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 […]
By JERRY NOWICKICapitol News Illinoisjnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Backers of a graduated income tax constitutional amendment conceded defeat Wednesday for Gov. JB Pritzker’s marquee policy proposal which was projected to bring in more than $3 billion annually to state coffers. With 98 percent of precincts reporting, voters had rejected the amendment […]
By JERRY NOWICKICapitol News Illinoisjnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Although nearly 3.6 million Illinoisans had already voted by Monday morning, according to the Illinois State Board of Elections, nearly 2.3 million ballots are still to be cast if the state is to match the 70.56 percent turnout of 2016. As of Monday, […]
By PETER HANCOCKCapitol News Illinoisphancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – As state leaders continue to face pushback from the restaurant industry and even some county and municipal governments regarding COVID-19 mitigation measures, Gov. JB Pritzker on Tuesday put pressure squarely on the shoulders of local elected officials. “The fact is that local officials […]
