Illinois Politics
The last day on the job for the Legislative Inspector General Carol Pope was Thursday. The office is now vacant at this time. “We have to reeducate ourselves to fight the corruption that exists under the Capitol dome,” Sen. Jil Tracy, R–Quincy, who chairs the Senate Ethics Commission, said during a news conference Thursday. Pope,…
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Proposal would create new subcircuits in additional counties SPRINGFIELD – Illinois lawmakers on Wednesday passed a bill to redraw judicial subcircuit maps in Cook County and some of the surrounding collar counties while creating new subcircuits in several additional counties. The House gave its final approval shortly after 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, and the measure passed…
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The Illinois General Assembly begins a new session Jan. 5, but it is not expected to last long. They may have a new state budget and wrap up almost two months early. Illinois state legislators head back to Springfield Jan. 5 for what is expected to be the shortest legislative session in decades. The holiday…
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Arguments continue in cases brought by teachers challenging the governor’s vaccine mandates in schools and parents challenging mask and exclusion mandates on students. Sangamon County Judge Raylene Grischow heard Monday in Springfield arguments from defendants to have a different judge oversee the teacher’s case. That case has dozens of teachers and school staffing suing 22 districts. The judge said…
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The downsizing and redistricting of Illinois’ Congressional political map was probably going to pit some current members of Congress against each other and that appears to have come to fruition. Freshman Mary Miller of Oakland announced over the weekend she will run for the Republican nomination in the Illinois 15th District. Congressman Rodney Davis of…
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It’s the biggest federal corruption investigation in years, but the most remarkable thing about the Commonwealth Edison bribery probe in 2021 might be what didn’t happen. The year began with pressure mounting on Michael Madigan, the then-powerful House speaker whose ironclad grip on the General Assembly was slipping after being exposed the previous summer as…
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Illinois driver services facilities will be closed for two weeks to try to slow the spread of COVID-19 after the start of the year. Because of increased cases, Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White has announced the state’s driver services facilities will be closed for the first two weeks of the new year. “After careful…
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Chicagoans will be required to provide proof of vaccination and a photo ID before entering restaurants, gyms and entertainment venues in the city starting Jan. 3, Mayor Lori Lightfoot has decreed. Office buildings, airports and churches are exempt. Those with a religious exemption can provide a negative test, but the test option was not offered to those…
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SPRINGFIELD – New estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau suggest Illinois is continuing to lose population. The latest estimates, released Tuesday, pegged the state’s population at 12,671,469 as of July 1, 2021, down by 113,776, or 0.9 percent, from the official 2020 census. Several factors contributed to the change, but the single largest was domestic outmigration.…
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Gov. JB Pritzker and other health officials from across Illinois on Monday identified unvaccinated people as the cause for healthcare systems stretched to their limits as the state experiences a fifth COVID wave driven by the virus’ extremely contagious Omicron variant. Five-hundred new COVID patients were admitted to Illinois hospitals between Sunday and Monday —…
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SPRINGFIELD – Minimum wage workers in Illinois will see a boost in their hourly pay to $12 per hour starting Jan. 1, while tenants in affordable housing units will be allowed to keep pets. Those are just some of the more than 300 new laws that take effect in the new year. The minimum wage increase is…
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On any political map, Illinois is a reliable blue state that has elected Democratic governors four of the last five elections and last backed a Republican presidential candidate before Michael Jordan was winning championships in Chicago. But as that political streak again gets put to the test in the high-stakes 2022 gubernatorial campaign, Democrats are…
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Gov. JB Pritzker signed a law on Friday that ends parental notification, a requirement that doctors notify the parents of a minor seeking an abortion. “With reproductive rights under attack across the nation, Illinois is once again establishing itself as a leader in ensuring access to health care services,” Pritzker said. “This repeal was essential,…
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SPRINGFIELD – Several Illinois lawmakers said this week they are determined to pass a bill in the spring that would overhaul the way nursing homes are paid through the state’s Medicaid program to address critical staffing shortages, but the state’s largest nursing home industry group is still pushing back against the proposed changes. “We need…
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The Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) announced today that the unemployment rate fell -0.3 percentage point to 5.7 percent, while nonfarm payrolls increased by +19,500 in November, based on preliminary data provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and released by IDES. The preliminary report for October monthly payrolls was revised from…
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Educators are challenging the effectiveness of Illinois’ public school testing. The Illinois Assessment of Readiness Test that Illinois school districts give every spring is a mandate that takes up valuable classroom time, said Mark Klaisner, president of the Illinois Association of Regional Superintendents of Schools. Illinois is obligated to give a standard state-wide test because…
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First out of the gate for Republicans, state Sen. Darren Bailey, R-Xenia, has announced his running mate for Illinois’ 2022 gubernatorial elections is Stephanie Trussell. During a campaign stop at Caffe di Moda in Lisle, Bailey announced Trussell is joining his campaign. “She’s a hardworking conservative, a fighter, a mother, a grandmother and Illinois’ next…
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In the wake of Friday night storms that left six dead at an Amazon warehouse in Edwardsville, a disaster proclamation was issued Monday for 28 counties in southern and central Illinois. The proclamation will bring personnel or equipment from the Illinois Emergency Management Agency to assist with storm recovery. “My administration is committed to standing…
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After receiving “violent threats,” a state rep from suburban Cook County won’t pursue a proposal requiring unvaccinated Illinoisans to pay their health care expenses — including hospital bills — out of pocket if they contract COVID-19. State Rep. Jonathan Carroll, D-Northbrook, said in a statement Thursday that he decided not to pursue the legislation he…
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An Illinois state representative introduced a new bill this week that would force unvaccinated patients to pay their own medical expenses if they receive hospital treatment for COVID-19. Rep. Jonathan Carroll (D-Northbrook) sponsored the new legislation, HB 4259, that seeks to encourage Illinois residents to receive a vaccination. The bill proposes “a person who is eligible…
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SPRINGFIELD — To Illinois prisoners, commissary is more than candy bars, shaving cream and socks. It represents normalcy and choice. “It’s everything to them,” said Melly Rios, whose husband is in Stateville Correctional Center serving 45 years for murder. A recent report from the John Howard Association, a prison watchdog group, detailed widespread supply shortages…
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Illinois marijuana revenue in 2021 will likely more than double that of 2020, but high taxes keep illegal drug dealers thriving. November 2021 was the ninth consecutive month with over $100 million in marijuana sales in Illinois dispensaries, according to new state data. Illinois surpassed the 2020 sales total of $669 million in June this year. Despite the…
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Gov. J.B. Pritzker in October teased Illinoisans that they could see indoor mask mandates lifted before the holidays, but a surge in new cases makes it unlikely he will follow through. Six states have mask mandates in effect for residents regardless of their vaccination status, with Illinois the only one east of the Mississippi. Some Illinois politicians are questioning…
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SPRINGFIELD – Quincy Regional Airport is one of nearly 100 airports across Illinois to receive state funding in the coming months for projects ranging from new runways and road relocations to the purchase of mowers and snow removal equipment. The money comes from the $45 billion Rebuild Illinois capital infrastructure plan which passed the General…
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SPRINGFIELD – A three-judge federal court panel in Chicago will begin hearing oral arguments Tuesday in three cases that could determine the makeup of state legislative maps in the Chicago area and Metro East region for the next 10 years. The panel announced during a status hearing Friday that it will go ahead with in-person…
Read Full Article November 13, 2024
DAILY MUDDY: QUINCY HOBBY CENTER CLOSING AND EFB COFFEE TALK
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