session for the third straight day. In a 66-39 vote, Democrats voted to remove Reps. Joe Sosnowski, R-Rockford, Tony McCombie, R-Savanna, Blaine Wilhour,…
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An Illinois appellate court dismissed Governor J.B. Pritzker’s appeal of a lower court’s ruling against his mask mandate in schools, calling the request “moot” after a legislative committee suspended the requirement’s renewal. On Thursday, the Illinois Fourth District Appellate Court rejected the appeal, noting that the state’s department of public health on Feb. 14 had…
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SPRINGFIELD — The question of whether K-12 schools in Illinois can continue to enforce mask mandates and other COVID-19 mitigations remained unclear Wednesday as all three branches of state government tried to grapple with it. Gov. JB Pritzker said Wednesday that his executive order requiring those measures remains in place, at least in districts not…
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SPRINGFIELD — Confusion and pushback regarding the enforcement of masks mandates spilled over onto the House Floor Wednesday afternoon during the chamber’s regular legislative session after Republicans refused to comply with face covering requirements. Amid the pandemic, lawmakers approved House rules requiring face coverings to be worn in the chamber unless eating, drinking or speaking…
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Don’t expect the Illinois State Board of Education to take up a proposed rule requiring the COVID-19 vaccine or testing for school staff. The item was removed from the board’s agenda. The agenda for Thursday’s ISBE meeting initially showed an item for a proposed rule for adoption requiring mandatory vaccinations of school personnel. At last…
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SPRINGFIELD — A legislative panel on Tuesday voted to suspend the latest version of COVID-19 mitigations for public schools, saying in part that those rules are still being litigated in a state appellate court. The Joint Committee on Administrative rules voted 9-0, with two members voting “present,” to object to the rules and suspend them…
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A bill in the Illinois House would do away with the sub-minimum wage paid to waitresses, bartenders and other tipped service workers. Rep. Camille Lilly, D-Chicago, introduced House Bill 5139 last month. If the bill becomes law, workers who supplement their wages with tips will receive the state’s minimum wage starting on Jan. 1, 2025, in addition…
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Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Illinois will lift the statewide indoor mask mandate for most residents Feb. 28, joining nearly all other states nationwide that have rescinded emergency pandemic protocols as new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations rapidly decline. The growing push for the post-pandemic transition has seen 11 states announce expiration dates for their universal indoor masking requirements since Feb.…
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Couples across Illinois are planning for the upcoming Valentine’s Day weekend, but gathering their loved one’s favorite flowers or candy comes with a painful reminder: inflation has made virtually everything more expensive in the past year. Inflation has reached its highest level since 1982, with average consumer prices jumping 7.5% from January 2021-January 2022, according to the…
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Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul is going to ask the Illinois Supreme Court to order Adams County Circuit Judge Robert Adrian to impose a new sentence to Drew Clinton. Raoul today filed a mandamus complaint and a motion for supervisory order asking the Court to direct Adrian to sentence Clinton “in accordance with state law.”…
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SPRINGFIELD — If hospitalizations for COVID-19 continue to decline for the rest of the month, Gov. JB Pritzker plans to lift his executive order mandating face coverings indoors by Feb. 28. The plan does not apply to schools. It’s unclear what level of rise in hospitalizations could lead the state to change its course, but…
Read Full Article SPRINGFIELD — Gov. JB Pritzker will make an official announcement on the state’s plan for lifting its indoor mask mandate at 2 p.m. in Chicago, but in a morning news conference in Champaign Wednesday, he noted that he plans to lift the indoor mandate for some settings by Feb. 28. That won’t be the lift…
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SPRINGFIELD — Illinoisans should stay tuned for an announcement on the state’s indoor mask mandate, Gov. JB Pritzker said at an unrelated news conference Tuesday, although he declined to say specifically what changes might be coming. “I think I’ve said over the last few press conferences that I really believe that we ought to be…
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SPRINGFIELD — Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and Gov. JB Pritzker’s administration are asking a state appellate court to set aside a lower court order from late Friday that invalidated the mask and vaccine mandates that the state imposed last year for public schools. On Friday, Sangamon County Circuit Judge Raylene Grischow granted a temporary…
Read Full Article November 13, 2024
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