217 Today: Sen. Bennett likes parts of the new state budget but says it wasn’t transparent

Tiktok Instagram Facebook-f
State Sen. Tom Bennett, a Republican, represents much of northeastern McLean County, portions of Peoria, Woodford and Tazewell counties and much of east central Illinois.
  • Photo: Eric Stock/WGLT

June 6, 2023

Audio Player

Today’s headlines:

  • The new state budget includes more than $350 million to address homelessness in Illinois as part of the multi-year Home Illinois plan.

 

  • Champaign County saw a nearly 57%  increase in homelessness this January, according to the most recent Point-in-Time count.

 

  • A US House subcommittee holds a hearing today on whether automakers should be required to keep AM radio in their vehicles.

 

  • Illinois is using the remainder of its Volkswagen settlement money to help install more electric vehicle charging stations across the state.

In today’s deep dive, we hear a conversation about the recently approved state budget with central Illinois lawmaker Tom Bennett.

Reporting contributed by Tim Shelley, Jim Meadows, Mae Antar, Alex Degman, and Eric Stock.

WILL and the Illinois Newsroom are committed to bringing you in-depth, relevant coverage that keeps you informed and engages you with our community and state. Join with thousands of others to keep this important public media-based resource available to all. Donate today >>

Owen Henderson

Owen Henderson covers arts and culture, as well as LGBTQ issues for Illinois Public Media News. He studied journalism, Spanish and theater at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and has worked with Illinois Public Media in various capacities since 2021.