A year ago, I wrote and sent a letter to Gov. JB Pritzker urging him to change course in his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This letter, drafted in the spirit of goodwill and signed by seven other Republicans, implored Pritzker to include the Illinois General Assembly as a partner in the state’s pandemic response. It also urged Pritzker to allow businesses to reopen when they could do so in a safe manner, rather than keeping our state shut down indefinitely in pursuit of an impossible goal—the disappearance of the COVID-19.

The Illinois State Board of Education has ordered Chicago Public Schools to fix problems with special education services for students at the high school in the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center.

The state’s corrective action plan comes after two legal aid groups filed a complaint with ISBE back in November alleging that CPS “essentially halted” special education services during the Covid-19 pandemic for students at Nancy B. Jefferson Alternative School inside the detention center.

The Illinois House of Representatives took a step forward to address domestic violence.

The chamber voted to create the Domestic Violence Task Force to help deal with the state’s growing family violence problem.

Illinois roads and bridges may not be flunking, but they’re far from being on the honor roll.

According to an infrastructure “report card” issued by the American Society of Civil Engineers, the state merits a D for roads and a C for bridges. The overall rating — which includes other infrastructure such as aviation, waterways and rail — is a less-than-middling C-minus.