Illinois Issues blog
Posted by Illinois Issues blog 11 months ago.
by Bethany Jaeger and Patrick O'BrienIt felt more like the end of a legislative session than it did the first day of a new spring session. A full day and night of action still leaves mass transit riders across the state not knowing whether their services ...
Posted by Illinois Issues blog 1 year ago.
By Patrick OBrien and Bethany JaegerEditors note: Welcome Patrick OBrien, our new Public Affairs Reporting intern from the University of Illinois at Springfield, where hes earning his masters. Hes from Chicago and is the former editor of the Indepen...
Posted by Illinois Issues blog 1 year ago.
In two to three weeks, Rep. Jim Watson, a Jacksonville Republican, will put his legislative duties on hold to serve in Iraq. Hell deploy about eight months after he re-enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves out of a sense of duty.He previously served...
Posted by Illinois Issues blog 1 year ago.
Illinois school districts have waited 60 days for the governors action on one particular measure because it would allow them to collect about $600 million for increased state aid payments per student and increased reimbursements for special education tea...
Posted by Illinois Issues blog 1 year ago.
With 18 days left for the state to avert service cuts of Chicago area mass transit, the Illinois General Assembly becomes a playground for power jabs. In the larger scheme of things, it doesnt look like a mass transit plan will be seriously considered un...
Posted by Illinois Issues blog 1 year ago.
We knew it was bad, but we have one more study that says its really bad. The Pew Center on the States published a report comparing all 50 states that says, Illinois has double the trouble. This state has one of the poorest-funded pension systems in the...
Posted by Illinois Issues blog 1 year ago.
The energy industry selected Mattoon in east Central Illinois to host the more than $1 billion project billed as the worlds first near-zero-emissions coal-fired power plant, but the feds have yet to sign on to the project that theyre supposed to fund....
Posted by Illinois Issues blog 1 year ago.
A federal investigation stung another member of Gov. Rod Blagojevichs inner circle without mentioning the governor. Christopher Kelly, the governors close friend, former campaign manager and early advisor on gaming issues, was federally indicted for tax...
Posted by Illinois Issues blog 1 year ago.
State Comptroller Dan Hynes wrote a letter to the editor that published in Springfields State Journal-Register that continues his effort to force conversation about the states delayed Medicaid bills. The topic is old, yet there could be an increased int...
Posted by Illinois Issues blog 1 year ago.
The Illinois House will convene in Springfield next Monday to debate a major gaming proposal announced in Chicago this morning. Two new casinos, one in Chicago and one elsewhere in the state, could unlock months of political stalemates, according to spons...
Posted by Illinois Issues blog 1 year ago.
Flags will be at half-staff today, the 66th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. It always hits home. I spent more than a year of my undergraduate studies interviewing World War II veterans for a marketing research book for the University of Illinoi...
Posted by Illinois Issues blog 1 year ago.
The Illinois House is working on a plan to expand gaming as a way to pay for a long-awaited infrastructure projects around the state. That plan is highly anticipated because it has potential to unlock the entire, gridlocked legislation session of 2007. Do...
Posted by Illinois Issues blog 1 year ago.
Compromise would be a welcomed word during this 6th month of overtime session, but Wednesdays special session the 17th called by Gov. Rod Blagojevich this year exemplified the you show me yours, Ill show you mine game played by legislative leaders...
Posted by Illinois Issues blog 1 year ago.
Two major questions remain unanswered after House Speaker Michael Madigan issued a letter pledging support for a mass transit compromise. The plan would prevent drastic service cuts in the Chicago area and boost funding for downstate services (it would in...
Posted by Illinois Issues blog 1 year ago.
Lawmakers will return to Springfield November 28 to focus on mass transit as required by Gov. Rod Blagojevichs proclamation of another special session Monday, but Republican leaders arent happy about it.Senate Minority Leader Frank Watson said Monday af...
Posted by Illinois Issues blog 1 year ago.
Scooting around the Illinois General Assembly didnt work this time for Gov. Rod Blagojevich. A bipartisan legislative committee shot down his emergency plan to expand state-sponsored health insurance to 147,000 Illinois adults Tuesday. The rule would hav...
Posted by Illinois Issues blog 1 year ago.
Consider a can of worms reopened. A Cook County Circuit Court judge struck down a state law limiting the amount patients can receive in cases alleging medical malpractice. In Tuesdays ruling, Judge Diane Larsen says the states 2005 medical malpractice l...
Posted by Illinois Issues blog 1 year ago.
That's House Speaker Michael Madigan using his best Chicago accent to jokingly gauge the progress of leaders meeting with Gov. Rod Blagojevich Tuesday in Springfield to discuss the expansion of gaming for new revenue. Turning on the serious tone, Madigan...
Posted by Illinois Issues blog 1 year ago.
Former Gov. George Ryan and friend Lawrence Warner are ordered to report to federal prison Wednesday after the U.S. Supreme Court denied their plea to remain free while trying to appeal their corruption conviction 2006 before the nations highest court. R...
Posted by Illinois Issues blog 1 year ago.
The end of the seemingly endless legislative session could be near if all goes by Thursday nights seven-to-10-day promise. It started when Chicago-area mass transit officials announced a temporary budget solution that averts a doomsday scenario that wo...
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