Springfield News
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The starvation death of 2-year-old Ta'Naja Barnes last month — even after the girl had been the subject of multiple investigations by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services — has roiled Central Illinois, and on Tuesday a House panel questioned DCFS’ interim chief about how the toddler slipped through the cracks.
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The managed care organizations that act as intermediaries between hospitals and a majority of Medicaid recipients in Illinois are getting rich from denying payment to hospitals, according to several Democratic lawmakers who said Tuesday it may be time to end the program.
Senate Majority Leader Kim Lightford (D-Maywood), flanked by State Rep. Will Guzzardi (D-Chicago) and Gov. JB Pritzker speak with reporters at the Capitol. [Hannah Meisel/The Daily Line]
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The Illinois Municipal League is demanding Illinois return to sharing 10 percent of its income tax revenue with local governments — practice abandoned in the last eight years — while also combining the more than 650 downstate police and fire pension funds, which are in varying levels of fiscal health.
Illinois Municipal League officials said Monday that local governments are hard pressed to survive on their share of the state's income tax. [Submitted]
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In a break from past practices, First Lady M.K. Pritzker will have her own office in both the Illinois Capitol and the James R. Thompson Center. Meanwhile, the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability is concerned with the long term trend of more lower-paying jobs in Illinois and fewer higher-earning jobs in Illinois.
Gov. JB Pritzker and wife M.K. take photos with supporters in the Old State Capitol on Jan. 13, the day before Pritzker’s inauguration. [Hannah Meisel/The Daily Line]
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If Illinois wants to achieve its self-imposed goal of recording zero new HIV infections by 2030, officials remove barriers between those most at risk for the disease and the medication that can prevent its transmission, lawmakers heard Friday.
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An ambitious bill unveiled in Springfield Thursday would set a deadline to move Illinois to 100 percent renewable energy by 2050 — a dramatic increase from the 4 percent renewable energy Illinois currently uses, and the 25-percent goal by 2025 set by a previous law.
A coalition of groups and lawmakers unveiled an ambitious bill to move Illinois to 100 percent renewable energy by 2050. [Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition]
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House Democrats on Wednesday introduced a six-bill package aimed at bringing down the cost of prescription drugs, tackling an issue typically reserved for federal lawmakers.
State Rep. Mary Flowers (D-Chicago) told reporters Wednesday that it was wrong a heart medication for a dog is less expensive than a heart medication for a human. [Hannah Meisel/The Daily Line]
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Illinois’ House Republican Caucus on Wednesday introduced a resolution of opposition to any attempt to change Illinois’ constitution to permit a graduated income tax — Gov. JB Pritzker’s top priority.
State Rep. Avery Bourne (R-Raymond), along with other members of the House Republican Caucus, introduces a House Resolution opposing a constitutional change to a progressive income tax — Gov. JB Pritzker’s top priority — in Springfield on Wednesday. [Hannah Meisel/The Daily Line]
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Credit rating agency Fitch Ratings is the second of the three major Wall Street agencies to weigh in on Gov. JB Pritzker’s proposed budget and warn that it may not put Illinois back on the path to fiscal stability — at least not in the way the agencies would like to see. Meanwhile on Tuesday, a transgender woman prisoner filed a federal lawsuit against the Illinois Department of Corrections to get her moved from a men’s prison, where she alleges she’s suffered abuse and harassment, to a women’s prison.
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The Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund continues to be a model in funding its pension liabilities, while most other retirement systems in Chicago are funded at an average of 37 percent, according to a report out last week from the state’s Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability.
