Illinois’ broken pension system puts $100,000 a year or more into the hands of 62 former state lawmakers. It has paid more than $1 million to 94 of them.
Illinois lawmakers cannot afford to delay action in the wake of George Floyd’s death.
New jobless claims remain several times higher than last year as state begins to test re-opening.
Record April job losses hurt some communities even more than Illinois’ statewide decline of 13.4%.
More than 1 in 5 black and Hispanic female workers in Illinois lost their jobs during the first month of the COVID-19 lockdown.
“I’ve spoken to several other bar owners [who] are like, ‘We’re in the exact same boat.’ I’m waiting for a serious miracle. [But] I don’t think that’s going to happen."
“[The lockdown] has just really, really put a dent in my income ... a huge dent to this point. I tried to apply for unemployment. But I make $50 a week too much, and that was me only netting $150 a week."
Lawmakers made no serious attempt to balance the new budget, instead counting on a federal bailout. They accepted an $1,800 raise for themselves, while only making significant cuts to education.
After being asked by the U.S. Supreme Court to reply to religious groups’ objections, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced he was ending the 10-person limit on religious gatherings.
The contractor who removed toilets from Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s mansion in a $331,000 property tax scandal received a nearly $9 million COVID-19 contract from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The contractor hadn’t worked with the Corps in 76 years.
Illinois lawmakers are still likely to receive a $1,800 pay raise. But some have tried their best to make no waves by giving themselves cover from backlash.
Nearly 1 in 4 Illinoisans find themselves out of work, more than all border states except Kentucky.
Citing the lack of action on the state unemployment claims system overwhelmed during the COVID-19 pandemic, a state lawmaker begins the process to remove Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker from office.