When the state legislature created the evidence-based funding formula in 2017, it intended for schools to be fully funded by 2027, with at least $350 million added to the formula every year. However, there was no new funding for 2021 – a fallout from the financial hit the pandemic delivered to the state. The state board of education recommended adding more than $350 million into the evidence-based funding formula for fiscal years 2022 and 2023, but legislators stuck with the $350 million minimum outlined in the law.

State Rep. Curtis J. Tarver II said there has been “some ire and some angst among a lot of individuals” about the proposed special session in light of local Black state legislators’ unanswered call for a special session in 2020 after the murder of George Floyd and subsequent unrest as well as the immediate response to the mass shooting in the suburbs and proposals to ban assault weapons when there are chronic shootings on the South Side.

Task force member Alison Shames, director for the Center for Effective Public Policy, said the SAFE-T Act is complicated and has some advice for all those involved in the judicial system: “It is critically important that you actually read the statute, because this is a very complex law, it is confusing.”

There are no members appointed to the board that is set to field appeals from Illinoisans who have had their gun privileges revoked by the state.

FTX founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried didn’t specifically cite Illinois regulations, but he pointed out regulations were a key factor in the decision. “Frankly, for us, having clear licensure for our marketplaces is by far the biggest piece of this, that’s what we’ve been focusing on.”

“It eliminates duplication of government, and we don’t need double layers of government,” Ald. Joe McMenamin said. “We’ve got, in general, way too many units of government in Illinois, and if we can eliminate some of those units, with a positive result for the taxpayers, a lesser tax burden and more efficiency we should do it.”

Illinois Democrats have controlled the Illinois Legislature for decades with majorities in both chambers. Since 2019, they’ve also maintained the statewide constitutional offices from governor to secretary of state.

This Letter To Madison County States Attorney Thomas Haine From Gov. JB Pritzker reads, in part, ” the aforementioned report by the bipartisan US Commission on Civil Rights found that 60% of defendants were in jail pre-trial simply because they couldn’t afford bail. That is the broken system that you are defending through fearmongering and unvarnished mistruths.”

Illinois gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey fired back at Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s attacks against him and discussed rampant crime, COVID policy and Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s weak policies.

Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi represents the largest metropolitan area of anywhere in the country affected by this potential merger.

Two seats will potentially see new justices, as the second district and third district will choose between a Democrat and a Republican. The third seat, located in the first district, is a retention vote for Justice Mary Jane Theis, who is slated to take over as the chief justice after the retirement of Anne Burke earlier this year.