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News-Gazette: Editorial | State budget a product of creative writing
A couple weeks ago, Gov. J.B. Pritzker presented his proposed $41.6 billion budget for the 2021-22 fiscal year that he characterized as spare but balanced.
The budget may be spared by Pritzker’s standards, but it’s certainly not balanced on anything other than paper. In keeping with Illinois’ new tradition under both Republican and Democratic governors, the budget is a morass of phony projections and misrepresented numbers put together in the service of an important myth — meeting the constitutional mandate of a balanced budget.
The Center Square: Push to audit Pritzker’s handling of vets home COVID-19 outbreak has bipartisan support
While Gov. J.B. Pritzker has said there’s an ongoing inspector general investigation of the handling of the LaSalle Veterans’ Home COVID-19 outbreak, there’s bipartisan support for a separate investigation.
There is also legislation to require state public health officials to visit the site of a disease outbreak at a state-run facility as “soon as practical.”
Chicago Tribune: Chicago bars and restaurants can stay open until 1 a.m., boost capacity to 50%, Lightfoot announces
Chicago will allow bars and restaurants to boost indoor capacity to 50% and remain open until 1 a.m. in the latest move from Mayor Lori Lightfoot to ease COVID-19 restrictions and help businesses.
Lightfoot also will allow liquor stores to sell alcohol until 11 p.m. and boost the number of people allowed at indoor fitness classes to 20, the city said. Indoor capacity for bars and restaurants will be capped at 50 people per space, the city said.
State Journal-Register: Illinois' teacher shortage is worst in west central region
A shortage of full-time and substitute teachers reported throughout Illinois is worse in the west central region than anywhere else in the state, according to a new survey.
A majority of the 591 school districts who responded to the 2020 Illinois Educator Shortage Study, released Monday by the Illinois Association of Regional Superintendents of Schools, said they had a problem finding teachers, and most believe their situation is getting worse.
Associated Press: Southern Illinois mayor quits in wake of corruption charges
The longtime mayor of the southern Illinois city of Columbia has resigned in the wake a federal indictment accusing him of public corruption, a city official announced Monday.
Last week, a federal grand jury indicted Mayor Kevin Hutchinson on charges of making a false statement to the federal Southern Illinois Public Corruption Task Force. It is a felony with a maximum sentence of five years in prison, U.S. attorney’s office spokesman Nathan Stump.
The Center Square: Organization opposes federal bailout for Illinois
As the U.S. Senate considers whether to pass a $1.9 billion stimulus package, an Illinois nonprofit is urging a no vote.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker said despite a $120 million surplus in his proposed budget, the state needs an estimated $7.5 billion.
WBEZ: CPS Returns With Giddy Kids, Masks And Classrooms Ranging From Nearly Empty To Full
Three second grader boys were giddy as they stood outside National Teachers Academy Monday morning, waiting for their temperature to be checked before they went into the elementary school.
One of the boys said he was nervous, “It is my first day as a second grader and I don’t know what will happen cause we haven’t been in school for a very long time.”
Chicago Tribune: Op-ed: Illinois, don’t be tempted to use COVID-19 aid as a bureaucracy bailout
The U.S. Senate will soon vote on the latest in a series of pandemic financial relief bills — this time a $1.9 trillion effort that includes stimulus checks for individuals, increased unemployment benefits, business aid, school funding and a whopping $350 billion for state and local governments.
Under this plan, Illinois would receive a total of $13.2 billion, with $7.5 billion for the state and $5.7 billion for cities and counties. Those numbers have some Illinois politicians salivating at the idea that federal bailout money means we can avoid tough budgetary choices and paper over our long-running problems. But the reality is, families and businesses in Illinois have been hit far harder by COVID-19 than state government has. We must prioritize aid to the people of Illinois over a bailout of our bureaucracy. And we should work to reduce state government spending, just as every family, business and organization has found it necessary to do during the pandemic.
Chicago Sun-Times: Former City Hall inspector pleads guilty to wire fraud in case tied to Carrie Austin probe
A former City Hall inspector pleaded guilty to wire fraud Tuesday in a case connected to the investigation of Ald. Carrie Austin (34th), admitting he steered nearly $100,000 from the city to a contractor without inspecting its work in a porch replacement program.
Joseph E. Garcia, 38, was accused in a 2019 indictment of submitting bogus documents and falsely claiming to have inspected home-repair projects done for low-income Chicago homeowners, giving City Hall the go-ahead to pay the contractor.