Seventy-four percent of township voters supported a merger of Capital Township with the county in a November 2018 advisory referendum. But Springfield Ald. Joe McMenamin said the referendum’s results were skewed because voters “weren’t aware that the better consolidation is with the city government as opposed to the county government.”

Jim Dey: “The question of how to proceed has divided Republicans from Democrats, but also Democrats from other Democrats.”

State leaders also noted Wednesday the toll that the pandemic has taken on students and staff members in schools. They plan to use $58 million for mental health services, offering grants to schools to partner with community agencies, which would then bring programs into schools to assist students and staff who have experienced trauma.

Shutting down the two plants would be a huge setback for Pritzker’s goal of transitioning Illinois’ power industry to 100 percent renewable or carbon-free energy production by 2050, and the governor’s office has already signaled its support for some kind of deal to keep the plants open.

Illinois State Rifle Association’s Ed Sullivan also said the proposal increases the cost of a FOID by as much as fourteen hundred percent, when including fingerprint costs and increased FOID fees.

The sponsor of the bill, state Sen. Win Stoller said the legislation has the potential to help up to 400,000 Illinois business owners save thousands of dollars annually on their federal tax filings.

The bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Sam Yingling, D-Grayslake, said balloons are an environmental threat and recently caused a power outage for over 1,000 customers in Champaign. After released balloons come down, they create problems for farmers and wildlife.

The fact that Madigan possessed so much power was costly for Illinois taxpayers, as the state’s debt soared under his leadership. During Madigan’s 36 years as speaker, Illinois’ finances deteriorated from a perfect credit rating and just under $6 billion in unfunded pension debt to the lowest credit rating in the nation and over $144 billion in pension debt.

Rep. Jonathan Carroll picked up the legislation after the comptroller’s office approached him about the issue. “We generally hear feedback on TIFs, and people are always kind of confused by them and really don’t understand how they work or why they have been done a certain way. This bill allows for more transparency so people can have more understanding.”

The bill crafts exceptions to the Arsonist Registration Act, the Sex Offender Registration Act, and the Murderer and Violent Offender Against Youth Registration Act for persons who want to change their name due to marriage, religious beliefs, victim status or gender-related identity subject to the approval of a judge.

While the measure doesn’t put term limits on legislators – something that would require a constitutional amendment – it would curb the historic leadership terms Madigan secured during his tenure.

Illinois’ unemployment rate remains the highest in the Midwest despite March jobs growth.

“But the thing is, the state has to be straight with local governments and not play a constant shell game. Cities and villages need to be able to count on stable funding, and they need to trust the state as a partner in serving their residents.”

The bill is one of several proposed and competing major pieces of energy legislation in Illinois. Advocates of the Climate Union Jobs Act say it is necessary to make sure that Illinois’ shift to renewable energy creates union jobs that include fair labor provisions.

For the more than 40 alleged looters during last summer’s civil unrest, the insistence by judges that defendants pay restitution to businesses and the Bloomington and Normal police departments has added massive potential debt to the long-term consequences of their misconduct.

This figure represents a a 20% decrease from the previous week.

The discussion over House Bill 3447 provoked strong emotions on both sides of the aisle, passing by a 61-49 vote, or just one more than was needed to pass.

“Utility regulation is a tool Americans use to guarantee a public good — a universal, affordable and reliable essential service — while creating the opportunity for private profit. The first law passed during ComEd’s scheme flipped this goal on its head. By instituting automatic rate hikes through ‘formula rates,’ that 2011 law guaranteed ComEd’s private profit while failing to ensure the public good.”

The Senate passed a bill involving statements made during restorative justice hearings — agreed upon hearings between defendants and victims that allow them to mediate over repairing the harm caused by the crime. The bill would prevent statements made during such a hearing from being used against an individual in court.

These problematic provisions aren’t just found in the Chicago Police contract. Various provisions carrying the power to undermine internal investigations and discipline are found in the police union contracts in the next 10 largest municipalities in Illinois: Aurora, Naperville, Joliet, Rockford, Springfield, Elgin, Peoria, Champaign, Waukegan and Cicero.

By actuary Mary Pat Campbell.

Representatives Dave Vella and Joe Sosnowski introduced the bipartisan resolution asking the state to reopen local IDES offices.

Its St. Francis Medical Center in Peoria was at 97% occupancy, St. Anthony Medical Center in Rockford was at 96% and St. Joseph Medical Center in Bloomington had no available intensive care unit beds.