Jim Dey: “Madigan rules through the use of a carrot and stick. Cooperate with him, and he’ll take care of you. Don’t cooperate with him and — well, he’ll take care of you. He needs 60 votes to be re-elected speaker in January, and has 72 House Democrats.”
Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th Ward) — who has been pushing for changes to the city’s sanctuary city ordinance for five years — said a member of the mayor’s office staff told him it was included in the budget bill “because there isn’t much good to vote for in this budget.”
Wirepoints President Ted Dabrowski said the math is getting closer to where it would make sense to address one of the state’s largest costs, but the relationship between Illinois’ political class and public-sector unions largely precludes the possibility.
State Sen. Sue Rezin, R-Morris, and state Rep. LaShawn Ford, D-Chicago, said eight months into the pandemic, it’s beyond time to hold hearings. “To us, it is long past time that legislators, as well as the millions of Illinois residents, get the answers we deserve,” the co-signed letter said.
The university system plans to use $121.3 million in reserve funds to address some of the COVID-19 costs.
“Tenants have not been paying; They have not paid the money, taxes are going up on us, on me. Water bills that the tenant does not pay, it goes on me,” Chicago Heights landlord Kevin Savage said. “I have to be able to pay all that in order to keep my house.”
More than 150 positive COVID-19 cases have been reported at the LaSalle Veterans’ Home, including 82 residents as of Thursday. The LaSalle facility currently has 121 residents and 230 active employees.
Pritzker, who has once again placed restrictions on bars and restaurants, blamed Illinois’ neighbors for the spike in coronavirus cases and the closure of businesses. “The massive surge of cases in our neighboring states will continue to have a spillover effect. There is no easy fix for the effects of this virus on our economy and on our public health.”
“Those who have flat out told the businesses in their communities to ignore what their local and state public health departments are telling them, what is it going to take to get you to be part of the solution?” Pritzker asked.
The state can better align its tax structure with its current priorities by revising three crucial tax policy parameters: the flat tax rate, individual exemption values and the income tax base. Broadening the tax base will keep rates lower than they otherwise would be, limiting efficiency distortions but raising needed revenues, while increasing exemptions will improve system fairness.
“A lot of people in the population don’t perceive themselves to be at high risk of severe COVID-19, but we are truly all at risk if we have hospitals and health systems that aren’t able to be there for us when we need them,” said Ryan Westergaard, state Department of Health Services chief medical officer.
“Over the years, the City Council’s final budget vote has been a test of the mayor’s political muscle. Former mayors Richard M. Daley and Rahm Emanuel won many unanimous votes, thanks to the relationships of trust they worked hard to build with individual aldermen. Lightfoot has a strained relationship with the Council, stemming in part from her Day One executive order stripping aldermen of control over licensing and permitting in their wards.”
Chicago officials said they have spent $2 million on 86,000 containers of sanitizing wipes and $3.5 million on 50,000 portable hand-sanitizer stations for high-traffic areas. But until you’ve been in a preschool classroom, teachers say, it’s hard to estimate how many wipes and sanitation supplies get used — from wiping off toys between uses, to wiping down tables, to cleaning up after snacks and lunches. “There are lots of fluids in the pre-K classroom,” said Terra Calamari.
The program includes commitments of $3 billion for community reinvestment, $500 million for mortgage loans in low- and moderate- income communities and $500 million for commercial lending.
The complaint came one day after the Illinois Restaurant Association launched a new push of its #fightforillinoisrestaurants campaign on social media, asserting that “Illinois is the only state in the country where indoor dining is completely shut down,” in bold lettering.
The most recent claims represent a nearly 9% decrease from the prior week when 73,515 unemployment claims were filed in Illinois, but a 510% increase over the 11,015 claims filed during the same week of 2019.
This is the first time the vandals have spoken about their crime, which involved adding a very official-looking extra “S” to every park district sign in Douglas Park, a year and a half before Chicago’s Park District actually decided to change the name this September. “It was like, ‘No. We’re gonna do every sign. And if it falls apart, we’re going to fix it.’” So the two maintained 47 signs — and took care of every single extra ‘S’ — for more than a year.
Less than 2 percent of people arrested in Chicago get access to an attorney while in custody, police records show. A proposed ordinance would require police to allow detainees to use a phone within one hour of arrest — but the measure has languished for a year under Ald. Chris Taliaferro (29th).
Illinois’ current 7-day average is around 11,600 new COVID-19 cases, five times the level it was at in early October. The state’s 7-day average of deaths is now around 63 after officials reported the biggest single-day increase since late May Wednesday.
Residents are advised to only leave home to go to work or school, or for essential needs such as seeking medical care, going to the grocery store or pharmacy, picking up food, or receiving deliveries. This advisory shall remain in place for 30 days or until such time as the Commissioner of Health determines a change to the guidance is appropriate.
Many of the programs hardest hit by pension crowd-out over the past decade overlap with areas Pritzker is now warning may be targeted for further cuts, including public safety and various family and parenting services.
Say, haven’t we heard that “critical juncture” thing before?
Regardless of your views on the status of the election or of the candidates, are these appropriate front pages for news sources?
The governor said he couldn’t provide an exact number of layoffs, but said it would be thousands. “Five percent is not a small number,” he said, urging Congress and President Donald Trump to take action.
“(W)e know a lot more about this virus than we did six months ago. Touching is not a huge aspect of it even though we encourage washing your hands and using alcohol rents, but really it’s droplet and airborne,” Dr. Vishnu Chundi, infectious disease expert and chairman Chicago Medical Society COVID-19 Taskforce, said. “The gym actually increased their air turnover in each space to 20 turnover of air in an hour. Which far exceeds your supermarket or your office.”
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