Worries over Amendment 1 raising Illinois taxes – WTVO (Rockford)

“What they don’t look at is how many other people have wages go down to pay those higher wages, and how many jobs don’t get created or get cut in order to go ahead and have a few people get higher wages,” resident and CEO of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce Todd Maisch said. “So, it’s not good across the board. There’s no way.”

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City asked to provide lead water filters to address ‘crisis’ – Chicago Sun-Times*

Mayor Lori Lightfoot boasts that she’s the first Chicago mayor to begin tackling the problem of removing almost 400,000 lead service lines in the city but her administration has fallen behind its own modest goals of replacements. As of Monday, lead lines in 183 homes were replaced under the low-income “equity” program. Another 34 homeowners paid for replacements.

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Lightfoot Asks Alderpeople to Identify Vacant Warehouses, Big Box Stores to Shelter Immigrants Arriving from Texas – WTTW (Chicago)

With more than 100 people arriving unannounced on buses nearly every day for almost two months, the city’s shelter system has been stretched to the breaking point, city officials said. They are looking for buildings of approximately 100,000 square feet with a “large feeding space, isolation/quarantine space, community room/intake room, computer room with wifi” as well as space for staff offices, supply storage and room for “multiple social service agencies.”

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‘Doesn’t make sense’: Woodlawn leader, residents concerned about migrants coming to their neighborhood – CBS2 (Chicago)

“They would be in a Black part of the ward where nobody speaks Spanish. Nobody could help them,” Ald. Jeanette Taylor said of a plan to house migrants bused in from Texas in the vacant Wadsworth Elementary School.”It’s great to take care of other people. You’re not doing the same for homeless people in our community.”

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Illinois has the worst unemployment rate of all states – Center Square

U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis said unemployment is where it is because Illinois lawmakers are concerned with the wrong issues. “They’re not worried about changing polices that encourage job growth and encourage manufacturing to relocate here,” he said, explaining that inflation is compounded by the state’s business climate.

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Pritzker defends Illinois’ education system despite dismal data – Center Square

“I think it is really sad and indefensible that Gov. Pritzker and other educational leaders in this state refuse to acknowledge just how bad things are in education and how we need dramatic reforms in school choice,” Wirepoints President Ted Dabrowski said. “If they’re not willing to acknowledge the problems then they’ll never have any plans to fix them.”

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Democrats’ letter, signed by Durbin, urges amendment to National Defense Authorization Act – Center Square

A letter signed by 15 federal legislators, including Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, pushes for House-ratified provisions of the Upholding Human Rights Abroad Act that would, if enacted, close loopholes in the Leahy Laws that would “guarantee human rights vetting” of U.S. security assistance that would prevent taxpayer funds from aiding human rights abusers.

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Battle over Amendment 1 Reflects Illinois’ State of the Unions – Chicago Magazine

“Amendment 1 would solidify our status as a prolabor island, surrounded by states that have been steadily dismantling union rights. In the last decade, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin all became right-to-work states…’I think it’s mostly another signal to the rest of the nation that Illinois is an outlier,’ (Illinois Chamber of Commerce CEO Todd) Maisch says. ‘We continue to find ways to make this state unattractive to investment.'”

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How McLean County’s workforce growth fueled a housing market explosion – Bloomington Pantagraph

The steady flow of new residents and their effect on the market has been largely attributed to Rivian Automotive’s manufacturing plant in west Normal. With other major employers like State Farm, Illinois State University, Ferrero and Bridgestone also drawing in workers, the inventory of available homes is all but bottoming out in Bloomington-Normal and McLean County.
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