Illinois worst among Midwest, neighbor states for unemployed staying idle

By Bryce Hill

07/20/2020

Continued unemployment claims in Illinois remain virtually unchanged since mid-April. Other states are getting back to work.

TAGS: coronavirus, COVID-19, IDES: Illinois Department of Employment Security, jobs

Illinois still logs nearly 38,000 unemployment claims as Pritzker replaces employment chief

By Ben Szalinski

07/16/2020

The Illinois Department of Employment Security has been under fire throughout the COVID-19 pandemic as millions waited for unemployment relief.

TAGS: IDES: Illinois Department of Employment Security, JB Pritzker, jobs

As many as 21,700 restaurants could close permanently from COVID-19 economic fallout

By Bryce Hill

07/02/2020

The most optimistic forecast shows 20% of Illinois’ food service business closures will be permanent. But up to 85% of restaurants expect to close permanently.

TAGS: coronavirus, COVID-19, IDES: Illinois Department of Employment Security, small business

Illinois restaurants, bars take brunt of job losses amid harsh lockdown

By Bryce Hill

06/25/2020

Unemployment claims remain five times higher than normal, but the nation’s second-harshest restaurant restrictions have hit that job sector hardest.

TAGS: coronavirus, COVID-19, IDES: Illinois Department of Employment Security, jobs

Illinois unemployment data breach leads to ID theft, class-action lawsuit claims

By Ben Szalinski

06/18/2020

The contractor who revamped Illinois’ unemployment system to handle self-employed workers is being sued. One of the nearly 32,500 applicants who had private information exposed said it was used to access her bank account.

TAGS: identity theft, IDES: Illinois Department of Employment Security, JB Pritzker, unemployment

Black, Hispanic women hit hardest after Illinois decreed which jobs were ‘nonessential’

By Orphe Divounguy, Bryce Hill, Jon Josko

06/03/2020

More than 1 in 5 black and Hispanic female workers in Illinois lost their jobs during the first month of the COVID-19 lockdown.

TAGS: coronavirus, COVID-19, IDES: Illinois Department of Employment Security, jobs, recession

Unemployment mess leads lawmaker to push for Pritzker’s recall

By Joe Barnas

05/27/2020

Citing the lack of action on the state unemployment claims system overwhelmed during the COVID-19 pandemic, a state lawmaker begins the process to remove Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker from office.

TAGS: coronavirus, COVID-19, IDES: Illinois Department of Employment Security, JB Pritzker

Illinois shed 762,200 jobs in April, 12.5 times greater than worst month on record

By Bryce Hill

05/22/2020

Record job losses hit the state during the first full month of COVID-19 economic fallout.

TAGS: BLS: Bureau of Labor Statistics, coronavirus, COVID-19, executive order, IDES: Illinois Department of Employment Security, JB Pritzker, jobs

State agency published private data of nearly 32,500 unemployed Illinoisans

By Joe Barnas

05/21/2020

Just as Illinois opened its unemployment system to self-employed workers, the new system exposed Social Security numbers and other private information of 32,483 applicants, according to a Freedom of Information Act response.

TAGS: coronavirus, COVID-19, IDES: Illinois Department of Employment Security

Illinois’ struggling unemployment program to run out of money in May

By Adam Schuster

05/19/2020

As new claims overwhelm an unprepared and inefficient system, the state has been pre-approved for a $5 billion loan from the federal government to ensure benefits continue to be paid.

TAGS: coronavirus, COVID-19, IDES: Illinois Department of Employment Security, unemployment

To prevent political bribery in Illinois, change the House Rules

Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan’s power over Illinois politics is more precarious than ever. A steady stream of federal investigations, wiretaps and raids of people close to him, a deferred prosecution agreement with Commonwealth Edison wherein the utility giant admitted to bribing the speaker, and a grand jury subpoena served to Madigan’s office have led...

View Report

To prevent political bribery in Illinois, change the House Rules

Report Archive

Laura Valdez

Policy lessons from Illinois’ exodus of people and money

CBS Chicago: Illinois’ highest-paid superintendent receives $400K per year to oversee 1,200 students