“Once the proposed legislative maps go to court, in response to lawsuits, the Democrats may agree to minor boundary changes before the maps are set in stone, at least for the 2022 elections. Meanwhile, there’s a chance next year’s March primary elections will be rescheduled to a later date so that the mapmakers can use still-unavailable final census numbers to draw the congressional maps.”

“We’re in a rare situation in this LaSalle Veterans’ case where the state, who is the defendant in the lawsuit, investigated itself and, frankly, it has found itself guilty,” attorney Michael Bonamarte said. “They have identified so many failures that would have been horrifying had they occurred at the beginning of the pandemic. But it’s magnified by the fact that it happened [more than seven months after COVID’s onset].”

“Telling the legislative branch on this issue — which will affect policy and politics for at least the next 10 years — “no” would be welcomed from voters of all political persuasions. Pritzker has the financial resources, the power and the pulpit to step out on his own on this one issue. To protect voters’ interests and to rebuild trust.”

Republican senators on Monday raised concerns about four Prisoner Review Board members who have continued to serve for almost two years despite not being confirmed by the Senate Executive Appointments Committee, a constitutional requirement in the state.

“We we’ve seen here today is the lowest of lows for the House Democrats, which quite frankly, I did not think was possible after Mike Madigan disappeared,” House Minority Leader Jim Durkin said.

The proposed maps: groups four Republican Illinois House members into the same district; puts 16 other Republicans into eight districts to face one another, plus one more Republican incumbent placed in a district with a Democratic incumbent; and puts two Republican state senators into the same district, including one who is pursuing a run for governor.

“Instead of focusing on fixing Illinois’ economic woes, politicians are kowtowing to labor interest groups, abusing the purpose of the state constitution, cluttering it with policy preferences and placing Illinois at odds with the more pro-growth policies of the majority of states.”

Immediately following the release of the proposed maps, a group of 24 voting rights advocacy groups, including the League of Women Voters Illinois, the Better Government Association and Common Cause Illinois, issued a joint statement urging lawmakers to reject maps based on ACS data.

Illinois Policy Senior Research analyst Bryce Hill said it should come as no surprise. “Property taxes represent about seven additional mortgage payments for Illinois homeowners each year. That eats into their mortgage equity and makes it more difficult to make these payments.”

Sens, Terri Bryant, Steve McClure and Jason Plummer said the governor’s office appoints members of the review board and allows them to serve in an acting capacity. Once their two-year time limit nears where they must be considered for approval by lawmakers, they said Pritzker withdraws their nomination and reappoints them, restarting their tenure as acting board members.

The flags are being set up for Champaign Police Officer Chris Oberheim, who was killed in the line of duty May 19. Volunteers are needed today to place the flags, and Thursday to take them down.

” He failed to push his floor leader to whip the votes for Republicans to stand arm-in- arm as a line against providing complete public and private sector union control of the state. It is inexplainable. It is embarrassing. It is inexcusable.”

IDPH and the Discovery Partners Institute say the program, which the health department is giving $5.5 million to, will begin in phases, starting with sampling and analysis in 10 Illinois counties: Carroll, Cass, Franklin, Fulton, Jefferson, Lawrence, Livingston, Macon, Montgomery, and Vermilion.

“A proposal in the Illinois legislature called the TEAACH Act aims to make it a requirement to teach a unit of it in elementary and high schools. It comes as there’s been a rise in anti-Asian hate, fueled by rhetoric that Chinese people are responsible for the coronavirus.”

“All those taxes, however, don’t add up to a picture of solvency in the Land of Lincoln. For many years, Illinois cities have been struggling with pension obligations. But the latest analysis by Wirepoints, a conservative-leaning nonprofit, indicates that among the 175 biggest cities in Illinois (excluding Chicago), things have gotten worse, not better.”

“Reversing the flow of young people out of Illinois poses tough questions for Democrats, who’ve proposed new legislative maps and whose control of the state has tightened as its national influence has shrunk. Experts say the state has to dump a Rust Belt mindset by widening employment opportunities, putting affordable housing in the right places and turning current tax policy on its head.”

“Despite pandemic masking and testing requirements still in place inside the Illinois statehouse, the jumble of the legislature’s last-minute agenda in some ways represents a return to normalcy for a General Assembly where controversial issues are put off until close to the closing bell.”