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State Rep. Nabeela Syed has introduced House Bill 1442 that would establish curbside voting during early voting and on election day. During a House Ethics and Election Committee hearing Wednesday, she said during the November election, some voting lines were too long for some people.
Mexico was Illinois’ second-largest export market in 2024 with $32 billion worth of goods being sent to the country. Another $19 billion worth of Mexican goods came to Illinois that year, making the country Illinois’ third-largest import market.
SB 1976 would prevent state agencies from making “workers’ rights or worker safety” rules less stringent than federal laws. It would also allow the agencies to make the regulations more stringent than those provided in federal law as it existed on Jan. 19, 2025, which is the day before current U.S. President Donald Trump took office.
In its filing, the DOJ said Illinois’ migrant sanctuary policies “work an extraordinary assault on the Federal Government’s enforcement of the immigration laws at a time when the United States is facing a ‘national emergency’ from the unprecedented ‘illegal entry of aliens’ into the country.”
Addison, Homer, Lemont, Leyden, Palatine, Palos, Wheeling and Winfield townships all sent a message to state lawmakers with votes on a series of advisory ballot questions. The results were an overwhelming “Yes” to pension reform, “Yes” to fair maps not drawn by lawmakers and “No” to unfunded mandates on local governments that drive up property taxes.
The Governor’s proposal to eliminate townships, state Sen. Chapin Rose argues, will not necessarily lead to more efficiency, but will instead force counties and municipalities to shoulder additional burdens for snow plowing, road repairs and cemeteries. In many areas, the shift in duties will result in higher property taxes and/or significant cuts to essential services.
The 2021 Woodlawn Housing Preservation Ordinance was passed to protect low-income renters and existing homeowners amid construction of the Obama Presidential Center in nearby Jackson Park, which brought new development to the neighborhood. South Shore has also been targeted by developers as the Obama Presidential Center’s opening nears.
U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Lindsey Graham are expected to soon introduce a bill to sunset Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which largely protects technology companies from being held legally responsible for third party or user consent. “I’m under no illusion it will be easy to pass legislation to protect kids online and finally make the tech industry legally accountable for the harms they cause,” Durbin said.
Last month she announced her office will appoint the first diversity, equity and inclusion deputy clerk. The clerk’s office also has plans to integrate more DEI measures once her transition team completes its report this month.
“Let’s be clear: Chicago Public Schools (CPS) has no business expecting the city to cover the district’s $175 million payment for the employer contribution to non-teaching employees’ pensions. These employees are not city workers. At the same time, the city should not force the district to take out a loan to make that payment. Chicago has become a cash cow for a school district whose leadership refuses to operate within its means. … A Wirepoints analysis suggests that only half of CPS’s $10 billion budget finds its way into schools.”
Two Jewish students at DePaul University, who police say were attacked last fall while showing support for Israel, filed a lawsuit against the college Wednesday, claiming it was negligent and failed to protect their safety while on campus. They claim that “criminal activity was foreseeable,” and DePaul should have known attacks on Jewish and Israeli students were imminent.
State Senator Robert Martwick (D-Chicago): “Any financial adviser will tell you that the benefits provided by Tier Two do not meet even the most basic retirement security standards.”
Chicago finished the year’s first quarter this week with 96 murders, a drop of more than 15 percent from the first three months of last year.
“Chicago has 185 shelter beds (for victims of abuse). New York has 3,000. Harris County, Texas, which includes Houston, has 336 beds. While Chicago experienced 59 domestic-violence homicides in 2023, New York had 23 and Harris County had 38. Pyron points to these numbers as evidence that providing sanctuary for victims works.”
“We vote for [elected officials] time and time again, and they vote for everything for the illegals, and not for us,” one woman said to some applause. She called on the city to encourage migrant deportations.
In Illinois, the position of County Recorder is elective in counties with a population of 60,000 or more. According to the Secretary of State, County Clerks have served as ex officio County Recorders, since 1963, in counties with populations below 60,000.
After the federal funding dried up, the General Assembly allocated $50 million in the budget which was set to begin in July 2024. After nearly nine months, the funds have not been released. Advocacy groups said the delay has caused damage, with more than 27,000 students losing access to the program and more than 2,000 staff members being laid off.
The vacancy was created after former Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, a Johnson ally, resigned to take over the Chicago Park District as general superintendent and CEO. Anthony Quezada was first elected to the Cook County Board in 2022 and has served as the vice chair of the Labor and Contract Compliance committees.
“There is no way the recently elected justices can render decisions on redistricting unsullied by the political debts they owe. … If the justices fail to recuse themselves from the current proceedings, the court will simply confirm our state’s embarrassing national reputation for politics polluted by conflicts of interest — and worse.”
Jim Dey: “That’s where Father Time steps in — if Durbin wins re-election next year, he would be 82 when his next term starts and 88 by the end. Given the ravages of time inflicted on former President Joe Biden — ravages that help cost Democrats the presidency in 2024 — it would be no great surprise if Durbin pulled the plug.”
“We have faith in the Johnson administration,” said Cheryl Miller, with United Working Families (UWF), one of the first groups to endorse Johnson’s candidacy in the 2023 mayoral race. “And we also recognize that the Johnson administration represents more than the [interests of the] fifth floor – it represents community.”
Amid ongoing negotiations at the state capitol in Springfield, a coalition of civic and policy groups released a report calling for a statewide tax on services. The report, “Modernizing Illinois’ Sales Tax,” lays out five fiscal challenges, including public transit, that it says should receive revenue from such a tax.
Emanuel is rejoining the investment bank Centerview Partners, where he worked from 2019 to 2021. He counseled CEOs on mergers, regulation and political information.
The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board cited Wirepoints’ analysis of Chicago Public Schools’ declining enrollment as part of its critique of the district’s new preliminary teachers contract. As the board says: The union still got its money, but as usual the losers are the students.
Ted joined Dan and Amy to discuss the latest federal economic data that shows that Illinois is still a national outlier, why the state’s GDP and wage growth is so anemic, why the breakdown of the nuclear family is such a problem, and more.