Thursday, May 9, 2013
Governor Pat Quinn has been touring affected counties and said that the results of the assessments will be used to request federal aid.
Officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA), the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and local governing bodies began assessing flood damage in DuPage County (as well as in Cook and Lake counties) this week, according to a press release from the Illinois Government News Network. The assessments are critical to attempts to secure federal government aid for counties affected by the mid-April floods, including grants and low-interest loans for individuals, and such loans for businesses, affected by the rising waters. Next week, assessors will begin discussions with local governments as well, which are eligible for up to 75 percent aid for flood-related expenses. “These …
Thursday, April 11, 2013
The Chicago Tribune reported this week Gov. Quinn is looking for ways to tighten Illinois' impending conceal carry law.
Gov. Pat Quinn said earlier this week he thinks Illinois communities should be able to exert some local control when it comes to a state conceal carry gun law, according to a report in the Chicago Tribune. The state is working to create a concealed carry law by the June 9 deadline. A federal court ruled late last year that Illinois’ ban on conceal carry was unconstitutional. "I am not excited about this at all," the Tribune reported Quinn as saying. "If this has to happen, it has to have the proper restrictions and limitations... I think we should make sure it's very tight and I think local communities, wherever they are, should have the option to make it as tight as possible in their community." Quinn also has stated his opposition to …
Monday, April 1, 2013
The governor signed 87 orders of pardon and expungement on Friday, freeing and/or granting clemency to six persons convicted in DuPage courts.
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn handled 222 clemency petitions on Friday that go back to 2005, granting 87 and denying 135, in the process clearing six persons convicted in DuPage courts as long ago as 1988. According to the Peoria Journal-Star, Quinn’s office says he is committed to working through a backlog of over 2,500 cases accumulated during the tenure of the now-jailed ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich; he has granted 929 and denied 1,530 since taking office, his staff told the paper. The pardons for convictions in DuPage County went to: One of the most significant pardons, the Journal-Star reported, was of Peggy Jo Jackson, 57, who was convicted of murdering her husband in 1986 despite attorneys saying that she suffered horrible domestic abuse from…
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
The assistant Illinois House Republican leader and 82nd District rep said pension reform should be Springfield's number one priority.
Assistant Illinois House Republican Leader Jim Durkin (R-82) issued a statement on Wednesday in response to Gov. Pat Quinn's 2014 budget address in which the governor chastized the legislature for failing to reform the state's underfunded public pensions system In a bit of bipartisan agreement, Durkin's statement echoed Quinn in pushing the need for pension reform: “The Governor’s Address is a harsh reality of failure to pass meaningful reforms in Illinois. A solution to the pension problem should have been wrapped up, sealed and sent to the governor last month. "We should have passed a comprehensive pension reform bill passed before today. There is nothing more important to the state’s fiscal integrity than meaningful pension reform, …
Sunday, February 10, 2013
On Feb. 19 and Feb. 22, the state will stage public hearings to discuss a new concealed carry handgun law for Illinois.
Gun control hearings will convene before an Illinois House committee later this month, says Speaker Mike Madigan, and there will be much talk about a new concealed carry law. One hearing will take place in Chicago on Feb. 22, at the Michael A. Bilandic Building in Chicago. The other will be in Springfield on Feb. 19 at the Capitol. “In light of events in recent months in Illinois and in other parts of the country, it’s appropriate and necessary that we give a full vetting to proposed state legislation on this matter," reads a statement from Madigan. "These hearings will provide an opportunity for gun-safety advocates, gun-rights supporters and members of the law enforcement community to offer their views and argue their cases to …
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Jim Edgar tells Reboot Illinois that tax hikes, program cuts and leadership are desperately needed in Springfield. And Pat Quinn brings you Squeezy the Python.
