Prairie State Wire

Prairie State Wire

Monday, November 11, 2019

Latest News

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State Government

Despite upheaval, threats of closure, tax credit scholarship program earns top marks in first year

By Glenn Minnis | Jul 18, 2019

Juan Rangel knows what kind of impact the state’s tax credit scholarship (TCS) program can have on children and families.

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State Government

Illinois State Rifle Association files suit over new law targeting federally licensed gun dealers

By Glenn Minnis | Jul 18, 2019

The Illinois State Rifle Association (ISRA) has filed a lawsuit challenging the legal validity of the state licensure measure that Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed off on in one of his early acts in office.

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State Government

Illinois lawmakers highest paid U.S. legislators for the amount of work they do, IPI reports

By Keri Carbaugh | Jul 17, 2019

Illinois lawmakers will receive their first pay increase since 2008 in the amount of $1,628 after the General Assembly passed the budget and Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed it into law on June 6.

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State Government

Independent auto dealers association vows to fight Pritzker's new law capping trade-in tax credits

By Glenn Minnis | Jul 17, 2019

Scott Alpeter, executive director of the Illinois Independent Auto Dealers Association (IIADA), sees just one winner emerging from the enactment of a new state law that caps trade-in tax credits for most vehicles in Illinois at $10,000.

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State Government

Pritzker's new trade-in tax cap may send Illinois auto-buyers across state lines, IADA president says

By Glenn Minnis | Jul 17, 2019

Illinois Automobile Dealers Association (IADA) President Pete Sander is worried about what a new state law that caps trade-in tax credits for most vehicles at $10,000 will do to the rights of car buyers across Illinois.

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State Government

Illinois Policy: Declining home values, rising property taxes amount to a shrinking population

By Glenn Minnis | Jul 16, 2019

The hits keep on coming for Illinois homeowners. Even as residents across the state still struggle to fully recover from the last housing-market crash, property tax bills have continued to spiral upward, soaring by an average of 9 percent over the last decade after adjusting for inflation.

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State Government

'Dirty tricks' alleged in 2016 primary were not illegal, Team Madigan claims in Speaker's defense

By Karen Kidd | Jul 16, 2019

Even if Illinois state House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) used "dirty tricks" to fend off 2016 primary challenger Jason Gonzales, the strategy allegedly employed was not illegal, according to a re​cent court filing.

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State Government

Gun owners win a round in California court as ISRA braces members for continued fight for rights

By Glenn Minnis | Jul 16, 2019

Illinois State Rifle Association (ISRA) Executive Director Richard A. Pearson did not hold back his enthusiasm in a recent bulletin he sent to members celebrating a victory for the Second Amendment as the result of a California court case.

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State Government

Former Democratic senators demand higher salaries for Illinois legislators in lawsuit

By Colin Froment | Jul 16, 2019

Former Illinois Sens. Michael Noland (D-Elgin) and James Clayborne (D-East St. Louis) filed a lawsuit against the state which, if successful, will increase state lawmakers’ salaries to more than $81,000 by 2020 to rank Illinois' legislative salaries as the nation’s fourth-highest.

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State Government

Late CAFR gives Illinois' bond buyers pause, causes speculation, Wirepoints founder says

By Karen Kidd | Jul 16, 2019

Illinois' tardy fiscal 2018 comprehensive annual financial report (CAFR) has to be making would-be state bond investors thinking again, according to the founder of an online news outlet.

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State Government

ILLINOIS GOVERNOR'S OFFICE: Gov. Pritzker Takes Bill Action

By Press release submission | Jul 15, 2019

Gov. JB Pritzker took the bill action for SB 1739 and HB 105

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State Government

GOP legislators call for repeal of Illinois Abortion Law, introduce Fetal Heartbeat measure

By Glenn Minnis | Jul 13, 2019

A group of at least four Republican state lawmakers are calling for the repeal of House Bill 3850, which creates the Illinois Abortion Law of 2019 and makes abortion “a fundamental right” in the state.

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State Government

ILLINOIS STATE FIRE MARSHAL: OSFM Congratulates Oak Lawn Fire Department on Iso Class 1 Rating

By Press release submission | Jul 12, 2019

Illinois now has 23 ISO Class 1 Rated Departments

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State Government

Office of the Executive Inspector General finds tax appeals judge failed to report conflict of interest

By Adam Eisenberg | Jul 11, 2019

The Deputy Chief Administrative Law Judge of the state's Property Tax Appeals Board has been counseled after a report from the Office of the Executive Inspector General (OEIG) found she failed to report a conflict of interest.

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State Government

Smart Approaches to Marijuana condemns clean-air exemption: 'Why set the clock back 100 years?'

By Glenn Minnis | Jul 11, 2019

Luke Dean Niforatos, chief of staff and senior policy adviser for Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM), fears that a provision in the new state law legalizing recreational marijuana use could send clean-air standards back into the last century.

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State Government

House committees hear testimony on alleged book censorship at Danville Correctional Center

By Kyla Asbury | Jul 10, 2019

Two House committees listened to testimony Monday from the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) and other groups involving an incident in which books provided to educate prisoners at the Danville Correctional Center were seized from the library by prison staff.

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State Government

Wirepoints calls out Pritzker for doubling state's gas tax, breaking promise to middle class

By Glenn Minnis | Jul 8, 2019

Illinois state lawmakers have a dubious history of subjecting residents to gas tax hikes, but the recent doubling of the state gas tax to 38 cents per gallon seems to have taken things to an entirely new level.

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State Government

ILLINOIS GOVERNOR'S OFFICE: Gov. Pritzker Urges Federal Agriculture Disaster Declaration

By Press release submission | Jul 5, 2019

Following Historic Flooding, Governor Writes Letter to USDA Secretary Perdue to Urge Declaration

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State Government

ISRA alerts members about 'anti-gun nature' of Bloomberg organization's event coming to Marion

By Glenn Minnis | Jul 5, 2019

Illinois State Rifle Association (ISRA) Executive Director Richard A. Pearson recently shared a bulletin with members alerting them to be on the lookout for anti-gun, anti-Second Amendment groups funded by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg that will be misrepresenting themselves as organizations promoting community safety.

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State Government

Illinois GOP Chairman Schneider thinks first Democratic debate bodes well for Trump in 2020

By Glenn Minnis | Jul 2, 2019

Illinois Republican Party Chairman Tim Schneider has declared a clear-cut winner in the first Democratic presidential debate in which 20 candidates lobbied for support from the nation's voters ahead of the 2020 election.