Left, Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin speaks about findings in an audit of the LaSalle Veterans’ Home COVID-19 outbreak at a news conference Monday. Right, Gov. JB Pritzker addresses the audit last week. [Ben Szalinski/The Daily Line & Blue Room Stream]

After a state audit found the Gov. JB Pritzker’s administration failed to adequately respond to a November 2020 COVID-19 outbreak at the LaSalle Veterans’ Home, Pritzker’s potential Republican challengers have slammed the first-term governor as the safety of the state’s veterans’ homes becomes a core issue in a second straight gubernatorial election.

Aurora mayor and Republican gubernatorial candidate Richard Irvin held his first news conference since announcing he was running for governor, but he answered few questions directly. And Illinois Supreme Court Justice Rita Garman announced she will retire in July.

From left to right, U.S. Rep. Sean Casten, Burr Ridge Mayor Gary Grasso, U.S. Rep. Marie Newman and Rob Cruz discuss 2022 campaign issues at The Mecca Center in Willowbrook Friday. [Ben Szalinski/The Daily Line]

U.S. Reps. Marie Newman of LaGrange and Sean Casten of Downers Grove squared off in a Willowbrook forum Friday less than two months before the incumbent Democrats face off in the Democratic primary for who will represent the new 6th Congressional District.

Gov. JB Pritzker speaks about an audit on the COVID-19 outbreak at the LaSalle Veterans’ Home at a news conference at the Capitol on Thursday. [Blue Room Stream] 

Lawmakers in both parties are calling for more hearings to investigate what happened at the LaSalle Veterans’ Home during a November 2020 COVID-19 outbreak after the Auditor General released a report showing the state’s Department of Public Health did not take the outbreak seriously.

The LaSalle Veterans’ Home is pictured in 2020. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

A report released Thursday by Auditor General Frank Mautino found Illinois Department of Public Health officials did not take reports of a 2020 COVID-19 outbreak at the LaSalle Veterans’ Home in November 2020 seriously, refuting an earlier state investigation that blamed the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (IDVA) for the crisis.

Rep. Chris Miller (R-Oakland) speaks at a news conference at Trump Tower Thursday. [Ben Szalinski/The Daily Line]

Five of the General Assembly’s most conservative lawmakers are establishing an Illinois chapter of the State Freedom Caucus Network modeled after Congress’ conservative House caucus, they announced at a Trump Tower event Thursday.

Fitch upgraded Illinois’ credit rating by two spots Thursday, marking Illinois’ fifth credit upgrade in the last year. And Gov. JB Pritzker signed a bill Thursday to extend buyout options for the state’s pension plan.

JC Kibbey from the Natural Resource Defense Council, left, Rep. Larry Walsh (D-Joliet), middle, and Mark Denzler from the Illinois Manufactures’ Association, right, speak during the House Public Utilities Committee Wednesday.

Business leaders are asking lawmakers to address a gap in the 2021 Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA) they say is driving up costs for consumers and threatens blackouts because the law narrowly defines clean energy sources. But an environmental group is pushing back, saying polluters are simply looking for a back door out of the law’s tougher energy requirements.

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg joined Gov. JB Pritzker and U.S. Rep. Bill Foster (D-Ill.) to highlight infrastructure investments at the opening of a new Pace bus terminal in Joliet. And a new poll shows Richard Irvin has a 12-point lead in the Republican primary even as many voters remain undecided.

A property tax bill is pictured. 

Illinois is home to more than 8,000 units of local government. A bill passed during the spring session will for the first time force local leaders to weigh whether all the districts really need to stick around.