That 28 percent placement rate is up from 15 percent recorded in 2022-2023, but still significantly below the national average of 43 percent.

Rod Craig, President of the Northwest Municipal Conference: “The proposed legislation would undo critical reforms implemented in 2010 that stabilized the rapidly deteriorating state-mandated pension systems. Rolling back these reforms would leave taxpayers on the hook for increased mandatory contributions. Struggling local governments would need to impose substantial property tax hikes, find alternative revenue streams or cut other services to meet this added financial burden.”

“He promised he wouldn’t do it, and now he’s doing it, but it’s a labor of love,” U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin said of President Joe Biden.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin said, “When we talk about a preemptive pardon, where does it start and where does it stop?”

“I think there’s a concerted effort around the state of Illinois from a lot of school boards to kind of take back a little bit of control,” said Dustin Foutch, superintendent at Central Community High School District 71 in Breese.

Operations at the Viper Mine in Elkhart are shutting down after the city of Springfield chose a cheaper coal supplier for its electrical power plant. The mine, which at its peak employed about 300 miners, now is down to a skeleton crew responsible for dismantling equipment.

“It’s going to make it a lot more difficult for families to be successful when their professional performance their hours at work are going to be affected because they’re going to have to pick up their kids,” principal Michael Carlson said.

All the village incumbents are unopposed in the April election. The candidate filing period ended more than two weeks ago. All the recent decisions took place after that. If the increase happens, the mayor’s pay would be roughly equivalent to the mayor of Rockford, a city that is eight times larger than Bensenville.

With more than 48,000 video gambling terminals operational statewide now, the devices also generated about $147 million in tax revenue for local governments, the report from the Illinois legislature’s Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability shows.

These changes cover a wide range of issues, including wage transparency obligations in job postings, employee discrimination protections for “Family Responsibilities” and “Reproductive Health Decisions” under the Illinois Human Rights Act, more stringent employee recordkeeping and access requirements under the Personnel Records Review Act, and additional employer responsibilities when employing minors.

“The problem, as commerce commissioners made clear, is that that is what the Legislature wanted when it passed the Illinois Water Systems Viability Act in 2013. The legislation permits private water companies to buy public water systems and spread the cost among their existing customers. The utility watchdog group said at the time that the law would lead to unchecked water-company growth and rate increases. It was right.”