Get the latest news from around Illinois.
State Journal-Register: Pritzker proposing no spending hikes, no tax increases to deal with COVID-19-related woes
Gov. JB Pritzker has no plans to increase state income tax or other taxes to close an anticipated multibillion-dollar budget shortfall in the next fiscal year, the governor’s spokeswoman said Tuesday.
What is planned, spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh said in a statement, is a budget that holds overall spending flat, saves $900 billion by “closing corporate tax loopholes,” and redirects some money to the general revenue fund from the state cigarette tax.
Capitol News Illinois: Proposed House rules add speaker term limits, remote committee meetings
When Emanuel “Chris” Welch was elected House Speaker last month, he stated his intention to revise the rules that govern committees and the procedures for conducting business in the Illinois House of Representatives, including those pertaining to the introduction of new bills.
“We’re being sincere in taking a quick, hard examination on these rules,” Welch, D-Hillside, said in an interview with Capitol News Illinois this month, suggesting his willingness to amend the rules, unlike his predecessor, former Speaker Michael Madigan.
The Center Square: As Illinois Senate committee prepares hearing on unemployment, employers and employees want answers
A virtual hearing Wednesday of the Illinois Senate Labor Committee will focus on the issue of unemployment insurance. A group representing small and independent employers has some major concerns they hope are addressed.
There are stories all across the state of the problems plaguing the state’s unemployment agency.
Chicago Tribune: ‘Right now, we are pulling our own’: How Chicago’s Black-owned restaurants have fared during the pandemic
Nearly a year after the pandemic was first declared, and through a summer of protests triggered by the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, and now the scramble for vaccines, some of Chicago’s most important Black-owned restaurants have remained vital centers in their communities.
As the country observes Black History Month, we asked the people behind eight Black-owned restaurants how they’ve been doing throughout the pandemic, and to share what they believe the future holds.
Chicago Sun-Times: Illinois sports betting scores big in Super Bowl LV
Taking their first chance to bet legally in Illinois on the Super Bowl and running with it, football fans laid down $46 million in wagers, an amount called “historically the largest amount ever in Illinois.”
The total handle was $45,610,513 — with $42,756,647 of those bets being made online, according to figures released Monday by the Illinois Gaming Board.