-- Connecting the dots between our economy, government and business --
State Rep. Yang Rohr said the bill would update cyberbullying policies in schools to include A.I.-generated, deepfake nude photos.
Reps. Danny Davis and Jonathan Jackson were among the first Congressmen to call for a ceasefire and are now supporting the student resistance to this Middle East conflict that is creating chaos on campuses across the nation.
The proposal could ban landlords from terminating leases, increasing rent, decreasing services or threatening lawsuits. It also states that landlords would no longer be allowed to refuse to renew a lease after a tenant complains about code violations or seeks assistance from elected officials.
“So, carrying a label of offender for life does not seem appropriate for a system in which we intend to return people to full participation in society,” state Rep. Kelly Cassidy said.
Ald. Bill Conway is making his second attempt in six months to get the City Council to establish a quiet zone around an abortion clinic on Washington Boulevard.
“This particular measure that was voted on today did nothing. This City Council, the legislative body, does not have executive authority,” Johnson said after Wednesday’s vote. “My position is actually quite clear. My authority is quite clear that this passage of whatever it was has no bearing on my executive authority.”
Among other changes to the classification of lottery workers and some Chicago Public School employees, House Bill 3765 also would create a Deferred Retirement Option Plan, separate from a pension, for police and firefighters who retire but continue in some capacity with the department to save for retirement. Despite concerns of unknown local taxpayer costs, the measure passed unanimously.
State Rep. Dan Caulkins said his proposal, House Bill 5852, is different from Gov. JB Pritzker’s plan to eliminate the grocery tax because communities around the state depend on that money to help run their governments.
Sam Toia, president of the Illinois Restaurant Association, said a recent survey shows that 87 percent of service workers want to keep the current tipping system.
That decision came despite the project being only 4.2 percent complete at the start of that calendar year.
In the lawsuit, the Republican candidates pointed to prior court decisions they say indicate SB2412 amounts to unconstitutional changes to election rules. Those decisions from state appellate courts as far back as 1977 indicate courts believe that the right to vote is “implicated” by laws that restrict candidate’s ability to run for office, and “legislation that affects any stage of the election process implicates the right to vote.”
The average retail price of gas May 22 in Illinois was $3.936 – 30 cents higher than the national average of $3.611 per gallon. That made Illinois seventh in the U.S. for the average retail price of gas.
Illinois endured the fifth-highest average unemployment rate of any state during 2023 – averaging 4.4 percent – far higher than the national average of 3.6 percent and only besting Nevada, Alaska, California and New Jersey.
he Illinois Legislative Staff Association issued a statement saying Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch and Illinois Senate President Don Harmon sat on legislation giving staff the power to unionize, running out the clock so the bill never advanced.
The Processing and Distribution Centers in Champaign, Peoria, Milan and Springfield were scheduled for elimination.
The Healthcare Protection Act bans prior authorization for mental health treatments, which is a requirement from health insurance companies that the patient get the permission of their provider for a treatment their doctor already prescribed. It would also ban step therapies for private insurance and Medicaid.
The measure seeks to expand the power of the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability to give it the authority to approve the Chicago Police Department budget, to hire and fire the CPD superintendent, to appoint members of the Chicago Police Board and approve all labor agreements with unions representing police officers.
The brewers claim the dispensary lobby is ramrodding a bill through the state Senate and House that would mandate breweries and distilleries that produce drinks like THC seltzers to operate under the same (and more costly) licensing requirements as dispensaries.
Professor Steven Thrasher’s activism could be raised when Northwestern’s president, as well as leaders from UCLA and Rutgers, appears before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce for a hearing titled “Calling for Accountability: Stopping Antisemitic College Chaos.”
The vast majority of people leading city departments in Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration have extensive experience in Chicago city government; nearly half of them got their start as a government employee under Richard M. Daley. But people who have never worked in city government are the ones closest to the mayor, in senior leadership positions within his office. The majority have some sort of advocacy or community organizing experience.
“This is why Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson floating a citywide sales tax on services is absurd. All that would do is hand suburban commercial building owners a brutally effective new marketing tool to woo law firms and other service providers now based in Chicago.”
People making threats to libraries could soon be charged with a Class 4 felony, similar to someone making a threat to a school. There were at least 22 bomb threats made against libraries across the state during 2023 that required response from local and state police.
If signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, school districts would be permitted to use grant funding for rental assistance, transportation, emergency shelter assistance, case management services and other housing strategies. The Illinois State Board of Education wants 25 percent of the appropriation for administrative costs.
The employee head count at Illinois’ Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center was full as of Tuesday, but IDHS records showed that 65 employees — nearly 14 percent of the workforce — were on administrative leave or reassigned to other duties while the inspector general investigated allegations of abuse against them.
Harvard and Northwestern are reaping the whirlwind of the radically left culture they created. JB and Penny Pritzker are common denominators. On Thursday, it will be Northwestern’s turn to face the music before Congress.
Take a couple of minutes to analyze a recent U.S. Census map of the nation’s Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA) and you’ll find the nation’s two extremes in population change.
Ted joined Dan and Amy to talk about the continuing exodus out of Illinois, why businesses continue to struggle in this state, especially in Chicago, the failure of government “affordable” housing programs, and the dismal student results in Wirepoints’ new 2023 School Report Cards.
The elimination of the subminimum wage in Chicago last year was a win for Mayor Brandon Johnson and progressive members of City Council. But the Illinois Restaurant Association has continued to fight a statewide measure and some Democrats, including Chicago Reps. Angelica Guerrero-Cuellar and Curtis Tarver, have sided with the association, citing potential costs to small businesses.
SIGN UP HERE FOR OUR FREE WIREPOINTS DAILY NEWSLETTER