Joining Raoul in filing the amicus brief are the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Guam, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Washington.

Illinois’ backlog of unpaid bills as of Thursday was $7.8 billion.

One restaurant owner, Katie Pomonis, said, “We told public health they need to come back with a court order to shut us down, and they’ve not done that…I don’t believe the law is behind public health, and I don’t think that there is any scientific proof that it is more dangerous to be in a restaurant than any other retailer in town.”

State Rep. Mike Marron, R-Fithian, said he can’t get anyone at the state agency to return his calls after constituents pleaded for help. “I don’t know what to tell people anymore. I will tell you that I’m ashamed of this. And I’m ashamed I can’t get a hold of anybody. And somebody needs to get me some answers.”

Despite the threat of a fine, some bars continue to stay open. Jake Flick, a longtime bartender in Lombard, said staying open is a matter of survival. “We have to work. We have families and we have to be able to provide. We have bills we have to pay and we are not getting the support needed to be able to do it anymore.”

But the attorneys who started the fight against political patronage in 1969 are saying Pritzker’s effort to block access to hiring reports proves it’s too soon to retire the watchdog.

While the state doesn’t have to rush to use the funding by December 30,GOMB Director Alexis Sturm noted all costs must be incurred by that point. “If it’s a good that the state is ordering, it has to have a delivery date on or before December 30. If it is a service that we’ve procured, the service must have been provided on or before December 30. At the same time, Treasury expects there’s going to be several months of closeout on expenditures.”

Wirepoints CEO Ted Dabrowski says cities have been forced to find other sources of revenue. “It’s high time that the legislature actually allowed cities to either file for bankruptcy or reform their own pensions or their own collective bargaining laws because today they simply can’t afford the level of benefits that they have to pay out, and at the same time pay their active workers. They just can’t do both anymore.”

“Do Democrats need to do better about messaging to rural communities?” state Rep. Will Guzzardi said. “There’s no doubt in my mind that the answer to that question is yes. But that’s a much larger structural question about our party and all the crossings of race and class and wealth and poverty. There’s a lot going on there.”

It’s not a deployment and those going into the facilities are National Guard staff members and not reserve members. But Pritzker spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh said the homes are in need of help with daily COVID-19 testing.

State Rep. Darren Bailey: “Our veterans deserve better than the failed leadership Pritzker has showed. Real leadership is more than just lecturing people, it is about real results.”

“Plaintiffs flock to these county courthouses due to their plaintiff-friendly reputation, low evidentiary standards, and judges’ willingness to allow meritless claims to survive,” the American Tort Reform Association wrote.

Comment: He must be a viable threat if the progressives are already dumping on him.

The fate of litigation seeking to void $14 billion of outstanding Illinois general obligation bonds could be settled in the coming months by the Illinois Supreme Court.

Illinois numbers have not been this high since late April, when there were over 102,000 new claims filed in one week.

“The problem is the executive branch, the governor’s branch, does not make laws,” said John Wagner, administrator of the Monroe County Health Department in the Metro East. “It’s much easier to enforce if the legislators get involved.”