Day: August 30, 2023

Pritzker expects Illinois’ estate tax to be addressed by legislature – Center Square

“The first option would be to abolish the estate tax. We pay taxes our whole life while we are living, and the first thing that happens when you die is they want to tax your cold, dead body,” state Rep. Chris Miller said. “There have been very little pro-business and pro-family legislation to make life better for working-class citizens in Illinois. There is a reason why Ronald Reagan made the comment that the most terrifying words in the English language are ‘I am from the government and I am here to help you.'”

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Chicago alderman waits a year for information on city’s spending on migrants, and finally gets it from local reporters – CBS2 (Chicago)

Migrants have been coming to Chicago for almost a year, and the City of Chicago has spent $110 to care for them so far. Ald. Andre Vasquez, the Committee on Immigrant and Refugee Rights, said the city finally sent him some detailed numbers this week. One of the biggest questions is about the most significant expenditure: more than $55 million spent on staffing alone.

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Who Should Really Represent Illinois In Statuary Hall? – Chicago Magazine

“National Statuary Hall is a collection of marble men and women who stand silently around the first floor of the United States Capitol. Established in 1864, it is filled with figures whose graven images have endured longer than their names… There are a few famous faces in the collection — Ronald Reagan, Sacagawea, Brigham Young — but for every household name, there’s a Frances Willard and a James Shields, not stopping any tourists for selfies.”

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Chicago’s youth violence problem – Illinois Policy

“While the causes of crime are complex, there is widespread agreement – from the FBI director to former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot – that young people being out of school plays an important role…No single act was more responsible for keeping students out of school than the closing of Chicago Public Schools campuses for 17 months beginning in 2020.”

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Commentary: Chicago is finally considering breaking its ‘sanctuary’ promise – Washington Examiner

“Of the city’s 50-person city council, all but three are Democrats, and now 20 of them are on board with deporting illegal immigrants who commit crimes…This is not a novel concept Chicago is exploring. It is a normal thing that most people expected cities to do before the Democrats running those cities decided to use immigration as a chance to pretend they are morally superior to everyone else. But those cities are now struggling when being forced to uphold their sanctuary promises…”

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IL Supreme Court issues order allowing pretrial hearings under the SAFE-T Act to be remote when necessary – WAND (Decatur)

Due to the anticipated volume of investigations and hearings on pretrial detention starting September 18 and the current limited resources of circuit courts, state’s attorneys, public defenders, and other justice partners, statewide compliance with the SAFE-T Act will only be possible with the use of two-way audio-visual communication systems, Chief Justice Mary Jane Theis announced.

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Dying and disabled Illinois prisoners kept behind bars, despite new medical release law – WBEZ (Chicago)

Behind the lower-than-expected numbers is the Prisoner Review Board, a state body appointed by Pritzker and confirmed by the Illinois Senate with final say on medical release requests. As of mid-August, the board had denied nearly two-thirds of medical release requests from dying and disabled prisoners who met the medical criteria to get out of prison under the Coleman Act.

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Illinois has been all-in on progressive policies for decades, yet data shows it is undeniably one of the worst places for black residents to live. – Wirepoints on AM 560 Chicago’s Morning Answer

Ted joined Dan and Amy to talk about why Illinois’ progressive policies harm black residents across jobs, incomes, poverty, education – it’s all a disaster. They also discuss Mayor Johnson’s own harmful policies and his inability to accomplish anything within his first 100 days, how Chicago’s sky-high commercial property taxes hurt businesses that want to stay in the city, and more.

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Towns could opt out of Illinois rent control ban under proposed law – Crain’s*

rent control

Individual towns and cities could decide the statewide ban on rent control no longer applies to them — that is, if legislation proposed in Springfield passes. While statewide efforts to lift the ban move slowly, “it makes a lot of sense to empower local communities to make the decision themselves if they should opt out of the current ban on rent control,” said state Sen. Mike Simmons, whose 7th District covers the lakefront from Rogers Park to Wrigley Field.

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