“A lot of the things that are in the SAFE-T Act come from advocates that are anti-police,” Jefferson County Sheriff Jeff Bullard said. “Law enforcement leaders are really taxed not to align themselves with this thinking, not to think that there’s compromise when there’s a group of people that just believe that cops are racists, that cops are murderers, that cops are all these ugly things.”

David Greising, of the Better Government Association: “DuPage County State’s Attorney Bob Berlin…points out, too, that the long road to bail reform is creating costs and uncertainties for prosecutors and taxpayers across the state. DuPage County spent around $20 million on a courtroom designed to handle cashless bail, Berlin reminded me, and hired more than a dozen lawyers — prosecutors and public defenders — in part to deal with bail provisions of the SAFE-T Act.”

A sampling of the pork that soon may be coming to Illinois if Congress passes this spending bill includes $500,000 for downtown building demolitions in Astoria (population 1,100); $6.7 million for Illinois Electric Bus and Charging Infrastructure; $2.9 million for a zero-emissions bus fleet; $625,000 for a minority-owned business dashboard; and $2 million for a community-driven air quality and environmental justice assessment.

Replacing Tim Butler, Coffey is a lifelong resident of Springfield resident and owner of the Papa Frank’s restaurant. Coffey currently serves as the Chairman of the Springfield Metropolitan Exposition and Auditorium Authority board, which governs the Bank of Springfield Center.

Former Rep. Rodney Davis, on CNN said on Tuesday, “I don’t think anybody from Illinois would be surprised by that vote,” about Miller’s not backing Kevin McCarthy.

Of the 171 kids on the DCFS radar who died between July 2021 and June 2022, many died from natural causes. But 18 were homicides and 30 were accidents.

State Sen. Terri Bryant said this legislation is bad and is being quickly forced through during lame-duck session. “We have sex offender registries and so forth for specific reasons, so why would you want to let them change their name and put that back on a victim to try to figure out what’s going on.”

Justin Carlson of the Illinois Policy Institute said that high amounts of state debt leads to increased taxes on things such as cell phone service. “Unfortunately, this stems from Illinois’ long-standing financial issues. It’s got a long history of poor budgeting practices and overspending.”

Greenwich, Connecticut, and Macoupin County, Illinois, each will get $500,000 under the alliance’s membership agreement, according to documents obtained through public records requests.

When Democrat Nabeela Syed and Republican Brad Fritts are sworn in as Illinois state representatives this month, both will be 23 years old, recent college graduates and among the youngest legislators to ever serve in Springfield. Despite their policy differences, the pair’s arrival in Springfield will mark the advent of Gen Z in the Illinois General Assembly, bringing a new generation’s perspective to an institution that has long valued age and experience.

“Our Caucus’ mandate is to make the lives, livelihoods, and opportunities for the African-American community better. I’m confident that under my leadership, we will make more progress in undoing the unjust and institutional racism black Illinoisans often find themselves facing,” she said.

According to the court schedule, Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office has until Jan. 26 to file its opening brief. That will be followed by a response brief filed by Kankakee County State’s Attorney James Rowe and other prosecutors from the original suit that must be filed by Feb. 17. Raoul’s office must file a final reply brief by Feb. 27 before oral arguments the following month.

The mayor and City Council of Zion, population just under 25,000, passed a rental inspection ordinance in 2015 that required all property owners to apply for certification for any residences they wanted to lease. Part of the requirement to get a rental certificate was to allow any rental unit to be inspected by city officials every year. If a landlord fails to follow the rules, they can be fined $750 per day until they comply.

“Predatory loans have drained billions from Black, brown and lower-income communities in our state,” Rep. Sonya Harper said. Speaking separately to reporters, representatives of the pawn industry argued that they need to be treated differently from other kinds of lenders because they operate under a different business model.

“Some states have an annual deficit here or there like for a recession or something like that, but then they get back in the clear,” Pew state fiscal health manager Joanna Biernacka-Lievestro said. “Illinois unfortunately is recording annual deficits every year.”

“I’m disappointed that there’s a delay in the implementation,” Pritzker said. “Justice shouldn’t be delayed.”