Chicago’s budget gap could grow even bigger thanks to a tax flap in Springfield that is expected to set the city back another $40 million in revenue next year.
Following an amendment this week on the prepaid cellphone tax during the Illinois General Assembly’s veto session, Mayor Brandon Johnson’s budget headache seems likely to worsen as he tries to get the City Council to agree to a proposal to balance the 2025 spending package, several aldermen told the Tribune.
Nearly eight and a half years after being confronted by federal authorities about his own wrongdoing, former Chicago Ald. Daniel Solis has taken the witness stand Thursday in the corruption trial of ex-House Speaker Michael Madigan to testify about his unprecedented turn as an FBI mole.
Solis is the 34th prosecution witness — and arguably the most important — to be called in Madigan’s trial, which began Oct.
Back in the waning days of the 20th century, while serving on the high school newspaper staff, our adviser Mrs. Schneider taught me a lesson I’ve not forgotten.
Faced with negative feedback from a column, I insisted the audience had missed my point. But readers’ lack of understanding, she explained, was evidence not of poor comprehension but proof the writer didn’t effectively communicate the message.
A long-awaited bill to stop Illinois organizations from paying subminimum wage to workers with disabilities will soon head to Gov. JB Pritzker’s desk after being approved by the Senate on Thursday.
The Senate took a bipartisan 43-11 vote to pass the legislation that supporters dub the “Dignity in Pay Act.”
“It is time to treat people with developmental disabilities the same and have them be paid what they’re worth, which is what we pay everybody else,” bill sponsor Sen.
Illinois is in trouble. For years, our state has been saddled with one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation – currently sitting at 5.3% or the second worst in the nation. While joblessness affects everyone, it disproportionately harms minorities and the poor – those who need opportunities the most.
Rather than improving this, the state has made it worse.
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WTVO) — Disabled Americans living in Illinois will be allowed to earn a minimum wage, thanks to the passage of a new bill in the statehouse.
The Dignity in Pay Act was passed on Thursday and eliminated Illinois’ 14(c) certificate program, which allowed employers to pay people with disabilities a subminimum wage.
"The Dignity in Pay Act is an unprecedented, crucial leap forward to a future where all individuals, regardless of ability, can maximize their talents and contributions to our workforce—and earn a fair wage," said Gov.
(The Center Square) – Illinois legislators are done for the year, but they’ll be back in early January before the new General Assembly is seated. Republicans are issuing warnings.
There were no vetoes to override during veto session the past two weeks. That didn’t prevent legislators from passing several bills that were gutted and replaced with other measures.
Thursday, Nov 21, 2024 – Posted by Rich Miller
* House Speaker Chris Welch and Senate President Don Harmon have both told their chambers to be prepared to return January 2-7 for a lame duck session. As you will recall, Gov. Pritzker and the two Democratic legislative leaders have talked about “Trump-proofing” the state, starting in lame duck session.
It took two weeks, but Democrat Murri Briel has been declared the winner of the 76th District State Representative race.
Briel currently serves as State Representative Lance Yedncok’s aide and chief of staff. She appeared on Rod Thorson’s morning show Thursday.
One topic was Briel’s view of the future of education in a district that not only includes Northern Illinois University, but also a number of community colleges.
<p>The Illinois Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that a defamation lawsuit linked to Chicago Sun-Times coverage of a Trump Tower property tax appeal should proceed against the newspaper because it didn’t prove that a former state official it reported on had filed his civil complaint in order “to silence citizen participation.”</p><p>In a 6-0 decision with one justice taking no part, the state’s top court ruled the suit filed by ex-Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board executive director Mauro Glorioso wasn’t lodged against the Sun-Times “solely based on defendant’s exercise of political rights.”</p><p>Glorioso
Mawa Iqbal is the state house reporter for WBEZ and Illinois Public Radio. She spoke to Community Voices about what it’s like as a reporter in the Illinois State Capitol, the challenges of reporting on social justice and the importance of media literacy.
<p>In a blockbuster ruling Thursday, the state Supreme Court overturned the conviction of actor Jussie Smollett for an alleged 2019 hoax hate crime, a move that will spare the former “Empire” star a five-month jail sentence, if not clear his name.</p><p>Smollett had challenged nearly every aspect of his case, arguing that he should have been done with the case after Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s office struck a deal to drop the charges, that the special prosecutor who re-investigated the case and re-indicted him a year later was wrongfully appointed.</p><p>Smollett
Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – Maybe it should be easier to transfer high schools if you are an athlete.
That’s certainly what Chicago parent Khalilah Johnson thinks, based on her daughter’s experience.
“After her freshman your, she transferred from a Catholic school to a public school in the city of Chicago,” Johnson told a House education committee Wednesday.
(Springfield, IL) — Illinois lawmakers are moving forward with a bill that would expand treatment for chronic pain sufferers. The state Senate passed a measure that would allow physicians to make prescriptions for controlled substances without strict limitations based on dosage amounts. The state currently has policies that restrict doctors from prescribing opioids. The bill now returns to the House.
SPRINGFIELD (WGEM) – Illinois is one step closer to requiring workers with intellection and developmental disabilities be paid the full minimum wage.
The state Senate Executive Committee passed the Dignity in Pay Act Wednesday by a 9-3 margin with bipartisan support. It now heads to the Senate floor.
“Old-fashioned stereotypes about the limit and worth of disabled lives must change,” said Ryan Croke from the Pritzker administration.
A coalition of anti-abortion groups filed a lawsuit Wednesday challenging the state’s law that mandates health insurers in Illinois cover abortion care.
The groups argue that they are being forced to indirectly pay for abortions with their premiums, and contend that the law is unconstitutional because it provides “no exceptions or accommodations for employers or individuals who object to abortion on religious or moral grounds.”
For the first time since 2020, soon neither AT&T Illinois nor ComEd will be facing criminal charges.
A federal judge on Wednesday agreed to dismiss a criminal case against AT&T Illinois, involving a criminal charge leveled two years ago against the telecommunications giant as part of a sprawling public corruption investigation into the company’s former president and ex-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan.
