Todd Maisch, president of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, said, “We saw this in Connecticut. What started out as a millionaire tax turned out to be a tax increase on people making $50,000 a year.”

“There has been a major disconnect between small businesses and access to loans and relief programs,” Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Jaime Di Paulo said. “You almost have to be a scientist to figure out how to apply for some of the relief programs.”

Illinois was the only state in the Midwest with housing markets among the 50 counties in the U.S. most vulnerable to the COVID-19 shock. This is because Illinois already had a large number of underwater homes as well as the second-highest foreclosure rate in the country as of February 2020.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin said news that doses of the vaccine could be ready by November before Election Day “only increased public skepticism about the safety and efficacy” and “undermined credibility in the vaccine approval process.”

The clock is on. If the committees – investigative and disciplinary – don’t finish their work before the end of the 101st General Assembly’s term mid-January, they’ll have to start again.

A letter from the Greater Belleville Chamber of Commerce: “We live in a metropolitan area and by restricting Region 4 you are sending our citizens across the border to Missouri, further putting our positivity rate at risk and damaging our local economy.”

The Edwardsville/Glen Carbon Chamber of Commerce was one group that wrote to the governor: “For the sake of our neighbors, our friends, our families, the fabric of our communities, and the future of our economy, it is critical to embrace and support our local businesses — not further damage them.”

Patrick Kirchhofer, Peoria County Farm Bureau: “We need businesses and people to stay in Illinois. They are a cornerstone in supplying the foundation of jobs and our state’s resources.”

Metra, the Chicago-based rail line responsible for hauling workers from the suburbs into the city, said in June that COVID-19 will cost the agency an estimated $605 million through 2021.

This estimate represents a drop from the 25,333 new unemployment claims filed in Illinois during the week of August 17, but is still higher than the 21,956 new unemployment claims filed the week of August 10.

“Excuse me, but a violent mob marauding through the streets of Chicago, taking what they please and causing mass destruction is a classic example of class warfare, not racial justice…. If you think this could never happen in the United States, think again. The Democratic Party seems to be in cahoots with the launch.”