With Democrats now holding a supermajority in the Illinois House and Senate as well as the governor's office, one might suppose a Democratic agenda would be a slam dunk in Springfield. As recent years have shown, however, single-party control doesn't guarantee the wheels of government grind smoothly. And former Gov. Jim Edgar, who served from 1991 to 1999, suggests that probably won't change anytime soon. In a wide-ranging interview with the new website Reboot Illinois, Edgar says Springfield is less dysfunctional when the two parties share power. "More times than not I think split government works pretty well. The reason is to make the tough decisions you need both parties. It’s hard to get one party to put up all the votes and take all …
Sunday, February 26, 2012
It's always good to be caught up on state politics. Here's an easy guide to what happened this week.
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Sunday, February 26, 2012
Editor's Note: This article was created by aggregating news articles from Illinois Statehouse News that were written by various Illinois Statehouse News reporters. SPRINGFIELD — Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn's budget proposal tops 400 pages and is more than 3 inches thick. Inside the governor's plan for the next fiscal year, which begins in June, are the details of how he wants to spend $33.9 billion in taxpayers’ money. Illinois Statehouse News examines the governor's plan, speaking with lawmakers and outside experts and checking Quinn's math to make sure that dollars add up. Bigger than last year Quinn’s fiscal 2013 spending plan is $700 million more than the current budget, an increase that will pay for the increase in the state's …
Sunday, December 25, 2011
It's always good to be caught up on state politics. Here's an easy guide to what happened this week.
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Sunday, December 25, 2011
Editor's Note: This article was created by aggregating news articles from Illinois Statehouse News that were written by various Illinois Statehouse News reporters. Exodus of IL taxpayers means loss of $26B in taxable revenue Illinois’ reputation for political corruption and government mismanagement could have cost the state billions of dollars and an income tax increase. Illinois netted a loss of 366,616 tax-paying households between 1995 and 2009, according to a study ofInternal Revenue Service figures from 1995 through 2009 released Tuesday by the Illinois PolicyInstitute, a free-market think tank with offices in Springfield and Chicago. Those households took with them $26 billion in taxable revenue, according to the study. In 2009 …
Sunday, December 18, 2011
It's always good to be caught up on state politics. Here's an easy guide to what happened this week.
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Sunday, December 18, 2011
Editor's Note: This article was created by aggregating news articles from Illinois Statehouse News that were written by various Illinois Statehouse News reporters. Dems, GOP push plans to roll back biz tax hikes sooner More tax relief could be on the way with those paying the corporate income tax benefiting. Less than 24 hours after the Illinois Legislature approved $350 million worth of tax breaks for businesses and low-income earners, some lawmakers want to roll back the corporate tax to 4.8 percent, faster than outlined in the temporary income tax increase legislation passed in January. House Republicans and Democrats say they want to decrease the tax to keep or lure businesses in Illinois, so they will create jobs in a state with …
Sunday, December 4, 2011
It's always good to be caught up on state politics. Here's an easy guide to what happened this week.
Editor's Note: This article was created by aggregating news articles from Illinois Statehouse News that were written by various Illinois Statehouse News reporters. Congress could help states collect online sales taxes Illinoisans who buy the latest best-selling book as a Christmas gift on Amazon.com will pay $12.99. Buy the same book at a local bookstore and they’ll pay an extra 81 cents. The bookstore isn’t charging more. It’s collecting Illinois’ 6.25 percent sales tax, which online retailers without a physical presence in the state don’t have to collect. This tax loophole is costing the cash-strapped state $170 million every year, according to an estimate from the Illinois Department of Revenue. A 1992 U.S. Supreme Court ruling said …
Vincent
7:04 pm on Friday, April 26, 2013
Jeff, look what popped up on the Patch: http://shorewood-il.patch.com/articles/dog-shooter-allowed-to-keep-his-firearms?ncid=newsltuspatc00000001 And the original article: http://shorewood-il.patch.com/articles/dog-shooting-leaves-minooka-family-distraught-man-in-a-nightmare I think that these articles (of the same incident) are perfect examples of how using a firearm can very much work to the … more ›