-
The Daily Line is starting a new feature to track interesting bills introduced, passed in committee or passed on the floor. Tweet us @TheDailyLineIL or email [email protected] to flag bills that have caught your attention during a committee hearing or while listening to floor debate.
-
More than two thirds of Illinoisans support the idea of a graduated income tax, a new poll out Tuesday from the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute found.
Gov. JB Pritzker proposes graduated income tax rates in his Capitol office. [Hannah Meisel/The Daily Line]
But the 67 percent the poll found in favor of the idea of a graduated tax has fallen slightly in the last year, when the idea first got some time in the spotlight during the gubernatorial campaign.
-
A judge Monday ordered the arrest of two men who collected petition signatures for candidates that House Speaker Mike Madigan foe Jason Gonzales alleges were “sham candidates.”
-
The state’s crime lab remains months — and even years — behind in solving cases nearly four months after lawmakers first held a hearing on the backlog.
-
Just two months into the job, Gov. JB Pritzker’s approval rating is only 2 percentage points higher than his disapproval rating, according to a new poll out Wednesday. The Illinois Supreme Court said Wednesday it would not hear an appeal over HB 40, a 2017 law that expanded access to abortion for those on Medicaid and state workers. A bill that would force the State Board of Elections to report to the General Assembly will be amended after the board publicly opposed the legislation.
[Paul Simon Public Policy Institute]
-
Now that Democrat JB Pritzker is governor, Illinois Manufacturers’ Association President and CEO Mark Denzler wants to pick his battles carefully.
Illinois Manufacturers’ Association President and CEO Mark Denzler [Submitted]
Denzler, who has been at IMA’s helm for only a few months after years of working under former leader Greg Baise, has long advocated for pro-business reforms, and is well-known for his ideas for overhauling Illinois’ workers’ compensation system.
But in introducing IMA’s six-bill legislative agenda Tuesday, workers’ compensation reform was nowhere to be found.
“There are interest groups that have no interest in working on this, and I just don’t think we’re going to have any action in the House or Senate so we’re trying to focus on things where we can have movement this year,” Denzler said at a Capitol news conference.
Instead of expending time and energy drafting legislation and lobbying on workers’ comp bills this session, the group is turning its attention to both measures with the potential for bipartisan support, and fighting against any progressive ideas coming from the governor’s office.
-
Approximately 40,000 home care personal assistants and child care workers who belong to SEIU Healthcare Illinois will see raises in their checks beginning April 1 — raises granted to them in the two most recent state budgets, but never paid out by former Gov. Bruce Rauner.
-
Five years after Illinois began accepting applicants for its medical marijuana program, the state is on the cusp of legalizing recreational marijuana.
Illinois Treasurer Michael Frerichs unveiled legislation that would protect state-chartered banks that do business with cannabis companies. [Illinois Treasurer]
But the drug is still classified as a “Schedule 1” substance under federal law, which makes many banks nervous to work with companies that technically traffic in an “illegal” product.
As a result, most of the medical cannabis industry is “unbanked,” and are mostly cash-only enterprises. Illinois Treasurer Mike Frerichs warns that business model is extremely risky.
-
Gov. JB Pritzker’s progressive tax proposal is dependent on approximately 175,000 taxpayers in the top 3 percent to make his proposed graduated income tax work, according to numbers released by the governor’s office Friday. Meanwhile, Fitch Ratings Inc. said Illinois’ general obligation bonds remain two notches above junk status ahead of a bond sale later this month, but was not as hopeful as another ratings agency had been last week about Illinois’ finances.
[Gov. JB Pritzker’s office]
-
Construction crews hoisted the final massive concrete panel into place Friday on the veterans facility under construction on Chicago’s Northwest Side designed to house veterans suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease and dementia.
Gov. JB Pritzker celebrates progress being made on the construction of a new veterans home in Chicago. [Heather Cherone/The Daily Line]
Gov. JB Pritzker said the 200-bed facility, the first of its kind in Chicago, would open in December — nearly four and a half years behind schedule after being stalled by the budget impasse under former Gov. Bruce Rauner that lasted for more than two years.
Do you like this page?
