By Jerry Nowicki Many aging LGBTQ Illinoisans face barriers to health care and financial security and fear discrimination in senior communities, according to a combined report from senior and LGBTQ advocacy groups released Tuesday. The Disrupting Disparities: Challenges and Solutions for 50+ LGBTQ Illinoisans report by the senior advocacy group
By Jerry Nowicki Governor JB Pritzker signed an executive order Monday, Oct. 4 that would prevent companies contracting with the State from paying disabled workers at less than the minimum wage. Pritzker took the action in what he said was a broader effort to try to push federal lawmakers to
By Jerry Nowicki A case before the Illinois Supreme Court centers on whether a former Super Bowl MVP has a right to learn the identity of a woman who accused him of sexual harassment, allegedly leading to the termination of contracts between his energy services company and a subsidiary of
By Jerry Nowicki The Illinois Supreme Court is being asked to consider the laws of the state of California and the U.S. Constitution in ruling on one man’s eligibility to be issued a Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) card by the Illinois State Police (ISP). The high court heard oral arguments
By Jerry Nowicki The State’s moratorium on enforcement of residential evictions will expire October 3, according to governor JB Pritzker’s latest COVID-19 executive order issued Friday. Pritzker had extended the order each month with minor to substantial revisions since March 2020. The extensions have come in 30-day windows, coinciding with
By Jerry Nowicki Governor JB Pritzker was joined by environmental and social justice activists, union representatives, and lawmakers from both parties Wednesday, Sept. 15 when he signed into law a sweeping energy regulation overhaul that aims to greatly reduce carbon emissions from the energy sector by 2045, while diversifying the
By Jerry Nowicki The Illinois Senate put the final legislative stamp on an energy regulation overhaul bill Monday to send it to governor JB Pritzker, who said he will sign it. It’s the culmination of years of negotiation, and it marks a policy win on one of Pritzker’s biggest outstanding
By Jerry Nowicki The House sponsor of a long-debated ethics bill that failed in the House recently said she will bring it up for another vote if lawmakers come back to the Capitol within a 15-day constitutional window in which such an action would be allowed. The House leadership decided
By Jerry Nowicki The Illinois House was scheduled to return to Springfield Thursday, Sept. 9 to try again at passing an elusive energy regulation overhaul, days after the governor’s office announced support for a new proposal. It’s the latest push for a legislative accomplishment that has eluded governor JB Pritzker
By Jerry Nowicki As federal unemployment benefits created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic are set to expire next week, Illinois continues to see high unemployment rates, although things have improved from one year ago. Select Illinois Department of Employment Security offices, meanwhile, have opened for appointment-only in-person services for
By Jerry Nowicki Hospitalizations for COVID-19 jumped by more than 13% from Sunday to Monday night while intensive care bed usage jumped 15% as the Delta Variant of the Virus continued to cause a surge nationwide. According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, 1,107 individuals with COVID-19-like illness were
By Jerry Nowicki Within five miles of the scene of a 2019 workplace mass shooting that left six victims dead and five law enforcement officers injured, governor JB Pritzker signed a wide-ranging bill reforming the State’s gun laws Monday at the Aurora Police Department. Advocates for the new law, including
By Jerry Nowicki Lawyers for Illinois’ Democratic Party legislative leaders last week filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit from Republicans and a Mexican American advocacy group regarding newly drawn legislative maps, calling the challenge “purely speculative” until full U.S. Census data is released. The motion, filed Friday, was an
By Jerry Nowicki The State’s higher education agencies released updated COVID-19 guidance Monday encouraging all public and private higher education institutions in Illinois to issue mandatory vaccine policies. “Vaccination against COVID-19 is now widely available, and all persons over the age of 12 are eligible,” the guidance document reads. “Vaccination
By Jerry Nowicki The wide availability of COVID-19 vaccines has changed the State’s approach for mitigating the virus’ spread statewide and in schools. For school districts, that means suggested rather than required guidance, with an emphasis on local control in imposing mitigations. For the governor’s office, that means there are
By Jerry Nowicki Lawmakers, collegiate athletes, and athletic directors from some of the Illinois’ most prominent universities on Tuesday hailed the governor’s signing of a bill allowing college athletes to be paid for the use of their name and likeness as innovative and equity centric. University of Illinois athletic director
By Jerry Nowicki Governor JB Pritzker stressed the importance of COVID-19 vaccinations Monday as positivity rates and hospitalizations continued to decline but variants of the virus have proven to be more transmissible and dangerous to those who are not vaccinated. The governor cited a central Illinois youth camp that has
By Jerry Nowicki Any vaccinated Illinoisan will be automatically entered into a lottery for $10 million in prizes without having to take any extra steps to enter. Governor JB Pritzker announced the “all in for the win” vaccine lottery at an event in Chicago, noting it would award $7 million
By Jerry Nowicki Governor JB Pritzker said he will consider ideas for directing hundreds of millions of new dollars toward K-12 education in the upcoming fiscal year, but proponents of such spending must offer ways to cut government spending, or raise necessary revenues elsewhere. He made those comments in an
By Jerry Nowicki Two more regions of the State moved to Phase 4 COVID-19 guidelines, meaning five of 11 regions can now allow both indoor dining and organized sports. Region 1 in northwest Illinois and Region 2 in north-central Illinois each moved to Phase 4, which allows for indoor dining
