By RAYMON TRONCOSOCapitol News Illinoisrtroncoso@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Legislative Black Caucus has introduced a sweeping criminal justice omnibus bill that aims to heavily alter the state of policing in Illinois. Sen. Elgie Sims, D-Chicago, introduced a 611-page amendment to House Bill 163 Tuesday in the state Senate, a move that would […]
The U.S. Congress reached an agreement on a roughly $900 billion coronavirus relief package that extends unemployment benefits, provides stimulus checks to Americans within a certain income bracket and funding to small businesses, but it fell short of providing direct funding to state and local governments. The relief package approved […]
By RAYMON TRONCOSOCapitol News Illinois | Report For Americartroncoso@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD — The state is soliciting computers and related equipment from individuals and companies as part of a new program announced Wednesday that will distribute refurbished devices to low-income households. The Computer Equity Network is a collaboration between the state, the […]
By PETER HANCOCKCapitol News Illinoisphancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Gov. JB Pritzker announced more than $700 million in spending cuts on Tuesday, calling it a “first step” in closing a $3.9 billion revenue shortfall in the current fiscal year’s budget. As part of those cuts, Pritzker said his office is negotiating with […]
By JERRY NOWICKICapitol News Illinoisjnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – The first doses of a COVID-19 vaccine approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration arrived in Illinois Monday, but officials said there’s still a need for social distancing, face coverings and other mitigations as a full rollout could take months. While Gov. […]
By PETER HANCOCKCapitol News Illinoisphancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – More than 107,000 Illinois workers filed first-time unemployment claims last week, a 45-percent increase over the week before as the COVID-19 pandemic continued to wreak havoc on the state and national economies. The Illinois Department of Employment Security reported that there were 107,616 new claims […]
By PETER HANCOCKCapitol News Illinoisphancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – As COVID-19 infection rates continued to fall Tuesday, Gov. JB Pritzker said the first delivery of a vaccine could arrive in Illinois as early as next week, although it could take several months before it is widely available to the general public. Speaking […]
By JERRY NOWICKICapitol News Illinoisjnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Health officials gave an update on the state’s COVID-19 vaccine plan Friday with potential federal approval anticipated as early as next week. Gov. JB Pritzker said the state still expects to get 109,000 doses to be initially distributed in the 50 counties with […]
By PETER HANCOCKCapitol News Illinoisphancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – The recent surge in COVID-19 cases in Illinois has shown signs of leveling off in recent days, but there has also been a large spike in new unemployment claims amid tighter economic restrictions now in place statewide. The Illinois Department of Public Health […]
By SARAH MANSURCapitol News Illinoissmansur@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD — After Pfizer submitted its application for a COVID-19 vaccine to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last week, Illinois public health officials have continued preparing locations to store and distribute the vaccine that could be released to frontline hospital workers in a matter […]
