Thousands of people have left Illinois in the past year, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

That puts Illinois in a position unlike most other states, including our neighbors.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker says he’s focused on reversing the state’s continued outbound migration. But a congressman says high unemployment from the governor’s COVID-19 orders is likely going to compound that.

The state lost nearly 80,000 people in the year that ended July 2020, according to analysis of U.S. Census data. That’s 22,000 more than were lost the year before and the seventh consecutive loss of population in the past 10 years. Illinois led the nation in population decline for the past decade at 255,000.

In early July, a judge in downstate Clay County voided Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s executive orders in a sweeping order that he applied to the entire state, at the request of a southern Illinois lawmaker who sued Pritzker over his response to the pandemic.

More than six months later, Sangamon County Judge Raylene Grischow has essentially voided Judge Michael McHaney’s July 2 order in the case of Rep. Darren Bailey, R-Xenia.

Chicago Public Schools plans to use federal stimulus dollars to close a budget gap and reopen school buildings in early 2021, school chief Janice Jackson said Tuesday.

The school district expects to receive about $800 million from the latest coronavirus relief package, netting an estimated $720 million after it sets aside $80 million for private schools. Jackson said $343 million could be used to close a midyear budget hole, while $375 million will go toward emergency expenses connected to remote learning and reopening this school year and next.