Author: Capitol News

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State revenues $4.6 billion higher for current fiscal year than initially projected

By JERRY NOWICKICapitol News Illinoisjnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – A House revenue committee on Thursday heard projections of an Illinois economy that is steadily moving back toward a level of pre-pandemic normalcy, which means revenue spikes realized due to temporary changes in consumer spending habits and federal stimulus packages are expected to […]

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Legislative panel suspends COVID-19 mitigations in schools

By PETER HANCOCKCapitol News Illinoisphancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – A legislative panel on Tuesday voted to suspend the latest version of COVID-19 mitigations for public schools, saying in part that those rules are still being litigated in a state appellate court. The Joint Committee on Administrative rules voted 9-0, with two members […]

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Pritzker: ‘Stay tuned’ for new guidance on masks

By JERRY NOWICKICapitol News Illinoisjnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Illinoisans should stay tuned for an announcement on the state’s indoor mask mandate, Gov. JB Pritzker said at an unrelated news conference Tuesday, although he declined to say specifically what changes might be coming. “I think I’ve said over the last few press […]

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What’s in Pritzker’s proposed budget?

By JERRY NOWICKICapitol News Illinoisjnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com Each year in February, Illinois’ governor must propose to lawmakers a spending plan for the upcoming fiscal year. The General Assembly will then spend the next several months negotiating which proposals to include and which to scrap before sending the budget back to the governor […]

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Bills to address teacher shortages advance

By PETER HANCOCKCapitol News Illinoisphancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Two bills aimed at relieving the state’s teacher shortage, at least in the short term, advanced out of a Senate committee Tuesday. The Senate Education Committee unanimously endorsed two bills that would allow retired teachers to work as substitutes more days in a […]

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Pritzker to propose tax relief in budget address

By PETER HANCOCKCapitol News Illinoisphancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Gov. JB Pritzker will propose a roughly $1 billion package of tax relief measures aimed at mitigating the impact of inflation on Illinois consumers when he gives his budget address Wednesday. The “Illinois Family Relief Plan,” as it is being called, would suspend […]

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Survey: Illinois schools face worsening educator shortage

By PETER HANCOCKCapitol News Illinoisphancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – School officials across Illinois say a shortage of teachers and substitutes is forcing them to cancel course offerings, move them online or fill open positions with people who are not fully qualified. Those are the findings of the latest survey by the Illinois […]

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Lawmakers prepare for shortened 2022 session

By PETER HANCOCKCapitol News Illinoisphancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – The 2022 session of the Illinois General Assembly will be even shorter than originally planned due to a recent surge in COVID-19 cases, Democratic leaders announced. The session was originally scheduled to start this week with three meeting days – Tuesday, Wednesday and […]

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Court upholds state legislative redistricting plan

By PETER HANCOCKCapitol News Illinoisphancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – A three-judge federal court panel has upheld the legislative redistricting plan that state lawmakers approved during a special session last summer, thus leaving in place the new maps that will govern state legislative elections for the next 10 years. In their 64-page opinion, […]