Mendoza said Illinoisans are paying enormous property taxes, adding that Illinois is not taking in enough revenue. That’s a point of contention with Republicans, who say the state is spending too much money in the wrong places.
“We’re going to continue to have conversations on it,” said House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch. “The House passed a FOID bill. Our folks in the House had one view of that and then the Senate has a different view. We’re going to continue those conversations.”
It’s expected Illinois state lawmakers could return to the capitol in the weeks ahead to take up an energy proposal the governor says is being put in bill form.
Aldermen Sophia King and David Moore both say they’re confident they hold the number of votes needed to pass the ordinance, which they claim to have had at the initial council meeting in May. If passed, the mayor could still veto the measure.
“There is nothing more powerful than when someone shows up to problem solve or to advocate for someone that they can truly say they understand,” said deputy chief Angel Novalez. “I’ve been there. That’s incredibly important to that person receiving that service.”
This landlord hoped the state’s new rental assistance program might help get her back rent; her tenant owes $31,000 dating back to February 2019. But both landlord and tenant have to apply to the state program – and without a tenant’s signature, your application is incomplete.
“It’s not a perfect bill,” Gov. JB Pritzker said Thursday. “The definition of compromise is everybody didn’t get everything that they wanted. I think that we need to do more and I’ll push for it every single year that I’m in office.”
The multi-building complex will sit on 19 acres of the 540-acre Jackson Park and include a museum, public library branch, athletic center, children’s play area and a test kitchen.
“Right now the staff that I do have are working 12, 14 hour days, doubles, back to back,” said Jodi Agee, owner of Jefferson Tap and Grille in the West Loop. “We’re understaffed on the floor, we’re understaffed in the kitchen, so patience is the word of the day.”
The new Community Policing Strategy Plan includes the creation of a police athletic and arts league to engage the city’s youth, a reimagining of the city’s previous policing strategy, and the appointment of officers to work as liaisons to the city’s LGBTQ, homeless, immigrant and and religious communities.
“The money that they take with them based on the base incomes in the state, Illinois was the worst,” Wirepoints President Ted Dabrowski said. “Third worst for people and the worst for losing money.”
Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed House Bill 2777 Friday. What initially started as a bill for cemetery oversight was changed to legislative maps in the final days of session. Those maps passed just before the Memorial Day holiday.
In total, the fiscal year 2022 spending plan increased the budget for running the General Assembly by $27 million. On top of the higher base salaries and leadership bonuses, office allowances for individual lawmakers more than doubled to $33.8 million. Similarly, the budget for leadership staff and party caucus staff increased by nearly 50% to $30.6 million.
The lottery would be Pritzker’s largest incentive yet to get shots into the arms of Illinoisans as the state vaccination rate continues to decline. He already promoted Six Flags tickets and 100 shooting clays in exchange for immunizations, plus on June 2 signed a law allowing a free shot of alcohol for new vaccinations.
“Illinois has become over the years a solid Democratic state, and it’s likely to stay that way for the immediate future for a variety of reasons.”
State Rep. Tom Demmer says the budget also fails to address the state’s debt accrued because of unemployment payments caused by the pandemic, which could lead to a reduction of unemployment benefits and a hike in what businesses pay in unemployment insurance.
Pritzker previously revamped his mask mandate to exempt fully vaccinated people in most settings, and the state is now adjusting guidelines for outdoor mask wearing at schools, dropping the requirement in most situations. The guidelines issued Friday emphasize that businesses and municipalities are allowed to continue enforcing more stringent rules.
“What began as legitimate protest over the police murder of George Floyd ended with what is likely to be permanent economic loss to struggling areas of Chicago…The failures were multidimensional.”
“The question was, could we get a decent deal? Could we negotiate something with them and to make sure that we weren’t overpaying for what we got?” the governor said. “And you know, these things are a compromise. Nothing is perfect. But I think all of this landed in a decent place.”
While Pritzker wasn’t officially on the November 2020 general election ballot, his signature “fair tax” initiative was. “I do think that we need a more fair tax system in Illinois,” he said. “We made it a little bit fairer in this budget, this year, by cutting those corporate loopholes, corporate welfare.”
Former state representative Mike Fortner is the third former state legislator to file a lawsuit to argue he is entitled to pay raises from years past — even though he voted against them while he was in office. Comptroller Susana Mendoza called it “an ill-advised class(less) action lawsuit” that “exposes taxpayers to millions of dollars in additional liability.”
After nearly 17,000 Illinois parents opposed a bill to impose state health mandates on private schools, and state lawmakers let the effort sit, it seemed the fight was over. But Sean Denny, IEA director of government relations is committed to action during the fall veto session.
“Illinois’ strength is in our diversity, and these maps help to ensure that communities that have been left out and left behind have fair representation in our government,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “These district boundaries align with both the federal and state Voting Rights Acts, which help to ensure our diverse communities have electoral power and fair representation.”
“When I wax nostalgic about moving back, I see the terrible condition of the city and the future expectations as it relates to the fiscal situation, and I am glad I left.”
After 452 days Chicago will finally fully reopen. But not everyone is ready to open all the way; A common feeling, especially for small businesses, is nervous excitement.
Jim Dey: “This is not the first time (state Rep. Carol) Ammons’ conduct has raised eyebrows…Last week, Ammons took the opportunity during a moment of silence on the House floor intended to honor slain Champaign police Officer Chris Oberheim to express her sorrow for the death of Darion Lafayette, the man who fatally shot Oberheim and was subsequently fatally shot by Officer Jeff Creel.”
“The progressive case also increasingly suffers from its own manifest failures in urban bastions like New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Chicago, which have been losing residents and attracting far fewer immigrants while suffering among the poorest job recoveries since the onset of the pandemic.”
Florida and Idaho are the nation’s most-recent winners of migration from other states. On the other end are perennial losers like California, New York, Illinois and New Jersey. Once again, those states experienced some of the nation’s biggest losses of both residents and their money.
Wirepoints predicts the rush to get out of Illinois will continue, as long as Springfield refuses to pursue meaningful spending and pension reforms. The governor comments.
U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, who could lose his seat when the state’s congressional districts are redrawn, called it the “height of hypocrisy” for the Democrats to put off redrawing congressional districts until the census data is available but push through the state legislative districts without that information.
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