Day: February 10, 2023

Pritzker signs 15 bills impacting criminal justice, education, elections – Center Square

Among them, people under 21 convicted of a crime in Illinois can no longer be sentenced to life without parole; certain individuals with a felony conviction to legally change their name beginning next year; and local elections official can now check the signature on mail-in ballots with the signature on the mail-in ballot application, not just the signature on the voter record on file.

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What Chicago’s next mayor must do to stop a property tax hike – Illinois Policy

“The city of Chicago has more pension debt than 41 other states. Its growing debt has led to serious spikes in city property taxes in recent years, while straining the city budget. Chicagoans need to hear from the candidates about how each of them plans to stabilize city finances to avoid continued tax hikes that make living in the city unaffordable for many people.”

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Watchdog report shows patients forced to handle own excrement at state-run facility – Capitol News IL

In one report from November, the IDHS inspector general wrote that two Choate employees who had broken a patient’s arm in October 2017 bragged about how staff got away with abusing patients by providing scant details on reports and blaming resulting injuries on accidental patient falls. The staffers also boasted about intimidating and bullying other employees to keep them from reporting abuse and bragged that they retaliated against those who spoke up.

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Durbin, Duckworth Join Colleagues To Introduce Bill To Formally End Gulf and Iraq Wars – RiverBender (Alton)

Said U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, ““he Constitution is clear – only the U.S. Congress has the power to declare war…Presidents of both parties have taken advantage of outdated Authorizations for Use of Military Force to justify military action without congressional approval while Congress has sat idly by, happy to avoid hard votes. We must break this habit.”

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Sen. Duckworth Calls Out Southwest Airlines In First Hearing As Aviation Chair – RiverBender (Alton)

In her opening remarks, Duckworth said: “We must crack down on carriers that have gotten away with predatory practices that treat customers like suckers and view passengers with disabilities as disposable. […] In recent years, [the aviation industry] has suffered from complacency and a desperate drive for profits that has placed the needs of Wall Street above all else.”

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Yes, parents should be more engaged in their child’s education. But the education system is hiding the truth on student outcomes from them. – Wirepoints on WVON with Perri Small

Ted joined Perri Small on WVON to talk about why its such a problem for Tony Sanders – who ran a district where just two students in ten can read at grade level – to be promoted to State Superintendent, why teachers and administrators in Chicago and across the state get away with simply passing children up and out of the school system, why education is foundational to closing the economic gap for black Illinoisans, and more.

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Chicago’s messy, caustic mayor’s contest has Democrats feuding over crime – The Fifty (Politico)

An illustration featuring Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot with mayoral candidates Paul Vallas, Brandon Johnson and Chuy García.

The intraparty strife has made the Chicago mayor’s race — one of the nation’s biggest elections since the 2022 midterms — a crucible for how high-profile urban Democrats everywhere are threading their messaging around policing, violence and racial justice ahead of 2024. It’s also deeply personal for a city that’s regularly dragged onto the national stage

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