Politics
After struggling for nearly a year to get federal food assistance to qualified low-income families, Missouri has decided not to participate in this summer’s program — forgoing tens of millions of dollars in federal aid. The problems administering the Pandemic Electronic Benefits Transfer program, or P-EBT, played a major role in the decision not to…
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CHICAGO — Alex Gough will begin a new role as Press Secretary. Gough previously served in Governor JB Pritzker’s office as Senior Deputy Press Secretary, a role he had held since March of 2022. Prior to that, Gough served as member of the Illinois Senate Democratic Caucus communications team and as a member of the Illinois…
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SPRINGFIELD – Veteran journalists Jennifer Fuller and Molly Parker will join Capitol News Illinois’ newsroom this month, expanding the outlet’s southern Illinois, broadcast and investigative presence. Fuller joins CNI as its broadcast director, bringing more than two decades of experience in Illinois radio, television and digital media to the newsroom as it plans to expand…
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CHICAGO — Michael Madigan’s former chief of staff reached out to a defense attorney for the then-powerful Illinois House speaker after he was approached by FBI agents in early 2019, then he called a longtime Madigan confidant and said he was “reporting in,” prosecutors say. While the feds do not argue those actions by Timothy…
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ST. LOUIS — For kids like Sandy Mitchell, Ted Theis and Janet Johnson, childhood in the North St. Louis County suburbs in the 1960s and ‘70s meant days playing along the banks or splashing in the knee-deep waters of Coldwater Creek. They caught turtles and tadpoles, jumped into deep stretches of the creek from rope…
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State revenues once again reached a record high in the fiscal year that ended June 30, creating what Gov. JB Pritzker called a “one-time” budget surplus of over $700 million. The $50.7 billion in base general revenues that the state collected in fiscal year 2023 – which exclude one-time pandemic-related federal funds – topped last year’s previous…
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Gov. Mike Parson on Thursday signed the tax cut he said a week earlier was responsible for his decision to veto most of the 201 spending items he cut from the state budget. The bill, exempting Social Security benefits and public pension payments from income tax, would reduce state general revenue by an estimated $309 million annually. It would also allow…
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SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Department of Transportation unveiled a plan on Friday for spending nearly $41 billion in federal, state and local funds over the next six years to repair and upgrade roads, bridges, airports, rail lines and other infrastructure throughout the state. The latest version of the plan, which IDOT updates annually, is the largest…
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The state shouldn’t be responsible for paying people released after their convictions have been overturned, Gov. Mike Parson wrote explaining his veto of a bill that expands who is eligible for compensation for being wrongly imprisoned. Under current law, only someone shown to be innocent by means of a DNA test is eligible for compensation after being released.…
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SPRINGFIELD – Immigrants in Illinois with or without permission from U.S. immigration authorities will soon be able to obtain standard driver’s licenses that can be used for identification. Gov. JB Pritzker on Friday signed House Bill 3882, which will phase out the “Temporary Visitor Driver’s License,” or TVDL, which noncitizens currently use to drive legally in…
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A Cole County judge on Wednesday, June 28 ordered the state to pay more than $240,000 in legal fees as part of a ruling that found the attorney general’s office “knowingly and purposefully” violated open records law while it was being run by now-U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley. “A big win for transparency, election fairness and…
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From the $8,000 set aside so the Lone Jack Police Department could buy rifles to $46 million for an allied health building at St. Louis Community College, Gov. Mike Parson’s veto ax fell heavily on earmarked spending as he finished work on the coming year’s Missouri budget. Parson announced his actions late Friday on the $51.8 billion…
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Independence Day is a time to celebrate sacrifices by those who died to secure freedoms we enjoy today. It calls for backyard barbecues and a booming night sky. But not in Illinoisans’ backyards. It is one of three states banning some or all fireworks. The other 47 states, or nearly 94% of country, celebrate freedom with the flair of…
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There were no champagne toasts or fireworks, but when the clock struck 12 a.m. on Saturday, it marked the start of a new year in Illinois – a new fiscal year, that is. And just as a new year is a time to contemplate recent accomplishments and make resolutions for the future, Illinois Comptroller Susana…
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SPRINGFIELD – Gov. JB Pritzker signed legislation Tuesday that will dramatically alter the health insurance market in Illinois. The measures establish a state-based exchange for policies sold under the Affordable Care Act and give the Illinois Department of Insurance the authority to modify or reject proposed rate increases. “Since day one of my administration, I’ve…
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CHICAGO – In a whirlwind visit to Chicago on Wednesday, President Joe Biden trotted out a re-election campaign message built on economic recovery – and effusively praised Gov. JB Pritzker for helping him win the White House in 2020. “There’s a guy that helped me more than – I can say this without equivocation –…
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CHICAGO — A trip from St. Louis to Chicago via Amtrak’s Lincoln Service will be about 15 minutes quicker starting this week due to track upgrades that allow for increased speeds. The Amtrak line ran its first 110 mph service on Monday, up from 90 mph previously, which would make the one-way trip less than…
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HANNIBAL, Mo. – Kristy Trevathan announced Thursday morning she will run for Hannibal Mayor during a gathering at Riverview Park. A special election for Hannibal City Mayor will take place on Nov. 7. Candidates can file petitions on July 11 through Aug. 1. The person elected will finish former Mayor James Hark’s term, which runs…
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SPRINGFIELD – A new state fiscal year will begin July 1, ushering in the reinstatement of a 1 percent tax on groceries and a second increase to the state’s motor fuel tax in 2023. Amid record-high inflation last spring, the General Assembly temporarily waived Illinois’ grocery tax for the coming fiscal year and delayed the…
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QUINCY — About 25 nurses spent a couple of hours before their shifts Tuesday morning walking the picket line outside the 12th Street entrance to the Illinois Veterans Home. Margo Gislain with the Illinois Nurses Association said the nurses were “protesting unsafe working conditions for both the union nurses and the veterans that they care…
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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Justice Lisa Holder White has announce she is running for a full term on the Supreme Court of Illinois. The Supreme Court appointed Holder White on July 7, 2022, to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Rita B. Garman. Holder White was sworn in as an Associate Judge for…
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Missouri ranks in the bottom third of all states for children’s health, according to a recent report using data from 2021. The annual Kids Count Data Book from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, released this month, evaluates states on four metrics of child well-being. Those are: health, economic well-being, education and family & community. For overall child…
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SPRINGFIELD – While hundreds of bills cleared the General Assembly in the final month of the legislative session, some big-ticket measures will have to wait until at least the fall. Sponsors of several stalled bills say they will consider reviving their proposals when lawmakers return to the Capitol in October and November for their annual…
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CHICAGO — Millions of Illinoisans could see higher energy bills next year, but the size of those increases will be determined by a state agency that has recently had its oversight powers expanded. Four gas utilities and the state’s two largest electric utilities are currently requesting authority from the Illinois Commerce Commission to increase rates.…
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For decades, there’s been a global movement urging “plain packaging” on tobacco products — or packaging with limited colors and frills — after numerous studies found it makes cigarettes less appealing to young people. Missouri will soon be a testing ground to see if plain packaging has the same impact for recreational marijuana. When voters passed the constitutional…
Read Full Article December 22, 2024
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