A proposal in Illinois to have social media companies pay media outlets that link to their content is being called a “link tax” by some, but fair compensation by others. Senate Bill 3591 would set up a structure for online news outlets to negotiate with social media platforms to get compensated when someone shares a news story on their news feed.

Illinois is negotiating an incentive deal with Rivian in connection with the electric-vehicle maker’s decision to launch production of a new model in Illinois. Rivian made a surprise announcement March 7 that its new SUV, the R2, would be manufactured at its downstate Normal plant and it was pausing construction of a new factory near Atlanta. “The elements of an economic development package are still being finalized…. Once they are finalized, we will update the public on the details of the incentive package.” The bet Pritzker is making is that Rivian will follow Tesla’s path, making it through the transition

The bill would require Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to take into custody illegal immigrants who are arrested and charged with causing the death or serious injury of another. U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin said the bill would detain victims of trafficking or domestic abuse who were charged with crimes. According to him, the bill would “deprive immigrants of the due process that everyone is afforded.”

“The tax cut is easy to explain and is therefore receiving a lot of news media coverage. … And the more attention this $325 million tax cut receives, the less time reporters will have to flesh out the governor’s fast move on the income tax. Instead of allowing the standard income tax exemption to rise to its previously inflation-tied statutory levels after freezing it for a year, the governor proposed saving the budget some money by not giving people their fully entitled exemption this year. That technically qualifies as a tax hike, but is not so easy to explain.”

The Illinois State Board of Education used federal COVID-19 relief funds to match about 1,900 students with about 700 tutors in 59 school districts throughout the state during the 2022-23 academic year. Last March, the state voted to extend the program to the 2023-24 year with the remaining relief funds, expanding to serve roughly 2,400 students in 64 districts.

“It’s not the platform, it’s not the dance videos or the bad lip sync that’s the concern. The concern is the ownership of TikTok, namely by ByteDance,” said U.S. Rep Raja Krishnamoorthi. “The reason is that ByteDance is controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, and so we can’t have a situation where the CCP has access to hundreds of millions of Americans’ data and that they have an ability to manipulate the algorithm in a way that could really harm America.”

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker praised the president’s vision for the country’s future – one that respects individual freedoms, working families, America’s allies, and the fundamental values that built this country. “The message is clear – together we can continue the historic progress of the last four years and create a future that lifts all communities and leaves no one behind,” Pritzker said.

“Every time that we add a multiple page ballot, there’s a greater expense. It takes more people to facilitate, communicate and understand how to cast this for an election so expense is going to go up for election judges,” Sangamon County Clerk Don Gray said “We’re just not properly in the right foundation yet to facilitate, I think, impactfully of a ranked choice voting election.” He also worried transparent, accurate and expedited results and trust and confidence in the system could be impacted.

Earlier this month, Cook County Public Guardian Charles Golbert, the person who advocates in court for children who’ve been abused or neglected, penned a letter to the court saying many young children under the agency’s care are now far more likely to be held in psychiatric hospitals “beyond medical necessity” compared to just a year ago.

Low-income students receiving scholarships from the Invest in Kids program were proficient in reading and math at a higher rate in nearly every grade compared to low-income public-school students in Illinois, according to data release by the state. High school students receiving the scholarships beat the state average for all public high school students in reading.

Calling the reopening of the Stellantis plant in Belvidere a “great comeback story,” President Biden said, “Before I came to office, the plant was on its way to shutting down. Thousands of workers feared for their livelihoods. Hope was fading. Then I was elected to office and we raised Belvidere repeatedly with the auto company, knowing unions make all the difference. The UAW worked like hell to keep the plant open and get those jobs back. And together, we succeeded!”

Senate Bill 3695 would legalize psilocybin, sometimes call “magic mushrooms,” for medical therapies and treatment for people suffering from a variety of disorders, including PTSD, depression and anxiety. The Compassionate Use and Research of Entheogens Act, or CURE Act, would keep psychedelic mushrooms illegal for recreational purposes.

“(O)fficials like Rockford Mayor Tom McNamara already were complaining about the reductions in the so-called Local Government Distributive Fund. ‘Since 2011,’ McNamara wrote recently in the Rockford Register-Star, ‘the state has unilaterally decreased the local share of LGDF by almost 40 percent, so that in State Fiscal Year 2023, the local government share is only 6.16 percent of individual income tax collections and 6.845 percent of corporate income tax collections.’ Those are real concerns that (Gov. JB) Pritzker and his team have to address.”

“Folks in Belvidere, I say, instead of your town being left behind, your community is moving forward again – because instead of watching auto jobs in the future go overseas, 4,000 union jobs with higher wages are building the future in Belvidere right here in America,” Mr. Biden said.