Prairie State Wire

Prairie State Wire

Monday, January 20, 2020

State Government News

State Government

Illinois GOP calls on Senate President candidates to support fair maps

Illinois Republican Party officials are calling on Sens. Kim Lightford (D-Maywood) and Don Harmon (D-Oak Park), the two finalists for the position of next state Senate President, to publicly endorse fair maps.

By Glenn Minnis | Jan 18, 2020

State Government

Senate GOP Leader Bill Brady said to have voiced private support for abortion funding, gun control legislation

Former high-level aides to Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner has revealed that Senate Republican Leader Bill Brady (R-Bloomington) told the then governor he was right for signing HB 40 in September 2017, the law requiring Medicaid funding of abortions. At a separate meeting, Brady also recommended that the governor sign gun control bills should they reach his desk.

By W.J. Kennedy | Jan 17, 2020

Latest News

Medium ives

State Government

Rep. Casten is either 'presumptuous' or 'has trouble with the rules,' Ives says

By Glenn Minnis | Jan 17, 2020

Illinois congressional candidate Jeanne Ives (R-Wheaton) would like to know when her 2020 opponent in the 6th District, incumbent U.S. Rep. Sean Casten (D-Downers Grove), will finally stand up and take some accountability.

Medium marijuana2(1000)

State Government

Health care policy expert issues warnings about pot legalization

By Glenn Minnis | Jan 15, 2020

With recreational marijuana use now legal across most of Illinois, one renowned health care policy expert says he hopes the state does not follow the path set by Colorado and other pot-legalization pioneers.

Medium madiganmakingstatementfromyoutube1280x640

State Government

GOP Chairman: Who else knew about 'the rape in Champaign'?

By Glenn Minnis | Jan 15, 2020

Illinois Republican Party Chairman Tim Schneider believes that the sudden resignation of former state Sen. John Sullivan (D-Rushville) as Director of the Department of Agriculture in the wake of a controversial 2012 email by a longtime associate of Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) raises yet more questions while answering none.

Medium college5

State Government

Students running afoul of the law now eligible for grants under new RISE act

By W.J. Kennedy | Jan 14, 2020

A controversial new Illinois state law provides financial aid to two groups of prospective college students.

Medium moving 1000x667

State Government

Cook among 93 Illinois counties with declining populations

By Local Labs News Service | Jan 11, 2020

Cook saw its population decrease by 18,673, or 0.4 percent, over the last decade, according to a new analysis from Wirepoints.org that is based on U.S. Census Bureau data.

Medium madiganmakingstatementfromyoutube1280x640

State Government

McClain email reveals 'incredibly disturbing' details about Madigan’s inner circle

By Glenn Minnis | Jan 11, 2020

Led by Illinois Republican Party Chairman Tim Schneider, top GOP lawmakers are demanding answers after the discovery of an email in which one of House Speaker Mike Madigan’s (D-Chicago) closest associates openly refers to a rape cover-up.

Medium illinois map

State Government

Reports: Illinoisans continue to flee, taking their tax dollars with them

By W.J. Kennedy | Jan 8, 2020

In ever-higher numbers, Illinois’ tax-weary residents are staking their futures in other states, recent reports by Wirepoints and the Reason Foundation show.

Medium irs

State Government

IRS: Illinois suffers record losses of residents, tax base

By Glenn Minnis | Jan 8, 2020

Illinois suffered record population and taxable-income losses over a two-year period ending in 2018, according to data just released by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Medium mc

State Government

IDFPR: Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation Announces Eighth Round of "Same Site" Licenses for Adult Use Cannabis

By Press release submission | Jan 2, 2020

The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation has announced 11 more "Same Site" adult use cannabis licenses, which will allow an existing medical cannabis dispensary to obtain an adult use dispensing license, and the first "Secondary Site" adult use cannabis license, which will allow an existing medical cannabis dispensary to obtain an adult use dispensing organization license within a limited geographic area.

Medium illinois cannabis legalisation

State Government

ILLINOIS GOVERNOR'S OFFICE: Beginning First Wave of Cannabis Expungements, Gov. Pritzker Grants 11,017 Pardons for Low-Level Convictions

By Press release submission | Jan 2, 2020

Over 700,000 Records to be Expunged Through Most Equity-Centric Cannabis Legalization in the Nation

Medium marijuana

State Government

46 locations in Illinois licensed to dispense recreational marijuana

By Local Labs News Service | Jan 2, 2020

Forty-six dispensaries throughout Illinois can sell recreational marijuana to adults as of Wednesday, including 10 in the city of Chicago, according to the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.

Medium sears

State Government

Wirepoints: State lawmakers can learn from the mistakes of a failed retailer

By Glenn Minnis | Dec 20, 2019

A recent article by Illinois state government watchdog Wirepoints asserts that lawmakers in Springfield could take a cue from beleaguered Sears Co., in particular from the one-time local “king of retailers'” fall from grace over the past decade.

Medium pritzker

State Government

New taxes enough to drive Illinois motorists over the edge, IPI reports

By Glenn Minnis | Dec 20, 2019

Illinois taxpayers face a bevy of new taxes and increased fees to kick off the new year, including at least five in the areas of driving, parking, registering and selling their vehicles.

Medium jeanne ives

State Government

Former Rep. Ives says Madigan raid spotlights state of Illinois politics

By Glenn Minnis | Dec 19, 2019

Former Rep. Jeanne Ives is convinced Illinois voters might be even more outraged about the direction of the state if they were privy to an up-close look of how Springfield actually operates.

Medium img 18122019 064425 (1000 x 667 pixel)

State Government

ILLINOIS GOVERNOR'S OFFICE: Gov. Pritzker Calls on Illinois to Become Best State in Nation for Families Raising Young Children

By Press release submission | Dec 18, 2019

Governor Increases Reimbursements to Child Care Providers, Appoints 29 Members to Newly Created Illinois Commission on Equitable Early Childhood Education and Care Funding

Medium firearms

State Government

Use of firearm owners' fees misrepresented by state, ISRA lobbyists charge

By Glenn Minnis | Dec 16, 2019

Illinois State Rifle Association (ISRA) Executive Director Richard Pearson is blasting the recent discovery that nearly $30 million generated from FOID (firearms owners identification) card applications and fees from the Illinois Concealed Carry License (ICCL) program are being used for general state spending.

Medium insurance11

State Government

Wirepoints: Illinois has 'not set aside a penny' to cover $68 billion in retiree health benefits

By Glenn Minnis | Dec 16, 2019

Retiree health benefits for government workers in Illinois have grown by more than 70 percent over the last decade, leaving the state on the hook for upward of $68 billion in unpaid benefits.

Medium pension

State Government

Broken pension system throws away $9 billion in potential savings, IPI reports

By Glenn Minnis | Dec 12, 2019

An Illinois Policy Institute (IPI) article claims that a healthy pension system would save the state 84 percent of the cost to fund the broken system we have today – a savings of $8.95 billion this year alone, or enough to pay the tuitions of all 122,439 undergraduate students enrolled in Illinois public universities this year, with plenty left over.