Currently, companies can be held liable in civil court for $1,000 in damages for each violation; it means every time an employee uses their fingerprint to punch the clock or enter a restricted area, the company could be held liable if they did not get consent. If the proposal becomes law, damages would change to $1,000 per person.

The Task Force report proposes changes to the Pretrial Fairness Act appeal process that aim to balance efficiency with thorough review of pretrial release decisions. There are many more appeals since the Pretrial Fairness Act was implemented on September 18th, 2023. The number of appeals went from an average of 17 per year to a projected 4,557.

Teachers unions have donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to certain Republican candidates’ state legislative primary campaigns, a national trend that can be seen in incumbent state Rep. Adam Niemerg and primary challenger Jim Acklin’s race for the 102nd Illinois House seat.

Matt Paprocki, of the Illinois Policy Institute: “Illinois’ modest improvements to its fiscal health was buoyed by temporary federal aid that also grew spending to unprecedented levels. The state budget has increased by nearly $13 billion since Pritzker took office. Now that it’s run out, Pritzker’s balancing the budget on the backs of recovering suburban businesses and offering ‘tax relief’ by cutting funding sources for local governments.”

The push comes after similar efforts in Michigan and Minnesota shook Biden’s reelection campaign, with more than 150,000 voters choosing to vote “uncommitted” over the president in those states’ primaries. “Uncommitted” isn’t a ballot option in Illinois, so groups are instead calling voters to either leave the presidential ticket blank or write in “Gaza.” The Chicago area is home to the largest Palestinian population in the U.S.

Spring enrollment at Illinois Community Colleges increased for the second straight year system-wide. Opening Spring 2024 enrollment increased by 5.1 percent from the previous spring according to the Illinois Community College Board’s Spring 2024 Enrollment Report.

Farm Bureau president and Ogle County farmer Brian Duncan tells Brownfield they’re watching several proposals closely. “Illinois adopting California emission standards; allowing municipalities to reach out and place restrictions on crop protection products is one we’re going to be talking about. … Certainly, we don’t want to go down the California prop 12 road.”

The company also has plans to build a subsidized facility in Manteno. The company has drawn the attention of the House Select Committee on the CCP and prompted legislation to be introduced on Capitol Hill. Gotion Inc.’s plans have become an animating issue in the township’s local politics, with many locals expressing their discontent with the company’s presence because of its ties to China and the CCP by way of Gotion High-Tech.

Jim Dey: “Plenty of downsides threaten its opportunities, including the state’s heavy long-term debt, tough competition for its manufacturers, and population issues that pose problems for the future of higher education. Those are some of the conclusions in a State of Illinois Forecast Report done by Moody’s Analytics and recently released by the Illinois Commission on Economic Forecasting & Accountability. … ‘Weak demographic trends and deep-rooted fiscal problems, such as mounting pension obligations and a shrinking tax base, represent the biggest hurdles to the longer-term outlook,’ the report states.”

District officials say the owner of a $400,000 home would pay $170 more a year in property taxes starting in 2027 because they would not borrow the money until the district finishes paying off the bonds it sold to build Prairie Knolls Middle and Country Knolls Elementary schools in 2006.

Tom Weitzel, retired police chief of the Riverside Police Department: “If we continue down the same path we’ve been on, there’ll be more domestic violence murders and mass murders, and the victims will fill the morgue. And we’ll look at each other and ask, ‘What could we have done? What should we have done?'”

“It’s the memory of Chicago in 1968, I’m afraid, that gives me a premonition of the presidential campaign of 2024. It’s possible that neither human nature nor political dynamics have changed much in the 56 years between then and now. If anything, both have deteriorated. This summer, the Democrats are again meeting in Chicago.”

Comment: Gotion is the Chinese electric vehicle battery maker planning a very similar plant for Manteno, IL, which faces intense local opposition as well as a lawsuit to stop the plant.

The Department of Healthcare and Family Services estimated at least 6,000 people will lose coverage come May 1. During a Joint Committee on Administrative Rules meeting Tuesday, Healthcare and Family Services chief of staff Dana Kelly reportedly told lawmakers the state would save more than $13 million by cutting out ineligible recipients.

“The woke left is coming after me for peeing on a tree during my college days,” state Rep. Adam Niemerg told me not long ago.

These new laws range from new requirements for residential landlords, first of its kind electric vehicle requirements, to far-reaching revisions to the Illinois Property Tax Code. Entities that own or intend to develop commercial real estate in the state should be mindful of these new Illinois laws.

In a significant move to bolster workers’ rights against employer retaliation, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul has introduced a new piece of legislation aimed at strengthening existing protections for employees.

Three incumbent congressmen face tough challenges from within their own parties in Tuesday’s primaries in Illinois, while at the top of the ticket, presumptive presidential nominees Joe Biden and Donald Trump are expected to easily pad their delegate leads.