Gov. JB Pritzker
On Sept. 1 of this year, Illinois Veterans Home Quincy Administrator Troy Culbertson as asked by Veterans Affairs Director Terry Prince to sign a letter of resignation or he would be terminated. After gathering facts about this situation, it was caused by a minor racial incident between an employee and a resident of the home.…
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Marc Smith is one of 3 state agency leaders to announce end-of-year departure plans Illinois Department of Children and Family Services Director Marc Smith will resign effective Dec. 31, he told colleagues in an all-staff town hall meeting Wednesday morning. For years, critics had called on Smith to resign or be fired, amid legislative hearings,…
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A new battery manufacturing plant is set to open in northern Illinois next year after the state offered more than $330 million in tax incentives to make it happen. Gotion, a Chinese battery manufacturing and development company, announced on Friday that it will build a lithium-ion battery manufacturing facility in Manteno, about 50 miles south…
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QUINCY – The Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs (IDVA) has asked for and received the resignation of Troy Culbertson as the administrator of the Illinois Veterans’ Home of Quincy. Culbertson was hired in August 2016 under former governor Bruce Rauner, just as the facility was dealing with an outbreak of Legionnaires Disease that took the…
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CHICAGO – A coalition of elected officials and business leaders in Illinois is calling on President Joe Biden to ease work restrictions for asylum seekers and other long-term undocumented workers – a move they say is both humane and would help solve ongoing labor shortages. In the year since Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and other…
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$1,000 grants to FFA chapters will be available this fall Farmers and residents of rural communities often face stigma when it comes to mental health challenges, but state leaders hope to change that. Governor JB Pritzker announced Tuesday that chapters of FFA – the group once known as Future Farmers of America – will be…
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Communities across Illinois that lack access to nearby stores that sell high quality food may soon see that change. Gov. JB Pritzker on Friday signed a bill that sets up a program to distribute $20 million for grants and technical assistance for grocery stores as well as funding research into food insecurity. The grants will go to…
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Gov. JB Pritzker on Wednesday vetoed a measure that would have granted existing utilities in downstate Illinois, notably Ameren Illinois, the “right of first refusal” for transmission line construction. This would have given Ameren, the electric utility that serves much of downstate Illinois, authority to build new transmission lines without going through a competitive bidding…
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SPRINGFIELD – A gun trade association has filed a federal lawsuit challenging a new Illinois law that restricts how gun dealers and manufacturers market their products. The Connecticut-based National Shooting Sports Foundation filed the suit in the Southern District of Illinois on Monday, just two days after Gov. JB Pritzker signed it into law. “The…
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SPRINGFIELD – A new law in Illinois restricts the way gun dealers and manufacturers can market and sell their products and subjects them to civil penalties for violations. Gov. JB Pritzker on Saturday signed House Bill 218 into law. Labeled the Firearm Industry Responsibility Act, it took effect immediately. “We hold opioid manufacturers accountable. Vaping companies accountable.…
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As another of Illinois’ border states is set to enact a near-total abortion ban this week, Gov. JB Pritzker on Monday announced several new programs to help address the influx of out-of-state abortion seekers the state has seen in the 13 months since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Indiana joined Missouri and…
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SPRINGFIELD – Gov. JB Pritzker has spent much of his time in recent weeks promoting the state’s electric vehicle industry and touting the impact of his signature Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, or CEJA, including during a weeklong trade mission to the United Kingdom. On Friday, Pritzker was in Joliet where he joined other elected…
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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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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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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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Frankie, Bobby and Ashley discuss having kids at certain ages and about the ever-shifting landscape and evolution of local media.
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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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The Land of Lincoln distinguishes itself by being among the most unfriendly of the 50 states when it comes to taxes. Illinois has been ranked numero uno as the state with the highest tax burden. Death Taxes and Escaping Illinois Just one of those unfriendly taxes is the estate or death tax. The tax…
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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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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…
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There are few entertainment experiences that outshine live theater. The Quincy Community Theatre again proved this with its superb production of RENT and outstanding performances by Trey Ehrhart, Lance Frederick and other cast members. I saw RENT on Broadway years ago in the throes of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The medical progress in confronting HIV/AIDS has…
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SPRINGFIELD – While Illinois has recently experienced a prolonged stretch of good financial news, a new state fiscal forecast notes that if spending continues to grow at its recent pace it could lead to future budget deficits. It would mark the reversal of a recent trend during which the state logged considerable surpluses this fiscal…
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SPRINGFIELD – Illinois lawmakers advanced a bill last week that would effectively abolish life sentences for any incarcerated individual who was under the age of 21 when they received their sentence. In January, Gov. JB Pritzker signed a law that makes any individual who was under the age of 21 when sentenced to life in prison eligible…
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