Politics
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Gov. Mike Parson announced Wednesday the state of Missouri has approved more than $1.8 million in grant assistance to 19 agencies across the state to investigate and prosecute crimes that victimized children. “Criminals who victimize children must be investigated, prosecuted, and brought to justice, no matter when they commit these heinous crimes,”…
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SPRINGFIELD – Illinois community colleges have a multi-billion dollar impact on the state’s economy and will be “integral in making a recovery from the pandemic an equitable one,” according a new report from the Northern Illinois University Center for Governmental Studies. The Illinois Community Colleges’ Economic Impacts and Student Employment Outcomes report said the indirect…
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Illinois taxpayers are on the hook for nearly double the debt burden of just 12 years ago. That’s according to a new report on the fiscal state of the state. Truth In Accounting (TIA) has been evaluating state governments for how much debt the state has versus how much they bring in. Their Financial State of…
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SPRINGFIELD – Gov. JB Pritzker announced Thursday the state will award more than $40 million in workforce training grants, focusing on communities hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and youth who are particularly at risk of violence. That includes $40 million in Workforce Recovery Grants that will go out in two phases over the next…
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With thousands of students quarantined in the first weeks of the new school year, Missouri’s health director said the state is exploring a new strategy that aims to keep kids in class through regular testing. Donald Kauerauf, the new director of the Department of Health and Senior Services, said his agency discussed a new modified…
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A new analysis shows Illinois ranks 41st in the country in unemployment recovery, with unemployment down 40 percent from this time last year. The study was done by WalletHub and shows Illinois’ job recovery post-pandemic. The survey was conducted from March 15, 2021, to August 30, 2021, showing a 69 percent decrease in unemployment claims…
Read Full Article Attorney who is fighting governor’s orders calls latest one “nonsense” On top of his most recent 30-day COVID-19 disaster proclamation, Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued his 90th executive order, which is about who can be excluded from schools, such as those with possible exposure to COVID-19. Pritzker on Friday reissued a majority of orders from the past 19 months. On…
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SPRINGFIELD – The state’s moratorium on enforcement of residential evictions will expire on Oct. 3, according to Gov. JB Pritzker’s latest COVID-19 executive order issued Friday. Pritzker had extended the order each month with minor to substantial revisions since March 2020. The extensions have come in 30-day windows, coinciding with his monthly reissuance of a disaster proclamation…
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Gov. J.B. Pritzker has issued dozens of executive orders since March 2020, affecting everything from the economy to education and healthcare. He started by limiting dine-in restaurants for two weeks to slow the spread of COVID-19. That’s evolved over the past 19 months to mask mandates in schools and vaccine mandates for health care workers,…
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Employers warn inaction by state lawmakers could ‘cripple’ businesses and the COVID-19 economic recovery. Illinois state leaders missed the Sept. 6 deadline to repay a $4.2 billion federal loan to the state’s unemployment insurance fund, which leaves Illinois taxpayers on the hook to pay $60 million in annual interest on that loan. The unemployment fund has been depleted during…
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SPRINGFIELD — Gov. JB Pritzker was joined by environmental and social justice activists, union representatives, and lawmakers from both parties Wednesday as he signed into law a sweeping energy regulation overhaul that aims to phase out carbon emissions from the energy sector by 2045 while diversifying the renewable energy workforce. His signature marked a celebratory…
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Three children in Effingham County can’t be forced to wear masks without an official quarantine order from the county health department, a judge ruled Wednesday. Later in the day, a different judge enjoined an entire school district from requiring masks without a court order. The attorney who brought the cases anticipates more such cases across…
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Ask state education board to adopt formal rules on enforcement actions By PETER HANCOCKCapitol News Illinoisphancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Expressing concern that the Illinois State Board of Education might have overstepped its bounds by threatening to withhold funding from school districts that do not enforce its mask mandate, a legislative panel on Tuesday urged the agency…
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Senate takes final legislative step on bill creating massive renewable, nuclear investment By JERRY NOWICKICapitol News Illinoisjnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Senate put the final legislative stamp on an energy regulation overhaul bill Monday, sending it to Gov. JB Pritzker, who says he will sign it. It’s the culmination of years of negotiation, and it…
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Missouri Republicans assailed President Joe Biden’s push to require employees of private businesses to get vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo weekly testing, vowing a legislative response and legal action. Gov. Mike Parson promised to “fight back against federal power grabs and government overreach” in a tweet Thursday afternoon, calling Biden’s plan “an insult to our…
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SPRINGFIELD — The Illinois House approved an energy regulation and decarbonization bill Thursday, a major step forward for a wide-ranging omnibus bill that had eluded lawmakers throughout the legislative session and the governor’s three years in office. The measure that aims to bring Illinois’ energy generation sector to 100 percent carbon-free by 2050 and 50…
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A new bill would give the Illinois State Board of Education the authority to issue, withhold and revoke state recognition of schools who fail to comply with COVID-19 health regulations. Notably, the bill has not yet been introduced to a committee, meaning beyond being drafted and introduced, there has been no legislative activity on the measure. The…
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SPRINGFIELD — The Illinois House is scheduled to return to Springfield Thursday to try again at passing an elusive energy regulation overhaul days after the governor’s office announced support for a new proposal. It’s the latest push for a legislative accomplishment that has eluded Gov. JB Pritzker in his three years in office, and it’s…
Read Full Article After more than 17 months of expanded benefits, federal pandemic unemployment programs are set to end on Labor Day, cutting off weekly payments to 7.5 million people — including 452,000 in Illinois. The sudden expiration of emergency federal assistance, which some economists have likened to a fiscal cliff, could precipitate everything from a flood of…
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Closure of municipal coal plants remains sticking point By JERRY NOWICKICapitol News Illinoisjnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Senate approved an energy bill in the early hours of Wednesday morning but it’s likely to change as negotiations continue in the House, which has not set a date as to when it will return. A lead negotiator…
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Latest maps introduced Tuesday morning, passed Tuesday night By PETER HANCOCKCapitol News Illinoisphancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Democrats in the General Assembly pushed through a new set of legislative maps during a one-day special session Tuesday, although the process they used sparked the ire of Republicans and voting rights advocates alike. If accepted by Gov. JB Pritzker,…
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A campaign to legalize adult cannabis use in Missouri is emphasizing the use of new revenue to automatically expunge nonviolent cannabis-related criminal records. Legal Missouri 2022, a statewide coalition, filed a ballot initiative with the state last week seeking to legalize recreational marijuana use while expunging criminal records for those with low-level marijuana offenses. Marijuana possession accounted…
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In the fall of 2020, I was infuriated to see then-Majority Leader Mitch McConnell rushing to seat Justice Amy Coney Barrett on the Supreme Court just 35 days before the 2020 election. After all, he was the one who refused to even hold hearings on Merrick Garland, a moderate choice by any measure, because the…
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New cases from the Delta variant wave that has killed more than 1,150 Missourians since June 1 have plateaued but hospital ICUs continue to fill — and small, rural hospitals are among the hardest hit. There were 690 patients in ICU beds across the state on Tuesday, the most recent day reported by the state Department of Health and Human Services.…
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Even though the U.S. Supreme Court has ended the pandemic-related federal moratorium on residential evictions, the Illinois moratorium continues. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention health order had banned evictions nationwide in areas with high COVID-19 transmission rates. “In light of the Supreme Court ruling and the continue risk of COVID-19 transmission, President Biden…
Read Full Article December 27, 2024
BOOK NOOK: DAVID HANCOCK, MORGAN JAMES PUBLISHING
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