Former Illinois Department of Agriculture inspector Jose Guillen was recently charged with five counts related to sexual touching during mandatory on-site inspections of the female business owners’ facilities; One incident was even caught on camera. Guillen was also charged for lying during a deposition last year.

Reason Foundation policy analyst Ryan Frost said this year has been difficult for most pension plans, similar to the Great Recession of 2009. “The well-funded plans were able to rebound much faster, they flattened out their funding throughout the 2010’s, where as some of the more poor funded plans like Illinois, they never flattened out and their debt just kept rising, even during the period of the best market performance in our country’s history.”

The Pritzker administration said in addition to federal funds, nearly $15 million in state tax funds is committed to the program. Illinois’ budget that started Jul. 1 takes $5 million out of the statewide 911 fund to start up the new number for mental health emergencies.

Overall, 28% of Americans say they have a “great deal/quite a lot” of confidence in the country’s school systems, barely beating the record low from 2014, a Gallup poll shows. Trust has been on a downward slide since it hit a high of 62% in 1975.

The national profile that Pritzker increasingly seems to be cultivating has caught the attention of the political class. It’s led to ramped-up speculation that if the Chicago Democrat can make quick work of his fall campaign against Republican Darren Bailey, then 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. might be the next logical aim for Illinois’ billionaire governor.

“He is a go-to potential candidate in the Democratic Party right now. People want to hear from him, people want to see him [and] they see him as a new voice. He’s also trying to position himself to be perceived that way,” said ABC7 Political Analyst Laura Washington. “He’s trying to send a strong message that he’s ready to be perceived as a national player.”