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Ted was on with Drew Mariani of Relevant Radio to discuss the 2022 annual report from the Chicago Public Schools’ Inspector General that covered the flood of sexual harassment and abuse complaints that have been filed with the district since 2018.
Join Ted Dabrowski in Elmhurst for a special event all about Illinois’ failed education system on Wednesday, January 11th.
The governor didn’t give specifics about how much it would cost to expand preschool and make college more affordable; The inauguration is mostly pomp and circumstance. But in early February, Pritzker is expected to release a budget proposal for the 2024 fiscal year. The legislature must approve a state budget by June 30.
Between FY20 and FY22, the inspector general’s office also identified 24 cases where it took investigators between 27 and 303 days to make an initial in-person contact with an alleged child victim after potential abuse or neglect was reported to the DCFS hotline. “In these cases, the Department failed to fulfill an essential responsibility in protecting children,” acting inspector general Ann McIntyre wrote.
Four months after the Bodily Autonomy Sanctuary City Ordinance passed the Council, the Committee on Health and Human Relations voted to empower Chicago’s Commission on Human Relations to “investigate and adjudicate complaints” of “discrimination and retaliation related to housing and job discrimination.”
Researchers at WalletHub compared all 50 states on more than 50 metrics, including the states’ annual family income, quality of schools, unemployment rate, housing costs, and a number of other family-friendly factors.
A spokesperson with the city’s Department of Family and Support Services said these migrants were brought to Chicago by bus from Denver, Colorado, and that when migrants are dropped off at police stations, the city helps get them to a shelter.
State Sen. Darren Bailey expects the measure to be struck down in the courts. “You’ve got to know that the actions that you are taking right now are tyrannous. You also must know that I and millions of other gun owners in this state will not comply.”
Alongside giving pay raises to state legislators, constitutional officers including the governor and lieutenant governor and executive agency directors, the measure puts $850 million into the state’s Budget Stabilization Fund.
State Sen. Steve McClure said county jails around Illinois don’t have the resources to deal with inmates who have severe mental health issues. “To create a piece of legislation that causes people that need mental health treatment now to not get that and not have any timeline that is firm that says to DHS that you have to get this person out of local custody is a disgrace.”
“The hope we share, the hope I expressed at my first inauguration, was born of a truth lodged firmly in my heart – that Illinois has always stood at the intersection of American ambition and human resilience. And that combination is what has made this the greatest state in the union,” Gov. JB Pritzker said.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has extended his emergency powers into his second term. When the newest proclamation ends Feb. 5, Pritzker will have held emergency powers for 1,060 of 1,483 days in office, or over 70 percent of his tenure.
The pandemic has been a bloodbath for restaurants downtown. The shutdowns included 13 fine dining establishments, 92 fast casual outlets such as Pret a Manger and 129 quick service restaurants such as Starbucks, Subway and Dunkin’ Donuts.
“I can tell you from serving as police chief in Riverside for 13 years, and being a police officer for more than 37 years, the only way Chicago is going to take any positive action on public safety is if we stop spending our hard-earned money there. Politicians will notice the loss of tourism and tax dollars due to crime, as well as the loss of the city’s positive image as a safe destination.”
Chicago’s federal court has been trying to play catch-up this year following the lengthy delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Madigan confidant Michael McClain is set to go to trial in March, along with ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore, ex-ComEd lobbyist John Hooker, and onetime City Club President JayDoherty. Also set to go to trial this year are Timothy Mapes, Madigan’s former chief of staff, and Chicago Ald. Edward M. Burke.
A post titled “Important Note For Families Regarding Winter Break” reads: “For those who test positive: isolate at home for five days, or if symptoms persist after five days, continue to isolate at home until symptoms resolve. Upon returning to school, wear a mask until ten days after symptom onset or ten days after the positive test if asymptomatic.”
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis spoke with both mayors over the weekend, and no more buses are scheduled for migrants to either city. The governor also noted Colorado coordinated with New York and Illinois when sending migrants, something Texas did not do.
House Bill 4245 was filed by state Rep. Jay Hoffman and requires irrigation contractors to have their work looked over by a state-licensed plumber or face a $10,000 fine.
State Sen. Chapin Rose worries about radar disruption for tracking tornadoes and concerns the turbines can kill wildlife like raptor birds. “Why is that important, because they’re the ones who keep all the other species in check. They’re the ones that eat mice and rats that prevent vermin from spreading disease. Oh, monarch butterflies, let’s screw that up too. Why is that important? Because we need to eat.” Rose said local jurisdictions are already doing what’s best for their jurisdictions.
The typical career state pensioner earns more in retirement than Illinoisans do working. Households now pay over three times more than they did nearly two decades ago to cover the costs.
“We saw the smokestacks and steel mills go down and yet those communities aren’t given the jobs that they deserve and that they need,” state Sen. Robert Peters said. “This is an opportunity for us to re-engage an industrial revolution that is built on a dream.”
“The shaky economy and Illinois’ long-standing financial problems foreshadow difficult times. Perhaps that’s why Pritzker recently hinted that he’ll devote considerable attention toward the state’s long-term financial woes, much of which stem from public pension systems that are $140 billion underfunded…But his professed interest in righting the financial ship conflicts with another priority he shares with legislative Democrats, that of large increases in social spending.”
An Assault Weapons Ban for the state of Illinois is still on the table after an expected vote on the bill Sunday during a Senate session didn’t take place. And though the Senate is scheduled to reconvene Monday, the clock is ticking to take action on the bill before the 103rd General Assembly is sworn in Wednesday.
In yet another late Friday night, lame duck, partisan line vote, Democratic lawmakers in the House voted to boost legislative salaries by nearly $12,000. That near 17 percent increase pushes up pay for part-time lawmaker work to $85,000.
What’s worse than central planning? Autocratic central planning. What’s worse than autocratic central planning? Autocratic central planning that pours hundreds of millions of dollars into a failing effort.
During late night session over the weekend, Illinois lawmakers approved giving legislators, statewide officers and executive agency staff pay raises, amid more than $1.7 billion of other spending of tax resources.
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