A three-justice panel of the Illinois Third District Appellate Court said a Will County judge was correct: “In this case, the circuit court correctly found that (1) both the State and the public had a strong interest in preserving public health and (2) these interests weighed substantially in favor of the Governor and outweighed the harm that the eviction moratoria caused the plaintiffs.”

The funds will support research that studies “structural and institutionalize systems of disparity and disenfranchisement” or “lead[s] to the removal of barriers that inhibit access to education, opportunity, support, and resources” in these areas.

The Senate passed a proposal requiring every public school in Illinois to include instruction of accurate and inclusive Asian American history. Democratic Senators said Asian Americans are one of the fastest growing populations in Illinois.

Elizabeth Bauer: “(D)espite opponents’ claims to the contrary, it is the Illinois constitution’s pension protection clause, not the United States constitution’s ‘contracts clause,’ that stands in the way of change…But Arizona shares with Illinois a constitutional protection against pension changes, specifically stating that ‘public retirement systems shall not be diminished or impaired.'”

Senate Republican Leader Dan McConchie, said the committee still needed to see the demographic numbers. “How can we appropriately measure the draft without the numbers,” he asked.

Amendments to House Bill 1443, sponsored by Rep. La Shawn Ford, would create two new marijuana dispensary lotteries offering 55 licenses each while addressing lingering concerns regarding the original 75 licenses established in the 2019 law.

John Pastuovic, president of the Illinois Civil Justice League, said he thinks Thomas Kilbride’s defeat last fall set things in motion. “Calling for new Supreme Court maps because of a population disparity is a convenient narrative. It is also disingenuous.”

“The law says that a FOID application will be processed within 30 days – background checks done and the FOID issued – so long as the person does not have any prohibiting factors in their background. Instead, it is taking about 140 days,” said Valina Rowe of the gun rights group Illinois Carry.

“Illinois has regained fewer than half the jobs it lost during the pandemic,” the report from the Illinois Policy Institute said. “As a result, Illinois is battling one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation.”

A republication of our Wirepoints column.

Chuck Gabbert, the owner of C.T. Gabbert Remodeling and Construction, said lumber prices are skyrocketing. “Two-by-fours were under $3, they’re [now] $10. The plywood that might have been $17 is $70.”

About 20 percent of the Illinois’ population is enrolled in Medicaid, and it spent about $23 billion providing health care to them last year. A significant expense for the state’s Medicaid programs is purchasing prescription drugs for enrollees; about four percent of its budget—or about $850 million—went to pay for prescription drugs.

Jim Dey: “Democrats not only used their map-drawing authority to try to whittle the GOP further down to size, they engaged in the time-honored tactic of throwing multiple legislators into the same district so they can have bloody intra-party primary fights in March 2022.”

Clean energy, Chicago’s elected school board, and legislative districting top this list.

Section 15 is a provision hidden near the end of the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act detailing how state law must yield to union contracts. The U.S. Department of Justice found Chicago fails to investigate nearly half of police misconduct complaints because of FOP contract provisions such as limiting investigations of accused officers whose complainants are anonymous.

“Quite frankly, if they don’t change (the 3^rd) district, Republicans win and the balance of power would go to Republicans,” House Minority Leader Jim Durkin said.