A proposal from state Rep. Bob Morgan, who was marching in the Highland Park parade when the shooting occurred, would allow people under 21 to obtain a FOID card only if they are active duty members of the U.S. military or the Illinois National Guard. The measure also seeks to strengthen the state’s firearm restraining order law by extending the period someone can be barred from possessing a gun from six months to a year and by giving local prosecutors a greater role in the process.

His statement reads, in part, “I’m pleased that the General Assembly has upheld the principles we fought to protect, including bringing an end to a system where those charged with violent offenses can buy their way out of jail, while others who are poor and charged with nonviolent offenses wait in jail for trial.”

“The war on drugs, where we told people to just say no, failed us,” State Rep. LaShawn Ford said. “We know that people are going to use, and we have to support them.”

In 2022, 33.1 % of Illinoisans worked from home, compared to 26.7% in 2021. Nationally, the rate for remote workers has remained stable, dipping a mere 1.2% between October 2022 and October 2021.

Ted Dabrowski, president of Wirepoints, blamed Pritzker for the debt and said it should have been paid off sooner. “Governor Pritzker passed some of the strictest lockdowns in the country, so the unemployment problem is largely on him. It is the right thing to do to put the money in. The question is how much more tax or rate hikes the companies in this state will have to face.”

State Sen. Chapin Rose expects dozens of state’s attorneys and sheriffs to continue their consolidated lawsuit against the law’s implementation, which is scheduled to be heard next week in Kankakee County. “They’re pressing on with their court case, you know why? Because they know that everything is not fine,” Rose said during debate. “They know that the people of Illinois’ personal safety, the safety of their family is at risk.”

The plan now moving through the General Assembly calls for using excess revenues the state has seen this year to pay off the remaining $1.37 billion owed to the federal government, plus another $450 million in the form of a zero-interest loan to the trust fund that is to be paid back over the next 10 years.

Illinois small businesses reported the third-largest monthly increase (8%) in rent delinquency and sixth-highest rate overall (40%) among states. Illinois was slightly below the U.S. average of 41% in November, which was the highest rent delinquency rate of 2022.

“In typical Springfield fashion, we can’t just pass a clean bill and do our due diligence to pay back the money that was borrowed during the pandemic,” Wilhour said. “Instead, our leaders have decided to hold job creators hostage by loaning funds Illinois businesses will have to pay back through rate increases. It is no wonder we are losing so many businesses to other states.”

In DeKalb, the tabulation error was not attributed to fraud, but to a vendor inadvertently uploading the mail-in results twice.

The funding from the American Rescue Plan Act will be used by the Illinois Department of Public Health to create pipelines into critical public health positions, retain existing employees through efforts to reduce employee burnout and provide a variety of training opportunities to improve workforce skills.

State Sen. Jason Plummer said the process feels rushed and that’s not good for transparency or public safety. “Who knows if it will address the issues that are in question in the court case. I hope we find out soon. But, this is really consequential legislation. We’re not talking about a random $25 fee here.”

The agreed-bill process is a quirk unique to Illinois, according to its adherents. Basically, the idea is that that outside interest groups on all sides of an issue, especially ones technical in nature or requiring specific expertise, bargain until they can come to an agreement that all can live with.