In 2022 the company announced that it planned to close a factory in Belvidere, Illinois, and lay off 1,350 people in an effort to trim its manufacturing footprint. But during contentious contract talks last year with the United Auto Workers, Stellantis agreed to keep the plant open to make EVs, as well as add a battery factory in Belvidere.

“The Illinois Supreme Court recently refused to terminate the law license of convicted felon and former powerhouse Chicago Ald. Edward Burke. The justices may well have done so because Burke played a role in putting several of them on their judicial benches. The judicial selection process in Illinois needs change.”

State employment growth slightly outpaced the national economy. Illinois reported 0.28 percent more jobs in February, compared to 0.17 percent growth nationwide.

Illinois’ unemployment rate tied for 3rd-worst in the U.S. in February 2024, with 4.8 percent of the state’s workforce unemployed, according to new data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Illinois’ unemployment rate continued to exceed the national average of 3.9 percent in February. It was higher than in any neighboring state.

Director of the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget Alexis Sturm did not have exact numbers on how much she expects the state to spend in total this year on migrant-related issues. She said people can track migrant-crisis spending using a portal on the Illinois Comptroller’s website. So far, however, the portal shows the state has spent less than $60,000,000, less than 10% of the estimated $640 it has previously committed to combating the crisis.

Gov. JB Pritzker, along with Illinois film officials and stakeholders, plans to meet with major studios and distributors to discuss business and film industry investment in Illinois and to tout the state’s film industry tax credit, which helped rake in $700 million in film production expenditures in 2022.

In a scathing and stinging decision – that was as much poetry as it was mockery – a federal judge denied former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich’s effort to overturn his ineligibility to hold office.

The result is a failure for the Illinois Education Association and Illinois Federation of Teachers. The two labor unions poured more than $200,000 into the effort to defeat Niemerg as well as neighboring state Rep. Blaine Wilhour. But both incumbents, members of the far-right Illinois Freedom Caucus, ultimately prevailed with landslide margins.

Jim Nowlan: “The Illinois Supreme Court recently refused to terminate the law license of convicted felon and former powerhouse Chicago Ald. Edward Burke. The justices may well have done so because Burke played a role in putting several of them on their judicial benches. The judicial selection process in Illinois needs change.”

“Currently, workers who want to assert their basic workplace rights risk losing their livelihood and ability to provide for themselves and their families. For some immigrant workers, asserting their rights means risking their ability to remain in the United States,” Raoul said