Author: Capitol News

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Illinois Attorney General to appeal judge’s ruling halting stay-at-home order against lawmaker

By REBECCA ANZEL Capitol News Illinois ranzel@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD — The Illinois Attorney General’s office filed a notice to appeal a downstate judge’s ruling releasing one Republican representative from the governor’s executive orders, according to court documents. Xenia Republican Rep. Darren Bailey alleged in his lawsuit that by issuing successive 30-day […]

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Lawmaker sues Pritzker, alleges improper use of emergency powers

Governor’s state of emergency should last for only 30 days, according to lawsuit By REBECCA ANZEL Capitol News Illinois ranzel@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD — Gov. JB Pritzker’s state of emergency should have expired April 8, an Illinois lawmaker says in a lawsuit, rendering improper his subsequent actions related to the novel coronavirus […]

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Illinois surpasses testing goal, unveiling new daily high of COVID-19 cases

State reports 2,724 new cases, 108 additional deaths By BEN ORNER Capitol News Illinois borner@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD — Illinois surpassed a long-stated benchmark of 10,000 daily completed tests for COVID-19, state officials announced Friday. Gov. JB Pritzker called the testing of more than 16,000 people in the past day, “a very […]

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Illinois rents fleet of refrigerated trailers as COVID-19 morgue contingency

By BEN ORNER Capitol News Illinois borner@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD — Illinois has rented a fleet of refrigerated semi-truck trailers to store the bodies of deceased COVID-19 patients in case morgues become filled to capacity, according to a spokesperson for the Illinois Emergency Management Agency. The “more than 20” trailers made available […]

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Another 102K Illinoisans file first-time jobless claims amid COVID-19 pandemic

By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Department of Employment Security said Thursday that 4.4 million Americans filed first-time unemployment claims during the week that ended April 18, including 102,936 workers in Illinois. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, 520,227 workers in Illinois, or 8.2 […]

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Illinois reports largest daily increases in COVID-19 cases, tests

By BEN ORNER Capitol News Illinois borner@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Illinois health officials reported the state’s largest one-day increase of COVID-19 cases and tests results Wednesday as Gov. JB Pritzker announced two new drive-thru testing facilities. The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 2,049 new cases Wednesday and 98 additional deaths. […]

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Lawmakers slowly preparing for session to reopen

By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Top leaders of the Illinois House and Senate say there is still no timetable for calling lawmakers back into session, but they have launched a process for narrowing down the topics they’ll need to address whenever they do return. In recent […]

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Pritzker announces expanded student loan relief, SNAP benefits

By JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois jnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com Pritzker announced that people in Illinois who still owe money on private student loans can now qualify for temporary relief while the COVID-19 pandemic continues. He also announced families with school-age children who receive food assistance will qualify for additional benefits. Pritzker said […]