Record job losses hit the state during the first full month of COVID-19 economic fallout.
Illinois was ranked as the most restrictive state in the U.S. in a survey of COVID-19 actions that impact everyday life.
Tucked into sweeping vote-by-mail legislation is a holiday provision that would make Nov. 3, 2020, a holiday for all state and local government workers.
The Pritzker Group, a private and venture capital firm co-founded by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, is connected to at least two companies creating COVID-19 tests.
The governor has made a series of threats against business owners and officials to force compliance with his executive order.
Just as Illinois opened its unemployment system to self-employed workers, the new system exposed Social Security numbers and other private information of 32,483 applicants, according to a Freedom of Information Act response.
"It’s really hard to put a new budget together and say this is where we’re going to end up. We know we can’t keep going like this for a long period of time."
Self-employed and gig workers were finally allowed to file for benefits last week, driving the total to nearly 1.1 million Illinoisans seeking help since COVID-19 hit the state’s economy.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker rescinded the rule that could have put defiant business owners in jail for up to a year. He first imposed it when his authority to close them during the pandemic was challenged.
“My store is closed. The morning I had to explain to my staff that I had to lay them off, I cried."
"I just don’t know how much more people can be taxed and remain in business."
"I don’t know what the future is for my business. I know I can’t go 150 days [closed]. There’s no way I will survive. I will have to quit something I’ve done for 22 years."