SPRINGFIELD — The governor of Illinois has signed into law a measure that officials say will eliminate a $1.8 billion debt in the pandemic-battered account that pays out unemployment benefits. Gov. J.B. Pritzker says that an unexpected surge in revenue fuels the plan. It was brokered by business and labor, as well as Democrats and…
SPRINGFIELD – Illinois lawmakers last week passed significant legislation dealing with electric vehicle manufacturing incentives and the availability of hygiene products for prisoners in the state’s correctional system. But some weightier issues, including a possible assault weapons ban, will wait until a lame duck session scheduled for early January. Last week, lawmakers wrapped up a…
Illinois’ economic growth rate held steady in November, according to the University of Illinois Flash Index. The economist who compiles the index says that’s good news after seven months of decline. The Flash Index was at 103.7 for a second month in a row in November. The pause comes after the index fell from a…
SPRINGFIELD – Lawmakers on Tuesday 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 this week before lawmakers adjourn for the year….
SPRINGFIELD – Illinois voters have approved a state constitutional amendment guaranteeing workers the right to organize and engage in collective bargaining. Estimates compiled by multiple media outlets projected Tuesday that the ballot measure had support on an estimated 53 percent of the total ballots cast in the election, with more than 95 percent of the…
URBANA — State Representative Chris Miller of Illinois’ 110th district won re-election in last week’s midterms. He ran unopposed and will soon serve his third term in office. Miller, the Coles County Republican, attended the “Save America” rally in Washington D.C. on January 6, 2021, which preceded the attack on the U.S. Capitol Building. A…
INDIANAPOLIS — Maxine Thomas got her first Child Tax Credit payment in the spring of 2021. She was skeptical, like it was too good to be true. “I really didn’t think I was going to get it for some reason,” she said. Thomas is a single mom of five children. She works full time at…
LOS ANGELES — Wes Yin says it’s impossible to study health care these days without coming across the issue of medical debt. “There’s a lot of people who are struggling,” said Yin, an associate professor of economics at UCLA and one of the nation’s leading researchers on medical debt. https://cpa.ds.npr.org/s4780019/audio/2022/11/medicaldebt-2way.mp3 Listen to this story here….
NORMAL – A second shift of workers is now making electric vehicles at Rivian’s plant in Normal, even as global supply chain issues continue to be the “largest source of uncertainty” for the company. Rivian now has 6,680 workers in Normal. Adding a second shift increases the hours each day when vehicles are being produced…
Illinois’ economy is growing at an increasingly slower rate. That’s according to the University of Illinois’ monthly Flash Index. The Flash Index has been declining for the past seven months. It measured the Illinois economy at 103.7 in October, down four-tenths of a point from September’s 104.1 reading, and down 2.4 points from its post-recession…
Updated October 15, 2022 at 11:31 AM ET A beta version of President Biden’s student loan forgiveness application is now open — the first time borrowers have been able to apply for up to $20,000 in debt cancellation. The early opening is a test to help the Education Department find problems with the site before…
Illinois voters will be asked on the Nov. 8 ballot whether they want to amend the state constitution to enshrine the rights of workers to organize and collectively bargain as a constitutional right. The proposed amendment would codify the rights of private and public sector workers to negotiate wages, working conditions and more. Proponents say…
CHAMPAIGN – Local homeless shelter C-U at Home has rejected an offer from the City of Champaign Township to buy its building near downtown Champaign. Yet the Township still has its eye on buying the property to use for a new, emergency homeless shelter called Strides. On Sept. 20, the Champaign City Council, in its…
SPRINGFIELD – Illinois voters will be asked in November to decide whether the right of workers to form unions and engage in collective bargaining should be enshrined in the state constitution. The first clause of the amendment contains two sentences. The first would establish a “fundamental right to organize and to bargain collectively and to…
SPRINGFIELD – When former Gov. Bruce Rauner and the Democratic-controlled General Assembly spent more than two years at an impasse in negotiating a state budget from mid-2015 into 2017, the office of Illinois comptroller was thrust onto center stage. As the state’s chief fiscal officer, the comptroller is often referred to as manager of the…