Tuesday, just as advocates argued the changes were too costly for low-income patients, the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Service sent out a notice to providers, writing that co-pays would be halted, with cost-sharing from providers to be completed before patients are asked to dole out co-pays or coinsurance. “Providers should not charge cost-sharing for this population until further notice and any cost-sharing that providers may have already collected must be returned to the customer,” wrote Kelly Cunningham, the state’s administrator for Division of Medical Programs.

“You can’t do major reforms in this state. You can’t touch the big items that we need to to lower property taxes, and to properly fund education and give students and parents a choice in education without coming headlong against the powerful teachers’ unions,” state Rep. Blaine Wilhour said.

State Rep. Kevin Schmidt said there are several issues that need the same funding that should be addressed before migrant health care. “Well, obviously, the big elephant in the room is that the state should put a large portion of that down towards the pension debts. If you’re a business or just an individual, you would want to knock down your debt first, then move forward.”

House Minority Leader Tony McCombie has introduced legislation that would end the practice of allowing criminally accused elected officials of using campaign funds for a criminal defense. Madigan has used at least $8.5 million of campaign funds so far to pay a law firm in his criminal defense.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, outside the Cape Girardeau, MO-IL region sitting at 3.3% and the St. Louis, MO-IL region sitting at 3.6%, the Chicago area has the lowest regional unemployment rate of 4.2%. The Carbondale/Marion area is at 5.1% and Rockford is at 6.8%.

The complaint – centered on a portion of the 2021 Climate and Equitable Jobs Act that allows utilities to recoup carbon mitigation investments – alleges the utility failed to follow the proper regulatory channels laid out in Gov. JB Pritzker’s marquee climate policy. The complaint was filed by the Chemical Industry Council of Illinois, alleging the change in billing will cost its roughly 100 member companies about $100 million combined between June 2023 and May 2024.

Robert Bruno asked his students, mostly unionized workers busy with families and full-time jobs, to thoughtfully fill in the blank for “Work is … ” with a six-word description, give or take. The answers from this group that was neither the elite nor the most marginalized, exuded heartbreak, hope, longing, anger and humor.

Immigration advocates breathed a sigh of relief on Tuesday after the Illinois Department of Healthcare & Family Services, or HFS, delayed implementing copays for beneficiaries of the state’s Health Benefits for Immigrant Adults/Seniors (HBIA/HBIS) programs.

Among the changes, companies with 50 or more employees must allow workers to exclude public transit and parking costs from taxable income, and temporary workers or day laborers must be notified ahead of time if they’re sent to fill in at a business where there’s a strike or work stoppage. They’ll reserve the right to refuse the assignment.

“We still have a growing industry, as you know, it is one that I initiated in 2019 that has brought in almost $450 million to state and local governments,” Gov. JB Pritzker said. “We are getting almost a third, nearly 30% of the revenue that we get from the cannabis industry comes from people coming to Illinois and spending money at dispensaries.”

According to a survey by the small business network Allignable, Illinois is the hardest hit state in the country, with 61% of local businesses earning half or less of their monthly pre-pandemic revenues in August. That is a 24% increase from July.