-- Connecting the dots between our economy, government and business --
Mark and Ted dive into three of the biggest problems Illinois is facing: a wonky unemployment insurance fund, people leaving the state and the rising cost of energy around the nation and the world.
The $2.7 billion — a full third of the $8.1 billion in Illinois’ ARPA funds — is more than had been previously floated either publicly or in months of private negotiations on how to handle the state’s unemployment debt. But even with that surprise boost, the state will still have to find another source to fully pay off the $4.5 billion it owes the U.S. Treasury. The most likely funding scenario is a case of deja vu: Just like after the economic downturns of 2001 and 2008, Illinois could go to the bond market to raise a yet-to-be-agreed-to sum. And
Illinoisans are paying a premium at the pump and many blame the conflict in Ukraine, but experts say it has been a long time coming. The price per gallon in the Land of Lincoln has been steadily climbing, with AAA reporting the average price per gallon at roughly $4.54. In some counties, Illinoisans are paying as much as $4.72 for a gallon of gas.
The stipulation said the additional three years were needed to allow the CPD to become fully compliant with the 799-paragraph agreement, entered in January 2019, between the police department and attorney general’s office.
A youth liberty organization, with a chapter in Illinois, is celebrating the end of what they call “COVID-19 tyranny” on campus. Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) fought pandemic mandates on dozens of college campuses around the country, including at the University of Illinois and other state schools, stressing they were not anti-vaccine, but rather anti-vaccine mandate at taxpayer-funded academic institutions.
Trustee Susan Buchanan: “Can I trust the police that the police would treat this carload the same as a white family? My education on systemic racism in the past few years has answered that question for me — it’s no. All of us, of all colors and stripes, have deep-seated biases that are a result of our upbringing and the society in which we live. It’s highly unlikely that a carload of Black boys is going to be treated exactly the same way as a white family. We’re just not
Increasing the city’s real estate transfer tax on property sales of more than $1 million could help house 12,000 families over 10 years, activists said.
In an effort to attract more electric vehicle-related companies to Illinois, a state agency is recommending making changes to the Reimagining Electric Vehicles Act, or REV Act. Changes would incentivize other types of manufacturing of EV vehicles, such as agricultural EV vehicles and other EVs that don’t operate on public roadway.
The Illinois Department of Public Health provided approximately $250 million in funding to local health departments to hire additional people to perform contact tracing during the pandemic, according to a spokesperson. Cook County received $41 million from the state to beef up its contact tracing efforts, allowing the health department to hire 400 people. The city of Chicago received more than $50 million to boost its community-led efforts.
Foxx’s office in court filings Tuesday and Wednesday accused petitioners who are challenging 37 convictions of stumbling on procedural hurdles including a two-year deadline for filing their claims. The office would not specify how those cases differ from 169 Watts-linked convictions that prosecutors supported vacating and that judges have thrown out.
The root cause of the Illinois exodus is that our politicians see us as bit players, “non-playing characters,” or NPCs, in video games. But here’s a subversive twist. In some gaming platforms, NPCs can revolt. Win bigger roles. Make things happen. That’s what Illinois needs. Very, very soon.
The Census has released the county-level data for 2021 and it exposes just how widespread Illinois’ population problems are. Eighty-one of the state’s 102 counties lost people in 2021.
Wirepoints’ Matt Rosenberg was on with Bruce St. James of WLS 890 this week. They discussed Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s attempt to mislead the public on Chicago’s latest crime numbers.
Civic Federation President Laurence Msall said it’s good news that tax revenues that bounced back much more quickly from the pandemic than expected are going into overdue bills — and an unprecedented $900 million installment in a rainy day fund.
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