Politics
CHICAGO – Governor Pritzker today condemned the reported Supreme Court draft opinion to overturn Roe v. Wade, allowing states to enact even more restrictive anti-choice laws that would deny woman’s access to reproductive health care. Early in his term, Governor Pritzker signed the Reproductive Health Act to protect Illinois women in anticipation of a conservative Supreme Court overturning Roe. “The terrifying implications…
Read Full Article Two bills on Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s desk could expand Illinois highway camera monitoring program to cover 6,600 more miles of road across 22 counties as the General Assembly looks to crack down on expressway crime before November elections. House Bill 260 and House Bill 448 – passed alongside 80 other proposals in the final dayof the legislative session – would see…
Read Full Article Amid a wave of anti-LGBTQ legislation pushed nationwide, the Missouri House passed a pair of bills Thursday that would limit transgender students from participating on the sports teams that match the gender they identify with. One bill, which originally dealt with school transportation, would restrict transgender students to only participating on high school sports teams of…
Read Full Article Gov. J.B. Pritzker defended his mandate that gas stations owners post stickers at the pump announcing his delay of a gas tax increase or pay $500 daily fines. “There’s no political speech involved there, at all,” Pritzker said April 27. “And, here’s what we’re doing. We’re lowering the impact on people of the rise in prices of…
Read Full Article SPRINGFIELD — Gov. JB Pritzker signed a package of bills Wednesday aimed at easing the state’s shortage of teachers and other education professionals, even as a new report shows Illinois just added a record number of new teachers to its ranks. Speaking in the library of Springfield High School just blocks from the Capitol, Pritzker…
Read Full Article Congressman Rodney Davis (R-IL) says eliminating student loan debt is “morally wrong” and is supporting legislation to block President Joe Biden from permanently extending student loan forbearance that has been in place since almost the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. “The debt isn’t just magically eliminated with the stroke of a pen,” Davis said. “It…
Read Full Article QUINCY — Congresswomen Mary Miller (R-IL) and Lauren Boebert (R-CO) will be in Quincy on Saturday as part of a “Defend the Second Amendment Rally”. Miller is running in the June 28 15th District Republican primary against Congressman Rodney Davis (R-IL) as both were lumped in the same Congressional District following redistricting controlled by Illinois…
Read Full Article JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri has recovered more than 95 percent of the jobs lost during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Missouri Chamber’s latest quarterly economic report. Missouri is among states leading in job recovering after adding back 357,200 of jobs lost, according to Ted Abernathy, managing partner of Economic Leadership LLC. “Ten states have made it back…
Read Full Article SPRINGFIELD – Gov. JB Pritzker signed a package of bills Tuesday that make up a roughly $46 billion Fiscal Year 2023 state general revenue funds budget that includes increased funding for education and human services and $1.8 billion in mostly-temporary tax relief. Pritzker signed the bill during a ceremony at Chicago State University where he…
Read Full Article www.mjbizdaily.com CHICAGO — A group calling itself True Social Equity in Cannabis sued three marijuana multistate operators and an ancillary company in Illinois federal court, claiming the four constitute a “Chicago cartel” linked by the wealthy Pritzker, Wrigley and Kovler families. The nine-page lawsuit was filed this week in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of…
Read Full Article SPRINGFIELD – Gov. JB Pritzker signed his final first-term budget into law Tuesday, a roughly $46 billion spending plan buoyed by pandemic-driven revenue windfalls and a current-year surplus that helped the state pay down debts and offer temporary tax relief. Between the three budget-related bills signed Tuesday – House Bill 900, House Bill 4700 and Senate Bill 157 – as…
Read Full Article With the end of the legislative session only weeks away, and organizers of an initiative petition campaign sounding the alarm about an even more pressing deadline, dueling efforts to legalize marijuana in Missouri face uncertain fates. In the legislature, GOP state Rep. Ron Hicks is sponsoring a bill to legalize possession and use of marijuana for…
Read Full Article SPRINGFIELD – A state appellate court ruled this week that it will not block enforcement of the Pritzker administration’s mandate that certain categories of public employees either be vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo regular testing. The 2-1 ruling by the 4th District Court of Appeals upheld a Sangamon County judge’s decision on April 1 not to issue a…
Read Full Article The new budget for fiscal year 2023 includes Gov. J.B Pritzker’s election-year suspension of the 1% grocery tax, but a few months after the next governor’s inauguration, it will be back. Grocery stores must advertise the suspension, by law, on customer receipts. If that isn’t feasible, they must display a 4-inch by 8-inch bold sign. Either…
Read Full Article More than 23,000 Illinois public school employees – and 15,000 other government employees – have exercised their freedom to choose not to join or pay a union since the U.S. Supreme Court restored that right in 2018 through Janus v. AFSCME. After the Janus decision, teachers such as Derrick Crenshaw stopped handing their money to the union: “When [Mark] Janus…
Read Full Article A new measure passed in the Illinois House would have cameras with license plate scanning abilities installed along highways – useful for fighting crime or for taxing vehicles for the miles they travel. Unlike typical traffic cameras that photograph plates for an infraction, this new technology records license plate information regardless of wrongdoing. Gov. J.B Pritzker insisted more surveillance cameras will…
Read Full Article QUINCY — The Adams County Board voted Tuesday night to pump in another $50,000 of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to help find people on probation find jobs. Adams County Board Chairman Kent Snider said 27 people have found jobs with local manufacturers since the program was established last September and utilizing the first…
Read Full Article As debates over school curriculum rage nationwide, the Missouri House granted initial approval Tuesday to a “Parents’ Bill of Rights” that would allow for lawsuits and funding to be withheld from schools that repeatedly violate the proposed law. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Ben Baker, R-Neosho, aims to “to empower parents to enforce” rights laid…
Read Full Article Congressman Rodney Davis (R-Taylorville) was in Quincy on Tuesday to discuss healthcare issues with administrators of Blessing Health System. Davis also announced that he and other members of Congress are urging the Department of Interior (DOI) to help the return of Honor Flight trips to war memorials and monuments in Washington, DC by bringing back…
Read Full Article SPRINGFIELD, Ill — Landlords around Illinois have concerns about a bill that could soon be headed to the governor that they say gives more choices for residents in public housing but provides less autonomy for landlords. The measure amends the Homelessness Prevention Act and gives protections against discrimination based on source of income. It passed both chambers…
Read Full Article In 2018, the Missouri General Assembly passed SB 564 which was designed to modernize the state’s electric grid with investments in infrastructure reliability as well as capitalize on the competitive economic development legislation passed the previous year. Since the passage of SB 564, Ameren has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in electric grid modernization…
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