Politics
CHICAGO – Next time you attend a parade, there might be an eye in the sky. A new law signed by Gov. JB Pritzker on Friday expands local police departments’ authority to use drones to surveil certain events, respond to certain 911 calls, inspect buildings and participate in public relations events. House Bill 3902 passed 56-1…
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Lifelong Missourian Lacey Miller recently announced her intentions to run for Marion County Western District Commissioner. The position covers Marion County’s western district and Hannibal’s 1st ward. A Republican, Miller’s primary election will take place in August 2024. “For the past 20 years, I have dedicated my time to working for not just the farmers…
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Ameren Missouri plans to open four solar farms by 2026 capable of powering a combined 95,000 homes, the company announced Tuesday. Ameren, an investor-owned electric utility serving St. Louis and eastern Missouri, said in a release it would build or purchase the four solar farms, which would have a combined capacity of 550 megawatts. Mark…
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Ameren Missouri’s nearly 1.3 million electric power customers will be paying more in the near future but exactly how much more, and when the rates will take effect, has yet to be determined, the Missouri Public Service Commission said in a news release Thursday. The commission approved a plan for the utility to increase revenues…
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The number of patients seeking abortions from Planned Parenthood of Illinois increased dramatically since last June after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. The amount of patients seeking both medication and procedure abortions rose 54% in the last year, Planned Parenthood reported Monday. Patients needing financial and travel help also more than doubled…
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SPRINGFIELD – Gov. JB Pritzker signed legislation Monday that seeks to protect public and school libraries from pressure to ban, remove or restrict access to books based on “partisan or doctrinal disapproval.” Speaking at the Harold Washington Library Center in downtown Chicago, Pritzker said there were 67 attempts in 2022 to have various books removed…
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SPRINGFIELD – Former Gov. Bruce Rauner’s portrait has joined the “Hall of Governors” in the Illinois Capitol. The Winnetka Republican-turned-Florida resident on Monday unveiled the portrait, which was painted by Chicago Artist Richard Halstead and privately funded by Rauner. The 42nd governor of Illinois who served from 2015 to 2019, Rauner said he returns to the…
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The state has collected more than 73,000 survey responses that reflect details such as who is substitute teaching in Missouri public schools, what they’re paid and where they work. The data, released Wednesday by the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, may not offer a clear reason why some school districts struggle to recruit substitute teachers,…
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Illinois is reinstating the state grocery tax on July 1 after an election-year suspension. Illinois will again become an outlier by taxing food at the supermarket: 37 states don’t tax groceries at all. Among the 10 most populous states, Illinois is the only one with a grocery tax. Among the 13 states that tax groceries, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas and…
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CHICAGO – Gov. JB Pritzker signed the state’s operating budget for the upcoming fiscal year on Wednesday, marking the first spending plan of his second term as governor. The $50.4 billion spending plan anticipates about $50.6 billion in revenues for the fiscal year that begins July 1, making for a projected surplus of roughly $183…
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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — A week into Pride month, Gov. Mike Parson signed legislation banning minors from beginning gender-affirming care and limiting sports participation for transgender athletes. In a press release announcing his decision to sign the bills, Parson said he supports every person’s right to “his or her own pursuit of happiness.” However, he continued,…
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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — On Tuesday, Gov. JB Pritzker signed House Bill 3062 into law, which requires any constitutional challenge to state laws to be filed in either Cook or Sangamon counties, a measure supporters say is intended to put a stop to what they describe as “venue shopping.” This was one of the final bills…
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SPRINGFIELD – Illinois lawmakers passed 566 bills through both chambers of the General Assembly in the recently concluded legislative session – all but one of them in May. It sets the table for an approximate three-month bill-signing season for Gov. JB Pritzker. That’s because the state’s constitution gives legislative leaders 30 days from a bill’s…
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QUINCY— Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker stopped by John Wood Community College Monday afternoon to discuss the state’s recently passed budget and a large increase in Monetary Award Program for higher education. MAP grants, which do not need to be repaid, are available to eligible Illinois residents who attend approved Illinois colleges and demonstrate financial need, based on the information provided…
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Todd Maisch: A Man Proud of the Place in Which He LivedBy State Senator Jil Tracy (R-Quincy) President Abraham Lincoln had an inspirational quote that, for me, epitomizes the life and career of Illinois Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Todd Maisch, and what he meant to our state and its many businesses. I like…
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SPRINGFIELD – The 2023 spring legislative session came to an end in the early hours of Saturday morning after the Illinois House gave its approval to a $50.6 billion spending plan for the upcoming fiscal year that begins July 1. The 73-38 party-line vote came around 2:30 a.m. after lengthy debate during which Democrats called the budget…
Read Full Article SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois House is planning to work until the early hours of Saturday morning to finalize a $50.6 billion state spending plan for the fiscal year that begins July 1. That announcement came early Thursday evening, more than 24 hours after Gov. JB Pritzker and the Democratic leaders of the General Assembly announced…
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UPDATE: The budget was filed as a 3,409-page amendment to Senate Bill 250 late Wednesday evening. This story has been updated to reflect the latest developments as of Wednesday night. SPRINGFIELD – Gov. JB Pritzker and Democratic leaders announced Wednesday they’ve agreed to a framework for next year’s roughly $50 billion state spending plan, even as negotiations continued…
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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — The Missouri legislative session for 2023 ended at 6 p.m. May 12, the day and time as required by law, with a number of bills left unheard. Two senators filibustered to protest bills that were not being passed. Sen. Bill Eigel, R-Weldon Spring, read aloud from a biography of Ronald Reagan,…
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SPRINGFIELD – Lawmakers didn’t finish their spring legislative session by Friday’s scheduled adjournment as negotiations over the state budget remain in flux. The May 19 end to the General Assembly’s spring session had been on the calendar for months, but it’s not a deadline; lawmakers still have until the end of May before a constitutional…
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SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Senate on Thursday passed an amended version of a bill that would allow businesses and public institutions to provide multi-occupant all-gender bathrooms if they choose to do so. House Bill 1286 would change current state law, under which single-occupancy bathrooms are automatically designated for all genders, but multi-occupancy bathrooms must be designated…
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In a Columbia parking lot on Wednesday afternoon, there was a reminder of Christmas. It wasn’t leftover decorations or early preparations for a summer “Christmas in July” sale. It was the temporary tag on the back of a Jeep Cherokee that expired on Christmas Day. Handed out by an auto dealer at the time of…
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SPRINGFIELD – Illinois’ ban on assault-style weapons and large capacity magazines will remain in force, at least for the time being. The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to grant a temporary injunction to block enforcement of the law, known as the Protect Illinois Communities Act, pending an appeal of five consolidated lower court decisions…
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SPRINGFIELD – As the General Assembly prepares to wrap up its spring legislative session this week, Democratic lawmakers are advancing a bill that would mandate job postings to include a salary range in a move they say would promote equity within the workplace. Meanwhile, a bipartisan bill designed to make transferring to a public university…
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Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey terminated his emergency rule on gender-affirming care Tuesday — less than a week after the state legislature sent a ban on minors starting treatment to the governor’s desk. The ACLU of Missouri filed a lawsuit in late April seeking to block Bailey’s emergency rule, alleging the attorney general didn’t have the authority…
Read Full Article December 22, 2024
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