By Jerry Nowicki Illinois’ two main fiscal forecasting agencies agree: Illinois’ finances will see a strong close in the final 3½ months of the fiscal year before things tighten a bit next year. It’s a picture laid out in governor JB Pritzker’s budget proposal last month, and it got a...
By Jerry Nowicki Governor JB Pritzker of Illinois was set give his sixth State budget address this week, Wednesday, Feb. 19 to lay out his plan for a fiscal year that government forecasters in November 2023 predicted was on pace for a near-$900 million deficit unless corrective action was taken....
By Jerry Nowicki The Illinois Supreme Court has again denied a request from a Republican lawmaker seeking to repeal the state’s assault weapons ban. Governor JB Pritzker signed the ban on the sale, possession and manufacture of a long list of firearms, high-capacity magazines and certain accessories in January 2023....
By Jerry Nowicki & Andrew Adams Governor JB Pritzker on Friday signed into law a measure that will allow for the limited development of new nuclear power generation technology in the state. The measure, House Bill 2473, does not allow new large-scale power generation facilities like the six plants that...
By Jerry Nowicki Illinois received another credit upgrade Tuesday, the same day a legislative committee once again scrutinized governor JB Pritzker’s administration for its handling of unemployment claims during the COVID-19 pandemic. The upgrade came from Fitch Ratings, the last remaining holdout of the nation’s three major credit reporting agencies...
By Jerry Nowicki Six interagency law enforcement task forces received grant funding this Spring to combat car thefts through an initiative of Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias’ office. Giannoulias was in Belleville Tuesday to promote the initiative and highlight a $2.5 million grant to the Metro East Auto Theft Task...
By Jerry Nowicki A landmark criminal justice reform that eliminates cash bail in Illinois is constitutional, the State’s Supreme Court ruled Tuesday, July 18 to pave the way for the change to take effect September 18. The 5-2 decision, handed down on partisan lines, means that individuals’ wealth no longer...
By Jerry Nowicki & Nika Schoonover Lawmakers went on a two-week Spring break last week with more than 700 bills already passed in at least one chamber of the General Assembly. They will return to Springfield on April 18 for a final one-month stretch in which the measures can be...
By Jerry Nowicki With two months to go before the adjournment of Illinois’ Spring legislative session, governor JB Pritzker’s State budgeting task may have gotten easier Tuesday, March 7. The Commission on Government Forecasting Accountability increased its revenue estimate for the current fiscal year by $575 million, yet another positive...
By Jerry Nowicki Governor JB Pritzker’s second-term legislative agenda will begin in earnest next week when he proposes his fifth annual State budget to lawmakers in the General Assembly. Although a governor’s proposal usually provides framework for the State’s annual spending plan, it rarely makes it through the General Assembly...
By Jerry Nowicki The Satanic Temple of Illinois debuted a new display in the Illinois Capitol rotunda Tuesday, Dec. 6 and took its place next to the annual Christmas and Hanukkah displays. For Christmas, that means the Springfield Nativity Committee again has placed a manger scene featuring Mary, Joseph, and...
By Jerry Nowicki The Illinois State Board of Elections certified its election results Monday, Dec. 5 and put the final stamp on another Democratic Party sweep of statewide offices. The Board reported that 4,142,642 out of 8,115,751 registered voters cast ballots in the election, a turnout of roughly 51%. That’s...
By Jerry Nowicki State lawmakers Tuesday, Nov. 29 announced a bipartisan plan to use State revenues to pay down the remaining $1.4 billion in debt taken on by the State’s Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Part of the agreement is expected to move through the General Assembly...
By Jerry Nowicki Early voting hours and locations greatly were expanded across the State this week as the campaign season entered its final two-week stretch. Polling places opened across the city of Chicago as well. Information on early voting for each election authority can be found on the Illinois State...
By Jerry Nowicki Much of the talk from supporters of the SAFE-T Act criminal justice reform has in recent days centered on how it will or will not be amended before January 1, 2023 when cash bail will be abolished in Illinois as part of a provision known as the...
By Jerry Nowicki Governor JB Pritzker announced a plan Tuesday, Sept. 27 to reduce a $1.8 billion Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund deficit by $450 million through an infusion of unemployment-related revenues. The trust fund is the pool of money paid into by employers to provide a social safety net for...
By Jerry Nowicki The Illinois government Tuesday this week announced the award of the first electric vehicle manufacturing-targeted tax incentives made possible by a law signed by governor JB Pritzker last year. The incentives come from the Reimagining Electric Vehicles (REV) Act, which passed nearly unanimously and became law in...
By Jerry Nowicki In a series of downstate news conferences coinciding with the Illinois State Fair, governor JB Pritzker this week gave an update on the possibility of a special session, outlined new State infrastructure investments, and announced a new program for some Illinoisans over age 55. Although the governor...
By Jerry Nowicki Ten months after Illinois lawmakers passed the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act which set a goal of putting one million electric vehicles on State roads by the end of the decade, State agencies are engaged in a flurry of regulatory planning aimed at meeting those goals. The...
By Jerry Nowicki Governor JB Pritzker issued a public health emergency declaration and declared Illinois a disaster area in response to the monkeypox virus Monday this week, a move his assistants said would help mobilize resources. The governor’s office personnel said the proclamation will aid in moving vaccines to the...
