Get the latest news from around Illinois.
State Journal-Register: GOP: Graduated tax ‘cash grab’ will stifle pandemic recovery
Illinois Republicans on Monday demanded a vote in the General Assembly on removing from the fall ballot Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s proposed graduated income tax structure, saying the state’s pandemic-pillaged economy can’t sustain higher taxes.
House Minority Leader Jim Durkin and Senate Minority Leader Bill Brady said the special session this week in Springfield should consider dumping the plan to alter the state Constitution and discard the current flat-rate income tax. Right now, it’s up to voters in the fall election.
Chicago Sun-Times: Showdown looming over Pritzker’s stay-at-home order before skeptical downstate judge
The stage appears to be set for a downstate judge who has already said “the Bill of Rights is being shredded” under Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s stay-at-home order to try to knock it down at a hearing set for Friday afternoon.
The potential showdown comes as the governor faces rising pushback against his edicts. Though his stay-at-home order has so far survived tests in federal court, Clay County Judge Michael McHaney has made his opposition to it clear.
Chicago Tribune: With a new, stricter grading system — plus warmer weather — Cook County is now getting a D on social distancing
Chicago still has work to do when it comes to staying at home, according to one assessment.
Residents of Chicago and the surrounding Cook County suburbs are now getting a D in social distancing from a New York City data firm that’s been grading the country on compliance with stay-at-home orders.
Crain's Chicago Business: GOP leaders turn up heat on Pritzker's 'fair tax' proposal
The Capitol’s top two Republicans, Senate GOP Leader Bill Brady and his House counterpart, Jim Durkin, asserted in a joint press conference that the COVID-19 pandemic has so battered the state’s economy that now is no time to consider a tax hike of any kind, even one that Pritzker says will hit only wealthy people.
Belleville News-Democrat: Southern Illinois Republicans say Pritzker went ‘too far’ with COVID-19 misdemeanor
Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Monday defended an administrative rule that allows police to fine businesses that violate Illinois’ stay-at-home order as downstate Republicans criticized the move.
The governor’s administration filed emergency rules Friday that say violators could be charged with a Class A misdemeanor if they open before the state’s timeline allows, WTTW-TV reported. The misdemeanor comes with a fine of up to $2,500.
Chicago Tribune: Coronavirus chaos — wrecked economy, less office space demand, scarce financing — challenges Chicago’s megadevelopments
More than a decade of aggressive building in Chicago has altered the skyline and emboldened developers to draw up some of the most ambitious real estate plans ever seen in the city.
Now the coronavirus pandemic leaves in doubt whether megaprojects like The 78 and Lincoln Yards can continue, if they’ll be pushed into the next construction cycle, or worse, go the way of the never-built Chicago Spire and Miglin-Beitler Skyneedle.
The Center Square: Illinois Supreme Court disbars former Gov. Rod Blagojevich
Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was disbarred Monday when the Illinois Supreme Court confirmed a March decision by the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission.
Blagojevich, who served as governor from 2003 to 2009, was released from prison in February after President Donald Trump commuted Blagojevich’s 14-year prison sentence for corruption.