Springfield News
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In a version of Illinois government where progressive ideas are no longer a pipe dream, and the state’s own billionaire governor is the one leading the charge on measures like a $15 minimum wage and a graduated income tax, bills to lift Illinois’ ban on rent control may have a chance of getting all the way to a floor for a vote this spring.
Chicago is short nearly 120,000 affordable homes. [BRIAN KELLY / FLICKR]
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The Illinois Railsplitter Tobacco Settlement Authority, the entity created in 2010 in order to borrow against the payments made to Illinois from a historic 1998 settlement with tobacco companies, has seen major revenue growth in the last year, according to an audit sent to the General Assembly.
While smoking rates had been on a downward trend for years, youth tobacco use is on the rise. [Flickr/Julie]
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State Rep. Barbara Hernandez (D-Aurora) is Illinois’ newest lawmaker was sworn in last week after mentor State Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia (D-Aurora) was appointed to head the Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs. Meanwhile, Gov. JB Pritzker on Friday used a bill signing to promote his plan for a progressive tax.
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After eight weeks on the job, Gov. JB Pritzker has appointed 55 people 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, TDL found as of Friday, nearly half of these roles have been filled by women, while 38 percent of the governor’s appointees are people of color.
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Gov. JB Pritzker won progressive plaudits when he — a man worth an estimated $4 billion — backed a plan for a graduated income tax early on in his campaign for governor in 2017.
Gov. JB Pritzker proposes progressive income tax rates in his Capitol office Thursday. [Hannah Meisel/The Daily Line]
But as Pritzker claimed frontrunner status in a crowded Democratic field last year, and eventually became the party’s nominee to face off against Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, everyone from journalists, Republican critics and even some within his own party began demanding that then-candidate Pritzker release a framework of progressive income tax rates.
But over and over, Pritzker refused, saying he would rather negotiate rates with the legislature than release his own rates. On Thursday, however, the wait finally ended, and the governor claimed his plan would give 97 percent of Illinois taxpayers a break.
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MAR 07, 2019
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Powerful lobbying group AARP Illinois on Wednesday unveiled a pair of bills that would provide a tax credit for family caregivers who pay out-of-pocket for home care expenses and would force nursing homes in Illinois to abide by the state’s minimum staffing requirements.
State Sen. Jacqueline Collins calls for crackdown on nursing home violations, safeguards for residents and their families. [Illinois Senate Democrats]
The measure would also curb the practice of giving nursing home patients psychotropic drugs without express permission.
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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]
