Springfield News
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Gov. JB Pritzker announced nearly two dozen more appointments Friday, rounding out his 15th week in office with 124 appointees to head up state agencies and serve on state boards and task forces.
Democrat JB Pritzker addresses the party faithful at the 2018 Illinois Democratic County Chairs' Association Breakfast. [Photo courtesy of Lee Milner]
As part of The Daily Line’s occasional series on the diversity of Pritzker’s picks for these positions, 42 percent are women, while roughly 44 percent are minorities as of Friday, according to TDL’s analysis.
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Illinois officials plan to nearly double the amount of money the state spends to help gamblers who find themselves unable to stop placing wagers as lawmakers begin to craft a bill that could legalize sports betting.
“Let’s try to do it right the first time,” Orland Hills Mayor Kyle Hastings said. [Heather Cherone/The Daily Line]
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Consumer advocates will attempt Wednesday to turn up the pressure on Gov. JB Pritzker and the Illinois Commerce Commission over Peoples Gas’ expensive pipe-replacement program that critics blame for causing Chicago heating bills to skyrocket.
A crew works in 2015 to replace a gas line in Portage Park. [Heather Cherone/DNAinfo Chicago]
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Tuesday marks Gov. JB Pritzker’s 100th day in office — a milestone most lawmakers will celebrate away from Springfield during their two-week spring break before a final push to the end of the session May 31.
Gov. JB Pritzker addresses the news media. [Hannah Meisel/The Daily Line]
In a brief interview with The Daily Line on Monday, Pritzker counted a $15 minimum wage law, signing a gun dealer licensing law and a law that raises the smoking age to 21 among his accomplishments. Pritzker said he was proud of his proposal of rates for a graduated income tax, his signature issue, and his budget plan, which he presented to lawmakers in February.
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Before leaving town for the General Assembly’s two-week spring break, senators approved a bill that would allow for any of Illinois’ 10 existing riverboat casinos to pick up and move anywhere in the state — freeing them from a decades-long rule that confined casinos in Illinois to riverboats.
A gaming table. [Ralf Steinberger/Flickr]
The bill passed April 11 on a vote of 44-5, with 10 senators not voting.
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The Illinois Supreme Court on Thursday ruled a Wonder Lake man accused of repeatedly touching a 9-year-old girl’s vagina when he babysat her could not avoid a retrial after a jury deadlocked — even though he had claimed it was double jeopardy and an appellate court agreed.
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Lawmakers peppered the state agency that administers violence-prevention grants to community organizations with tough questions after 24 people were shot, three fatally, on one of the first warm weekends of the summer.
State Sen. Mattie Hunter (D-Chicago) urged the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority to step up violence prevention efforts before summer starts. [Hannah Meisel/The Daily Line; submitted]
Many worry the uptick in violence signals a bloody summer to come that officials are unprepared to address.
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As Mayor Rahm Emanuel pointed out Tuesday, Gov. JB Pritzker has been in office for nearly 100 days.
But Pritzker’s campaign committee kept on spending during the first quarter of 2019, according to the most recent report filed by JB for Governor with state officials.
