A bill aimed at improving racial equity throughout the state’s K-12 and higher education system passed both houses of the General Assembly on Monday, Jan. 11, while another bill, to address economic inequities received House approval Tuesday night. Both bills were part of an agenda being pushed by the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus, which called […]
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Butler files GOP ‘fair maps’ legislation
Republicans in the Illinois House said Tuesday, Jan. 5, that they hope to use legislation, instead of a constitutional amendment, to change the way state legislative and congressional district lines are redrawn every 10 years. The so-called “fair maps” proposal would authorize the General Assembly to set up an independent, nonpartisan commission to redraw the […]
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U of I’s plan to stop the state’s tech brain drain
University of Illinois faculty say an ongoing statewide investment in a public-private research network is key to boosting the state’s economy. The Discovery Partners Institute, a UI-led research and workforce development hub based in Chicago, is the flagship program of the Illinois Innovation Network that seeks to invest in 15 regional hubs affiliated with the […]
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Renewable energy faces a funding cliff
While advocates in Illinois were optimistic that a series of measures reforming the state’s energy landscape could pass in 2019, various factors caused the legislative package to stall while most of Gov. JB Pritzker’s first-year agenda eventually became law. At the time, advocates behind the Path to 100 Act warned of an impending “funding cliff” […]
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State Police reduce DNA backlog
Representatives of the Illinois State Police say the backlog of forensic evidence in Illinois has been reduced significantly, but the support of lawmakers is needed to further address delays and deficiencies in the process. Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelly made those comments to the Illinois Senate Public Health Committee during a Dec. 10 hearing […]
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Illinois preps for first 400,000 vaccine doses
After Pfizer submitted its application for a COVID-19 vaccine to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last week, Illinois public health officials have continued preparing locations to store and distribute the vaccine that could be released to frontline hospital workers in a matter of weeks. Pfizer announced Nov. 20 that it planned to submit its […]
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Facing racial disparities in Illinois health care
State legislators heard testimony from health care experts Nov. 9 on policies the state could pursue to address racial disparities in health outcomes and access. That testimony was given during a joint hearing of the Senate Health and Human Services and Public Health committees prompted by the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus, which has highlighted health […]
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Some state and local races could be undecided for days
Although nearly 3.6 million Illinoisans had already voted by Monday, Nov. 2, according to the Illinois State Board of Elections, nearly 2.3 million ballots were still to be cast if the state is to match the 70.56 percent turnout of 2016. As of Monday, there were 586,709 mail-in ballots that Illinois voters had requested but […]
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Lawmakers push to reform state’s bail system
Some state lawmakers are looking to reform the cash bail system in Illinois, mainly by ending the use of money bonds as a factor in preventing a suspect’s release. State Sen. Robert Peters and state Rep. Justin Slaughter, both Chicago Democrats, will attempt to end the use of money bonds by sponsoring a forthcoming, yet-to-be-filed […]
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Systemic racism in Illinois home loan and banking industries
In Illinois and around the country, an increasing number of universities, investigators and researchers are turning up evidence of systemic racism in the financial sector that has plagued Black Americans for decades In June, a report from Chicago radio station WBEZ-FM and the nonprofit news organization City Bureau found that for every dollar banks loaned […]
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Pritzker outlines criminal justice reform
Gov. JB Pritzker announced seven “guiding principles” Oct. 6 to “build a more equitable criminal justice system,” a series of policy recommendations the governor says are priorities for his administration as it works with the General Assembly. The seven principles build on the justice reform agenda that was laid out by Pritzker and Lt. Gov. […]
