House Bill 2977 would require both public elementary schools and high schools to include cursive instruction in their curriculums, and the plan doesn’t include how much this unfunded state mandate would cost taxpayers.
Reforms such as record sealing expansion make it likelier that ex-offenders will be able to find work – and stop cycling in and out of prison. That means they and their families will have a chance to succeed. And the more ex-offenders enter this virtuous cycle – instead of returning to prison – the better off the state and taxpayers will be, too.
Former U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Dennis Hastert had been receiving nearly $30,000 annually from the underfunded General Assembly Retirement System.
House Speaker Mike Madigan and House Minority Leader Jim Durkin used shell bills to avoid the March 31 deadline for bills to pass out of committee. Madigan passed 936 shell bills. Durkin passed 528. Meanwhile, thousands of substantive bills died without so much as a committee hearing.
As the federal government repeals regulations requiring broadband companies to obtain consumers’ consent before using their browsing history and other personal information to create targeted ads, Illinois state politicians are moving to ramp up privacy protections. However, whether these bills would actually further those privacy goals or whether they would merely bolster Illinois’ class-action lawsuit industry while burdening businesses are open questions.
Despite a fight from the union, the Illinois Department of Corrections is replacing 124 unionized nurses with private subcontractors, which could save taxpayers millions each year.
Bailout bills moving in the Illinois General Assembly would attempt to turn Illinois’ massive debt problems into guaranteed profits for banks and bondholders and a lower standard of living for other Illinoisans.
Luxembourg’s ambassador to the United States has voiced objections to an Illinois House bill that would label Luxembourg a tax haven and subject corporations expatriated there to restrictions on investments and business dealings with the state of Illinois.
Chicago’s $1.15 billion projected budget gap is the latest in a decades-long string of structural deficits. Making Chicago’s high taxes worse is not the solution.