The Illinois Homeowner Assistance Fund, run through the Illinois Housing Development Authority, provides up to $30,000 in assistance to homeowners through payments made directly to mortgage servicers, taxing bodies or other approved entities. The program is funded through an appropriation from the federal American Rescue Plan Act and can be used for past-due mortgage payments and up to three months of future payments. The funding can also be used for delinquent property taxes, homeowner’s insurance, condominium or homeowner association fees, and mobile home lot rent. Funds received do not need to be repaid.

Four major equity projects will be funded through the grant, according to a news release by the Illinois Department of Employment Security, despite a recent audit suggesting that nearly $2 billion in fraudulent payments during the pandemic from a federal fund operated by Illinois – but the entire scope of fraud couldn’t be acquired because of the agency’s poor record keeping.

Jim Dey: “Events suggest the walls are slowly closing in on the actors in one of Illinois’ greatest political scandals. If Madigan was inclined to feel a little peaked, this would be the time for him to start.”

“Abuse of public money is no different, whether it’s an individual exploiting the state’s welfare system or a governor doing the same thing to the feds.”

“We are seeing requests for additional staffing related to pretrial fairness,” said McHenry County Administrator Peter Austin. “Six new positions, and you couple lost revenue with new staffing positions and inflation, and it’s a tough situation.”

“In Illinois and across the nation, we’re seeing an inversion of the old adage that all politics is local,” said John Shaw, director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute. “Politics, even at the local level, is national.”

A national republication of our Wirepoints column.

The “spirited discussions” maintain the act’s intent to eliminate cash bail, but Kane County State’s Attorney Jamie Mosser said she and other state’s attorneys are asking to look into some provisions, such as the ability to detain people for certain crimes and maintain victims’ rights.

“Interestingly, shortly after Illinois received the ARP federal aid, it was able to pay off billions of dollars of bills. The State paid off the debt it borrowed from the Federal Reserve during COVID 19. This borrowing came at an interest rate similar to junk bonds after the State previously tried to issue bonds through private markets but failed. “

The Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services and the Illinois Department of Human Services had to shut down the ABE system after it was revealed that people could view customer applications, which included name, gender, date of birth, county, Social Security numbers, medical information and income information.

The most expensive race in the country is not a particularly competitive one. Candidates in Illinois have raised almost $217 million this election cycle. Much of that has come from billionaire incumbent Democrat J.B. Pritzker, who has self-financed $132.1 million of the $132.3 million his campaign has raised, according to OpenSecrets.

Republican fundraising could not even come close to keeping pace with the Democrats.

At a recent East Coast Gambling conference, panelists say Illinois could soon adopt internet gambling behind Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Delaware and Connecticut. Indiana, Iowa and New York are also considering adopting online gambling. Sports betting is currently legal in a total of 30 states and the District of Columbia.

Property tax rates are very high in Illinois due to the fact Chicago residents pay a fortune in these taxes due to pension debt. There are eight pension funds in Chicago alone that have accumulated close to $45 billion in debt. And across all of Illinois, governments have $63 billion in total pension debt that residents have to pay.