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“We had to hire these guys because Mike Madigan came to us,” Michael McClain, the speaker’s trusted confidant, told lobbyist John Hooker on the call. “That’s how simple it is. So if you want to make a federal court suit over it, OK. But that’s how simple it is.”
A City Hall source said Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration told the police department it had to accept asylum seekers because there was no space anywhere else. Groups of migrants have been staying inside the Central District, 1718 S. State St., since at least January.
The personal finance website WalletHub reports Illinois has the 9th highest overall tax burden at a 9.3% share of personal income. “We are not only looking at the actual tax rate by state, property, individual income and excise taxes, but we’re comparing that to the personal income in the state,” analyst Jill Gonzalez said.
“The Chicago Police Department is continuing to monitor the situation in New York City,” a Chicago police spokesperson said. “While there is no actionable intelligence here in Chicago, we will continue to have sufficient resources in place to maintain public safety and protect those exercising their First Amendment rights.”
“Students that earn major coursework credit at a community college should not have to spend more precious time and money to re-earn the same credit at a four-year university,” said Sen. Cristina Castro. “This legislation will reduce the burden on our students and accelerate the time it takes them to earn a degree and start a meaningful career.”
A notable increase has also occurred nationwide, although the national average is more than 30 cents lower than that in Illinois. Prices quickly jumped over the weekend, according to AAA, after Saudi Arabia and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries announced a surprise production cut.
State Sen. Jil Tracy argued that the measure was a way for Democrats to punish these clinics. “Don’t try to hang this over their heads and harass them,” she said. “We talk about bullying all the time. We need peaceful discussion of our ideas.”
U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth sent a letter to the White House requesting a federal disaster declaration for five Illinois counties. “Governor Pritzker has indicated that this incident is of such severity and magnitude that effective response and recovery is beyond the combined capability of the state and local governments,” the letter said.
Fertility fraud, where a doctor uses their own human reproductive cells during a patient’s reproductive treatment, is currently illegal in eight states. Illinois is working to make it the 9th.
House Bill 2132 will allow the state to begin taking the initial steps to bring a large–scale offshore wind project to Lake Michigan. The legislation contains a provision requiring a community benefits agreement to ensure that the jobs generated
“Violent crime and certain property crimes spiked sharply in 2020 and continued to rise throughout the pandemic. While the trend has perhaps begun to abate in recent months, murder rates and other violent and property crimes remain far above pre-pandemic levels. This is true across virtually all jurisdictions, not just major cities, but Chicago’s crime problem is particularly severe. The murder rate in the city is at a 30-year high; motor-vehicle theft has doubled in the last year, while carjackings have tripled in the city since 2019.”
A 2023 report by Cushman & Wakefield said among global markets, Chicago is tied for 5th place in its appeal for data centers. The ranking is based on factors such as land costs, reliable utilities and state-authorized tax incentives. If these projects go ahead, they’ll be for machines, not for human interaction or making goods.
Republicans proposed a continuation of the suspension of the grocery tax, a rebate for Ameren customers and an increase to the income tax exemption for seniors. They cited Gov. JB Pritzker’s past comments, saying if the state continues to stabilize its financial situation, then the state can start to look at potential tax cuts.
What the public got last week instead was an ugly display of sleight of hand in broad daylight. It also brought out the worst in council bickering and finger-pointing that must have left a pit in the stomachs of any city taxpayer who was paying attention. The votes on the rules and committees expansion were nothing short of several city legislators taking advantage of a rare gap in power while the rest of the city was focused on the largely unknown outcome of this week’s runoff election. In this case, not only were newly elected members not seated at the
The Chicago-based fast-food chain said in an internal email last week to U.S. employees and some international staff that they should work from home from Monday through Wednesday so it can deliver staffing decisions virtually. McDonald’s employs more than 150,000 people globally in corporate roles and its owned restaurants, with 70% of them located outside of the U.S., the chain said in February.
Gambling terminals in the state made $462 million in income through January and February 2023, a 16 percent increase from the same stretch in 2022. Visitors have put $1.78 billion into the machines, getting back about $1.32 billion.
Today there are no active coal mines, but there are dozens of less-than-regal scars from the mining process dotting Vermilion County’s landscape. Illinois will receive more than $1 billion over the next 15 years for mine-reclamation projects funded by the federal so-called Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. U.S. Rep. Mary Miller, who represented Danville in Congress at the time, voted against the legislation, as did most other Republicans.
About 80% of property-tax dollars in Chicago go to pensions. Yet Chicago’s four pension systems have only enough assets to cover about 25% of whatthey owe workers and retirees, which is less than Detroit’s pension funds had when the Motor City declared Chapter 9 bankruptcy a decade ago.
Today, Wirepoints added the rest of the state’s 830 school districts to our dedicated webpage, meaning parents across the state now have the data to hold their local districts accountable.
Victory Research said their poll conducted March 31 to April 2 shows Vallas widen his lead from two points to four points (49.6%-45.4%) from the previous poll conducted March 20-22.
The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) is all-in for mayoral candidate Brandon Johnson, and it wants every member to finance the bet. Yet plenty of teachers didn’t sign up for this cause, and they’re fighting union leaders for their right to stay out of it. As the Supreme Court has ruled, union members have a constitutional right not to fund political speech or causes they
Among the nonfatal shootings, a 14-year-old girl was critically injured when shots fired on the street hit her inside her home on Chicago’s Far South Side just before 1:30 a.m. Saturday.
“Statewide (and) nationwide,” he said, “it is a proven fact that students are below grade level and (schools) are just working on starting to get kids caught up at this time, and I think that’s just the trend that was here.”
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