(The Center Square) - Fewer businesses that get diversity-related government priority in Illinois are getting contracts with the state, according to a new annual report from the agency, after a long-running computer problem thwarted efforts to increase those contracts.

About 1,500 businesses that are owned by racial minorities, women and people with disabilities were paid by the state for construction and other service contracts in this past fiscal year.

That figure -- contained in the Illinois Commission on Equity and Inclusion's recent annual report -- is a 9-percent decrease from the prior year. And it happened even though state lawmakers have devoted millions of dollars in recent years to support the businesses.

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(The Center Square) – President Donald Trump says a Loyola University student would still be alive if Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker asked his administration to help stop crime. The president spoke at a Cabinet meeting Thursday morning. “It would be great if people like the mayor of Chicago and the governor of Illinois would say, ‘Please come in and stop the crime,’” Trump said. Trump referred to 18-year-old Loyola student Sheridan Gorman, who was allegedly shot and killed by a Venezuelan migrant Thursday.

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(The Center Square) – Chicago Police say they are monitoring the U.S. conflict in Iran. Residents and visitors observed a significant increase in police presence at O’Hare International Airport and on area passenger trains this week. In a statement to The Center Square, the Chicago Police Department said it is monitoring the situation in Iran. “While there is no actionable intelligence related to Chicago at this time, we are paying special attention to places of worship and will adjust resources if necessary as we continue to follow the rapidly unfolding events,” the CPD statement said.

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Greg Bishop, Illinois editor for The Center Square, hosts Illinois In Focus Daily, a review of some of the top Illinois headlines with timely and relevant news and interviews. 

Read more at TheCenterSquare.com/illinois

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For Illinois in Focus Daily with The Center Square, host Greg Bishop talks with The Center Square investigative reporter Jared Strong about his continued investigation into Illinois diversity contracting commission, including a commissioner not disclosing the entirety of their other employment outside of being a commissioner. 

Read the story here: https://www.thecentersquare.com/illinois/article_63956a13-5235-4a23-92e7-06203fbad8d9.html

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(The Center Square) - An Illinois megaproject bill about a new Chicago Bears stadium project passed through a House committee Thursday, but it did so with a warning from several legislators and an advocacy group that the bill could lead to a meteoric rise in property tax bills in multiple communities in the state. The bill will next go to the House for a vote with sponsor Kam Buckner, D-Chicago, saying he didn’t know how quickly it would be taken up for a vote. The bill would allow the Bears’ proposed $5 billion stadium project and any $500 million project in the state to pay a negotiated lower rate instead of the same property tax that other companies and residents pay and it would allow the construction of the facility to be done sales tax free for 10 years.

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(The Center Square) – Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has proposed a budget for fiscal year 2027 that is smaller than the state’s 2026 spending plan.

The governor delivered his State of the State budget address before the General Assembly at the Illinois Capitol on Wednesday.

Pritzker opened by saying he would introduce another balanced budget proposal. The spending plan with $54.8 billion in general funds appropriations is down from the state’s $55.2 billion for the current year.

The governor then launched into criticism of President Donald Trump and said Illinois is fighting more than 50 cases in court where Pritzker said the federal government is “illegally confiscating money” that was promised and appropriated by Congress to the people of Illinois.

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For Illinois in Focus Daily, host Greg Bishop reviews the latest actions from Indiana to lure the Chicago Bears out of Illinois, and shares reaction from Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Illinois House Minority Leader Tony McCombie and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson.

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