Schools in the U. of I. System, which enrolled more than 88,000 students last fall at campuses in Chicago, Springfield and Urbana-Champaign, will see greater losses if the pandemic continues to limit on-campus enrollment through next fall, although those cost estimates are still being compiled.

The coronavirus pandemic is touching all aspects of the American economy, including farmers like Kilgus throughout Illinois and the Midwest who are the lifeblood of rural communities and essential to the nation’s supply chain. Commodity prices have fallen, demand has dropped, processing systems have been under pressure and the transportation network is under strain.

Pritzker’s comments hinted the requirement could be put in place as the state eases up on its stay at home order. That order is set to expire at the end of April, though it could be extended.

Within the $2.7 billion gap, about $600 million of that lost revenue is due to unemployment, while between $700 million and $750 million is a downward revision of sales tax, since so many businesses are closed. There’s also a big hit from no video gaming, casinos or sports betting, in both the operating and capital budgets.

“Things in the executive orders are state law, or are mandated by executive order. They can only be removed by the state government,” he said. “We’ve left in the hands of counties and cities a lot of decisions, such as what to do with their city or county parks.”

Some cities and towns have enacted their own ordinances following Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s stay-at-home order to allow local police to enforce social distancing in retail stores deemed essential and open to the public.

Ted Dabrowski, president of public finance watchdog Wirepoints, said the federal government is not responsible for fixing problems in Illinois that existed long before the pandemic. He said changes were needed to reduce the state’s pension costs along with measures to attract businesses – and jobs – to the state.

“It is true that the federal government seems to be interrupting supplies that are being sent elsewhere in the nation, so I wanted to make sure we received what we ordered,” the governor said Wednesday.

Illinois needs to close a $2.7 billion revenue gap this year and must dig its way out of an up to $7.4 billion hole in the next fiscal year due to plunging revenues blamed on the coronavirus-driven shutdown of many businesses.

“This is a public health crisis but it is accompanied by massive economic disruption that’s unprecedented in modern history,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said during his daily briefing on the state’s COVID-19 response Wednesday.

The suburban death rate from the virus is slightly higher than the state rate of 3.7%. However, less than 1% of the state’s population has been tested, and only about 20% of those tested are confirmed cases, according to IDPH figures.

Job losses cause extreme suffering. Every 1 percent hike in the unemployment rate will likely produce a 3.3 percent increase in drug-overdose deaths and a 0.99 percent increase in suicides. These are facts based on past experience, not models. If unemployment hits 32 percent, some 77,000 Americans are likely to die from suicide and drug overdoses as a result of layoffs. Deaths of despair.

Compared with the rest of the county, Illinois responded quickly to the coronavirus crisis, issuing a stay-at-home order, closing nonessential businesses and banning gatherings for its almost 13 million residents.

While the numbers are encouraging, Lightfoot admitted Chicagoans “still have a long way to go.” A steady decline in new cases still needs to occur before major social distancing interventions are no longer required, officials said.

Illinois was already facing a $1.7 billion budget shortfall for the upcoming fiscal year, prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“…If voters on Nov. 3 remove the Illinois constitution’s flat tax protection they will be granting state lawmakers broad new taxing power that would make it easier to go after seniors and their retirement income.”

Federal investigators over the past year have raided the homes of two close Madigan associates, and the Tribune reported late last year that four people who have been interviewed as part of an ongoing corruption probe were asked questions about the speaker and his political operation.

“In Illinois, Gov. J.B. Pritzker remains busy, ripping on the White House, reinforced by supportive media, worrying about his badly mismanaged state’s lack of a rainy day fund and downplaying questions about a poll worker in the March 17 primary — which Pritzker had insisted on holding — who later tested positive for the coronavirus and died.”

Comment: That’s a huge number for a city of only 120,000; nearly one-quarter of its total budget.

The decision by the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission came suddenly, with virtually no advanced warning to businesses. Prior to making the announcement, the Commission had only given notice of an “emergency meeting by telephonic means” scheduled for April 15 to discuss “the further amendment of Rules Governing Practice” before the Commission.

“I mean, the president at this point is near irrelevant when it comes to this question of testing anyway,” Pritzker said. “And they’ve gotten very little for us as a state. So, we’re doing the work. We’re also spinning up contact tracing.”