Senate Bill 2535 requires pharmacists and other professionals prescribing opioids to inform patients of the possible addiction to drugs. Under this legislation, patients also have an option to receive an opioid antagonist like naloxone and naltrexone if they choose. Another plan will block insurers and Medicaid from charging co-pays for naloxone.

“People looking to correct their criminal record should not be stopped from meaningfully participating in society because of a positive drug test for cannabis,” said State Sen. Jacqueline Collins.

The court’s decision to block the petition was based on the process the lawmakers took in adding the amendment to the November ballot. The judge deemed that because lawmakers got the amendment on the ballot legally, they cannot petition to have it removed.

New York removed the state’s motor fuel and sales tax on gasoline this week, cutting the cost for drivers by about 16 cents a gallon. A number of New York counties also moved to cap their local sales tax on gasoline. The suspension will bring an estimated $600 million in savings to New Yorkers this year, New York state Sen. John Mannion said on Twitter.

While former state Rep. Luis Arroyo was ultimately stripped of his pension by law after being found guilty, Illinoisans were still on the hook to pay the corrupt public official $53,694 each year until his sentencing for his personal use. These funds were never recouped by state taxpayers.

“Wirepoints, an Illinois-based research organization, took a look at the latest migration data released by the IRS and drew some conclusions that should leave Democrat-run states in a cold sweat, wondering how they’ll ever be able to maintain their profligacy.”

Jim Dey: “A growing population for the winner means an increasing tax base, economic growth and investments. For the biggest losers, it means more difficulties in paying down debts, high taxes and few investments for the future,” write Wirepoints financial analysts Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner.

Illinois lies somewhere in the middle of the pack in terms of school safety requirements. It is one of 43 states that require schools to have safety plans, according to the Education Commission of the States. But unlike a majority of those states, Illinois does not require law enforcement agencies to be involved in the plans’ creation. It also does not require law enforcement officials to participate in regular school safety audits as some states do.

While the 1,149 layoffs announced in May are less than half of the 2,480 layoffs reported in May of 2021, and only about 15% of the more than 7,500 layoffs announced in May of 2020, the most recent monthly mass layoffs still outpace pre-pandemic levels in May of 2018 and 2019.

“If these reports prove accurate, they describe conduct that would almost certainly contravene numerous [U.S. Bureau of Prisons] policies, as well as infringing the civil rights of individuals in BOP custody and possibly violating federal criminal statutes,” the lawmakers wrote in their letter to Horowitz.

Sarah Hartwick, of the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association Education Foundation, said that although there has been a recent uptick in interest in career technical education courses, some school districts have eliminated CTE courses.

“We do know that wage growth is slower in Illinois than in other states,” said Bryce Hill, senior research analyst for the Illinois Policy Institute. “It is very likely that inflation is taking a larger chunk out of Illinoisans’ income than it is in other states.”

The passage of Amendment 1 would guarantee higher taxes and state debt in Illinois. That’s because under Amendment 1 there is no limit on what government unions can demand, no limit on what state and local politicians can give away through negotiations, and no requirement that government units be able to pay for new costs.

In Illinois, jobs are becoming increasingly polarized with a “hollowing out” of middle-wage jobs around the state. This has largely been driven by shifts away from manufacturing, according to the report. This problem will likely be compounded in the coming years, with projections from the Bureau of Labor Statistics suggesting that middle-wage jobs such as administrative and production jobs continuing to decrease as low-wage jobs and high-wage jobs increase.