Get the latest news from around Illinois.
Champaign News-Gazette: Teachers spike pension ball
Our legislators continue to fiddle while Rome burns.
With Illinois’ public-pension systems buckling under the weight of many, many billions of dollars in debt, one would think the last thing our legislators would do is add to that monumental problem.
One would be wrong.
Chicago Tribune: From road repairs to transit expansions, $33 billion in capital bill will have ‘monumental’ impact
For transit agencies and road builders in Illinois, it’s like Christmas in June.
The $45 billion capital infrastructure plan that passed the legislature last weekend will provide $33 billion in funding for transportation, including road repairs around the state, train line extensions, new locomotives and other equipment after a 10-year funding drought.
Crain's Chicago Business: Internet sales tax overhaul takes aim at e-commerce giants
Beginning Jan. 1, 2020, online sellers like eBay, Amazon and Walmart must collect and remit the Illinois sales tax at 6.25 percent. Additionally, sellers in other states must also comply with the new collection laws that apply in the location where the products are being shipped. For example, an order placed with Nevada-based Zappos and shipped to Chicago means the company must collect the city’s 10.25 percent sales tax vs. the statewide rate of 6.25 percent.
Peoria Journal-Star: Illinois is poised to become the gambling capital of the Midwest
An 816-page bill introduced and passed by the General Assembly over the weekend will, if fully realized, transform Illinois into the gambling capital of the Midwest.
The legislation legalizes sports gambling; sanctions six new casinos, including one in Chicago; increases the number of video gambling machines as well as the maximum bet; and transforms the state’s horse racing tracks into “racinos” by permitting casino operations at the state’s three existing tracks while allowing two more to open.
The Southern: Illinois nursing homes see new regulations, $240 million in added funding
Funding for nursing homes serving the state’s most vulnerable elderly populations will increase by $240 million next fiscal year as part of the state’s recently-passed budget.
Of that $240 million, which will be split between the state and federal government, $70 million will be directly appropriated to help nursing homes meet minimum staffing requirements. Another $170 million will update the reimbursement formula for support costs such as food, utilities, maintenance and equipment.
Chicago Sun-Times: Former Ald. Cochran’s plea: Prison hasn’t stopped corruption — so don’t lock me up
Arguing that prison sentences historically have “not done anything to curb Chicago’s tidal wave of aldermanic corruption cases,” Willie Cochran’s lawyer asked a judge Thursday not to put the latest convicted ex-City Council member behind bars.
Attorney Christopher T. Grohman instead asked for probation with six months of home confinement for the 67-year-old former 20th Ward alderman, insisting that Cochran’s crime does not count as a typical public corruption case.
WBEZ: Lawsuits, Stalled Legislation, And New Mayor. What’s Going On With Chicago’s Ticketing Reform?
During Chicago’s city elections, mayoral candidates were vying to fix the city’s broken ticketing, towing and debt-collection practices.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot herself campaigned on fixing the issue. She vowed to “ban the boot” and end license suspensions for non-moving violations, and to eliminate red-light cameras that didn’t have safety purposes.
Chicago Sun-Times: Complaint: Judge tried to kiss policewoman, asked court reporter ‘how much’ to have sex with her
Cook County Judge Mauricio Araujo made sexual advances toward a police officer seeking his signature on a search warrant, cornered a court reporter in an elevator and made demeaning remarks about a prosecutor, state judicial authorities charged in a complaint.
Araujo engaged in a “pattern of inappropriate and harassing behavior toward women with whom he interacted . . . in his official judicial capacity,” according to a complaint filed by the Judicial Inquiry Board.
Chicago Sun-Times: Lightfoot reads the riot act to One Central developers
Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Wednesday she essentially read the riot act this week to the Wisconsin developer of One Central, a massive project proposed for just west of Soldier Field.
She’s not happy with the way Landmark Development is running roughshod over elected officials and the neighboring residents they represent.
Rockford Register-Star: Winnebago County ethics probe to cost taxpayers $49,500
Winnebago County taxpayers are on the hook for $49,500 for a workplace investigation that determined County Administrator Carla Paschal did not violate the county’s employee ethics policy as Chairman Frank Haney had alleged.
On Thursday, assistant state’s attorney Paul Carpenter provided County Board Finance Committee Chairman Jaime Salgado with a one-page bill from the Itasca law firm of James G. Sotos, which the state’s attorney’s office hired to investigate Haney’s complaint.