Get the latest news from around Illinois.
The Center Square: Illinois lawmakers could seek more taxpayer spending when they return in October
When lawmakers return to Springfield in late October, some are seeing the prospect for more supplemental appropriation.
A supplemental appropriation means lawmakers are increasing how many tax dollars they’re set to spend. Senate Minority Leader John Curran, R-Downers Grove, said his members are bracing for just that heading into veto session in late October.
Chicago Tribune: Transit permits for Chicago seniors and people with disabilities drop sharply. Here’s why.
Getting around Chicago has long been difficult for David Zoltan, but nonetheless he once would have jumped on a bus to get a bite to eat. He would take public transit to meet up with friends, and to doctors’ appointments in Streeterville.
Zoltan, 46, has spinal stenosis that causes severe back pain and one leg is amputated below the knee, and he qualified for a transit pass that allows him to ride CTA, Pace or Metra for free. But since the start of the pandemic he has rarely used it, limiting trips outside his Rogers Park apartment. When it was necessary to leave, he often turned instead to more private services like ride-share or programs that provide rides, unwilling to get back on public transit because people with disabilities remain at higher risk for COVID-19.
Chicago Sun-Times: Top officials out at state emergency agency
Three top officials at the state agency tasked with responding to disasters across the state — including the COVID pandemic and a record number of tornadoes this year — were pushed out late last month, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned.
The Illinois Emergency Management Agency has said the top two operations officials plus a legislative liaison who had worked as a confidential assistant to the agency’s director resigned “due to unique circumstances,” citing “personal reasons.”
Daily Herald: Tired of the lines when you renew your driver's license? Friday brings new appointment system
If your driver’s license expires at the end of the week, don’t breeze into a suburban secretary of state’s office expecting to renew it.
WCIA: Rent increases in Illinois, surrounding states among highest in the nation
While rental rate increases are slowing down following a post-pandemic surge, some states are still well above the 2.6% national average for the first seven months of 2023.
Among the top ten states which have seen the largest rent increases of the year are Iowa (#8) at 2.6%, Indiana (#7) at 2.8%, Wisconsin (#5) at 3.2%, and Illinois (#4) at 3.4%. The #1 spot goes to North Dakota which has seen a 7.0% average increase in rent so far this year. See the full list below.