The new office will be responsible for hearing complaints and recommendations from veterans and others who receive services from the department, residents of the state-run veterans homes and their families, and agency staff, contractors and vendors. The inspector general for the governor’s office will be responsible for investigating complaints.

In 2021, the Illinois General Assembly passed and Governor Pritzker signed updated legislation requiring private businesses with 100 or more employees in the state to report certain payroll information to the Illinois Department of Labor.

Specifically, it orders the Clerk of Supreme Court to “recertify the original vacancies of the Honorable David Dugan and the Honorable Richard Tognarelli, as they were before the passing of the Act.” It also mandates that, “any petitions collected on or between Jan. 22 and Jan. 24 for a subcircuit election (for the vacancies) shall be accepted by the State Board of Elections for the reinstated county wide residency election.”

State Rep. C.D. Davidsmeyer said in his conversations with frontline workers, the agency has a very top-down approach. “And the top is not providing the leadership to the bottom, who’s actually there doing the work and that’s where we need to make changes,” Davidsmeyer said.

The Legislative Budget Oversight Commission requires a monthly report from the Pritzker administration on state spending and how federal COVID-19 relief is being expended.The report for December shows the month’s revenue up more than 7% over budget. For the year, revenues are up 1.5%. Expenditures for the month are 8.6% lower than budgeted. Year-to-date, spending is 6.8% higher.

“In terms of Illinois, it did rank 7th to last in lowest SAT scores,” one analyst explained. “It is interesting because while Illinois has such a low average SAT score, their college admission rate is one of the highest.”

“This collaborative initiative will provide paid administrative leave for education employees who, despite doing all they can to keep themselves and their communities safe, continue to have their lives and livelihoods disrupted by COVID-19,” Gov. Pritzker said in a statement.

This comprehensive analysis surveys the fiscal health of the 75 most populated U.S. cities during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The report found that 61 cities did not have enough money to pay all of their bills.

Budget director Bill McCarty said this allows the city to spend the money on one-time expenses like relocating firehouses and additional pension payments.

The burden per taxpayer in Chicago is $43,100. That’s the amount every taxpayer in the city would owe to pay off Chicago’s public debt. Only New York City’s $71,400 per taxpayer is higher.

The plaintiffs claim the $200 million payment to the state government did nothing to compensate individuals or businesses who bore the costs of taxpayer-funded subsidies and other preferential policies rewarded to ComEd through the relationship.

While the effects of job losses are still being significantly felt in nearly every industry, the leisure and hospitality industry remains the farthest off a full recovery, still missing 95,700 jobs. Educational and health services remain down 54,800 jobs.

Illinois is the first state to mandate teaching of AAPI history. About 30% of AAPI parents said their child experienced a hate incident at school in the past year, according to a national survey published in November by the advocacy group Stop AAPI Hate

Some taxpayers need to be on the lookout for two letters being sent out later this month from the IRS. One is for those who received Advance Child Tax Credits. The other is for those who qualified for a 2021 Economic Stimulus payment.

“So far, vaccinations have been effective, but vulnerable to an implacable, wily enemy. The new COVID-19 medications are our defense in depth. Our politicians and public health professionals should deploy them urgently.”

“Supporters can argue that these projects weren’t wasteful and ultimately benefit the public. Hotel guests don’t want to hear loud trains during their stay. Airport control towers are needed to manage air traffic. Schools can always use more money. But such needs exist everywhere in Illinois, not just in neighborhoods and districts where Madigan and other current and former high-level legislators wield power.”

llinois would extend two pension buyout programs by two years funded by $1 billion in additional borrowing authority under legislation being advanced during the current session.

The existing buyout programs began in 2018 under the administration of former Gov. Bruce Rauner. Gov. J.B. Pritzker and the legislature in 2019 extended it to June 30, 2024. The buyouts are funded by $1 billion in general obligation borrowing capacity, $175 million of which was tapped in the state?s last bond sale last December. Only $115 million in authority remains.