Get the latest news from around Illinois.
Chicago Sun-Times: Property tax pain looms in a pandemic-ravaged economy
It’s going to be a summer of reckoning for your friendly local politician.
COVID-19 and its cessation of commerce are starving government of revenue. Budget departments labor to keep up with the ongoing damage. All the stores we’re not visiting, the gas we’re not buying, the income we aren’t making are compounding losses for the tax collector.
The Center Square: Preliminary state budget talks include calls for federal bailout, demands economy open back up
Some state lawmakers are hoping for a federal bailout to help balance the state’s budget while others want to reopen the economy to limit losses.
State Rep. Kelly Cassidy, D-Chicago, said Friday she expects significant revenue shortfalls based on initial projections.
Chicago Tribune: Social distancing informants have their eyes on you
Kevin Rusch was at home on a recent Sunday evening scrolling through Facebook when he saw a photo that shocked him: A man with an American flag bandanna wrapped around his head stood at a rally demanding Wisconsin lift orders that had shuttered schools and businesses.
That man was David Murdock, a cardiologist from his hometown, Wausau. And, like the hundreds of other people at the rally, Murdock was maskless and did not appear to be practicing social distancing. In one photo, Murdock’s arm was slung around a priest, with the two holding a sign that read “We are an essential service.”
State Journal-Register: COVID-19 Briefs: Illinois House taking first steps to reopening
The Illinois House is taking the first steps to reopening its Capitol operations during the coronavirus pandemic.
A memo from Jessica Basham, chief of staff to House Speaker Michael Madigan, said that while staff have been working remotely for several weeks “there are certain functions that were not able to be performed while physically absent from the buildings.”
Crain's Chicago Business: Legislators push for 6-month rent break, mortgage payment holiday
The proposal, which would “cancel” all apartment rents for six months, defer home mortgage payments until late 2020 or longer, freeze apartment rents and waive penalties for failing to pay property taxes, is likely to face a stiff challenge even in the Democrat-controlled General Assembly.
Daily Southtown: Financially devastated by statewide restrictions, Oak Lawn’s small businesses have had to adapt in the time of coronavirus
New Day Spa and Salon did only a couple hundred dollars in sales Friday, but after riding out the past six weeks without any money coming in, the modest burst of business gave Laurie Harrington a glimmer of hope.
“I think I see a little light at the end of the tunnel,” said Harrington, who has operated the Oak Lawn salon and spa with her sister Lynn for more than a decade.
The Center Square: Pritzker discourages crossing state border for goods, services
As neighboring states begin to loosen restrictions for businesses while Illinois remains under a modified stay-at-home order, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said he can’t stop them, although he said he would discourage the practice to limit the spread of COVID-19.
Indiana, Iowa and Missouri have all begun to open up their economies, while only a couple cities and counties in Illinois are considering doing the same.
Lake County News-Sun: Lake County sheriff’s office won’t issue tickets for breaking 2-person boat limit, but boating communities push back on Gov. Pritzker’s order
Boaters in Lake County don’t need to worry about a ticket if they have more than two people in their boat, a Lake County Sheriff’s Office spokesman said Monday.
Revised stay-at-home regulations rolled out by Gov. J.B. Pritzker last week in response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic reopened up some businesses and public spaces but set limits aimed at large gatherings.
The Center Square: COVID-19 puts damper on Illinois cannabis dispensaries - for now
For decades, April 20 has been known to marijuana users as “4/20,” an unofficial holiday celebrating cannabis culture.
This year, with recreational cannabis use legal in Illinois since Jan. 1, enthusiasts were looking forward to the sort of mass celebrations that have been banned to reduce the spread of COVID-19 amid a global pandemic.
Chicago Tribune: Chicago restaurant owners look ahead to reopening with optimism and fear
What was initially announced as a two-week restaurant shutdown, in response to the coronavirus, has now lasted seven weeks in Illinois. By the time May 30, the last day of the shutdown (barring further extensions) rolls around, Chicago’s dining rooms will have been dark for 11 straight weeks.
Chicago’s restaurant owners find themselves simultaneously attempting to survive under the present circumstances, while planning for the time when restaurants can welcome the public back inside. And therein lies the problem: No one knows when that future will arrive, or what it will look like when it gets here.
Belleville News-Democrat: Here’s how much Madison County public employees were paid last year
The latest available salaries and compensation for Madison County employees have been added to the Belleville News-Democrat’s Public Pay Database.
According to records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, the highest-paid employee the county last year was Lt. Roy Pickerill with the Madison County Sheriff’s Department, who earned about $177,581.
Chicago Sun-Times: Illinois’ high times keep rolling amid coronavirus pandemic as recreational pot sales top $37 million in April
As Illinois’ economy has come to a screeching halt in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, recreational weed has remained a hot commodity with sales topping $37 million last month.
April’s nearly $37.3 million in sales trails only the $39.2 million worth of adult-use cannabis sold by pot shops in January, the first month the drug was legalized for recreational use, according to the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. Since the start of the year, Illinois dispensaries have sold over $147 million in recreational cannabis.