The case was filed Oct. 20 in Macoupin County against Gov. J.B. Pritzker, the Illinois Department of Public Health, and the Illinois State Board of Education. It seeks declaratory judgment and injunctions against the dozens of schools, saying it’s unlawful to exclude students from school for being in close contact with a COVID-19 case without the consent of the parent or court order that includes due process.

The same structural issue that kept workers from hanging some 1,300 lights from the state Capitol dome in 2019 and again last year has not been resolved. According to spokesman Henry Haupt, an engineering firm conducted an inspection of the dome in 2019 recommended that an observation deck above the dome be fortified before the lights are put up.

The estimated cost of the proposal is 1.4 billion, but Republicans say there are a few ways to pay for it: leftover federal pandemic relief, re-allocated state infrastructure spending, or extra unexpected state revenues from this year.

Mark Cavers, of the Illinois Opportunity Project: “Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said that Illinois is not a ‘top-tier’ state for national Republicans last week, as reported by the Chicago Tribune…Contrary to Christie’s understanding, Illinois is ripe for change. In fact, the change has already started; it just hasn’t bubbled up enough for national political prognosticators to notice.”

Roughly 1.5 million Illinois residents live in poverty, and one in six children struggle with hunger. Illinois joined a multi-state lawsuit in 2020 against federal cutbacks to food stamp programs.

Illinois ranked 14th worst in the nation, an analysis of state road infrastructure found. Illinois has 20% of its roads ranked non-acceptable and 12% of bridges in poor condition by Federal Highway Administration standards. But the state came in third from last when the analysis looked at what portion of transportation dollars Illinois spends on fixing existing roads.

Despite growth in self-employment across Illinois, finding a job is still challenging. There are 286,700 fewer jobs in the Illinois economy than prior to the pandemic. Illinois’ unemployment rate is also among the highest in the nation at 6%, leaving 370,400 Illinoisans out of work.

Council members found a solution on how to fund a $4 million dollar gap in public safety pensions: setting aside just over $4 million dollars from the 2021 general fund balance for the next two years. At-large Councilman Zachary Oyler said, “It’s revenues and expenses and we’re budgeting to spend more money than we’re budgeting to bring in at a time where we have record numbers of both.”