Among them,teachers could receive a $4,000 bonus for two consecutive years if they are National Board Certified and work in hard-to-staff schools.

Among them, Senate Bill 1741 is the Security Deposit Return Act, which requires landlords to provide tenants with itemized bills. Another law going into effect has to do with electronic payments.

In Effingham County, board Vice Chairman David Campbell said while they have open arms for legal migration, they’re preparing a measure similar to Homer Township for their central Illinois community. “We just don’t want to see our taxpayers have to burden any of the medical or any of the other expenses that goes along with housing or anything else,” he said.

According to IL Corn, Mexico is the top export destination for U.S. corn farmers and much of that U.S. corn is grown in Illinois. In 2023, about 64% of all corn shipments to Mexico were by rail. Of that total, shipments originating in Illinois represent 41% of all rail movements of corn to Mexico. Illinois exports more grain by train than any other state.

Currently, state law prevents utility shut offs on days where it is hotter than 95 degrees outside, but this new law will change it to where shutoffs can’t happen on days where the heat index goes above 95 degrees, too.

A new Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability report finds that the state’s mounting pension liabilities spiked by nearly $3 billion over a 12-month window. Much of the rising cost COGFA attributed to the increase was because of “larger than expected salary increases” for state employees. Researchers added that unfunded costs for the five pension systems overseen by the state now stand at nearly their highest level in well over a decade.

At public universities across the state, staff and faculty unions have faced a contentious year of negotiations and, in some cases, strikes. Pay has been a major issue on several campuses and the unions are now looking to Springfield for potential reforms to the state’s higher education funding.

Among surveys where taxes were a permitted response, high taxes have consistently been the No. 1 reason Illinoisans considered leaving the state.

In the (U.S. Department of Education)’s terms, dual enrollment is ‘one of many terms used to describe a program that allows high school students to take a college course and earn both high school and college credit.’ In Chicago political terms, dual enrollment is apparently a threat to the Chicago Teachers Union’s monopoly over education. The union tried to limit it.”

Jim Dey: “(Former Ald. Ed) Burke, who’ll be 80 on Friday, was to the city of Chicago what former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan was to the state of Illinois — the big dog who ran things from behind the scenes and considered himself too smart to get caught breaking the law. Burke’s conviction and Madigan’s indictment are landmark events in the political history of Illinois. But what do their legal problems really show in a state where there’s so much cross-pollination between the political and criminal classes?”

Funding for the hotels will come from the additional $160 million Governor Pritzker announced in November to address the ongoing humanitarian crisis. These investments build on $478 million in State funding that has been provided or committed to the asylum seeker response over Fiscal Years 2023 and 2024. This includes direct funding to the City of Chicago and other municipalities assisting asylum seekers as well as substantial State funding for shelter, food, medical care, rental assistance, and wraparound casework and services.

Tom Weitzel, former chief of the Riverside Police Department: “Officers desire good leadership. It is time for all police chiefs to get out of the office and get on the street with their patrol force, which has always been the backbone of American law enforcement.”

“The notion of the ‘Big Sort’ … is really proving itself,” said Matt Isbell, a Democratic elections analyst. “That’s the idea that people move based on the politics. … For a lot of retirees, places like Florida are appealing, especially if they’re already conservative.” According to Census estimates, New York lost nearly 217,000 people to domestic migration from July 2022 to July 2023 and nearly 882,000 since April 2020. New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan also lost thousands of residents in that time.

Losers include “heartless hospitals,” which under HB 3955 may not delay medical care and screening in order to inquire about a patient’s method of payment or insurance status. And under HB 2719, hospitals must screen patients for public financial-assistance eligibility before turning them over to collections.

Her list of her office’s top three achievements include the passage of the “Act of Duty” bill, providing coverage for police officers severely affected by COVID-19 before vaccines were available; the State’s “Rainy Day” fund surpassing $2 billion in reserves; and the state’s three credit upgrades, leading to reduced costs for infrastructure projects.

Cook County has the third-highest percentage of adults functionally illiterate among all Illinois counties, only trailing Alexander County with 35% of adults functionally illiterate and Pulaski County with 26%. Research shows literacy is linked to income.

“While a recent Manteno board decision to rezone a manufacturing site favorably to Gotion came as a setback for opponents, the war for the industrial future of Manteno—and America—is far from over.”

In many cases, tough choices involving labor costs lie ahead, said school finance expert Marguerite Roza. “Some districts gave out big pay raises that they’re going to have trouble affording when the money disappears. They may have hired people and they’re always reluctant to do layoffs,” she said. “Ultimately, something’s got to give.”

“Another big blue state governor with a newly minted national political action committee is Illinois’ JB Pritzker. Think Big America, which appears to be solely funded by the billionaire governor, is designed to help Pritzker position himself as an effective advocate for abortion rights following the fall of Roe v. Wade.”