Illinois in Focus

By The Center SquareNews

Illinois in Focus episodes

April 23, 2021 Episode 135: No more Madigans? Lawmakers close in on term limits
Illinois lawmakers are poised to make leadership term limits of no more than ten consecutive years state law.
Before he resigned from the House earlier this year, Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, served in the state legislature for more than 50 years. Madigan served as House Speaker for 24 consecutive years from 1997 to 2021. For two years when Republicans had the majority in the House, Madigan was the Minority Leader. Before that, he served as Speaker for 12 years from 1983 to 1995.
House Bill 642 puts a limit of ten consecutive years on legislative leadership roles like the Illinois Senate President, Senate Minority Leader, House Speaker and House Minority Leader.
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1 hr
April 16, 2021 Episode 134: New bill ties state spending to income growth
With research showing state spending grew 30% faster than Illinois’ median household income over the past decade, a new bill would tie spending in Springfield to growth in household income.

Senate Bill 589, introduced by state Sen. Suzy Glowiak-Hilton, D-Western Springs, was presented during a subject matter hearing Wednesday of the Senate Appropriations Revenue and Finance Committee. The bill would create a spending cap that ties general revenue appropriations to growth in the median household income.

Thirty-three states have some form of tax or spending limits on the books, including all of Illinois’ neighbors.
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57 min
April 09, 2021 Episode 133: Reopen by summer? Pritzker says not so fast
Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday clarified statements from his chief of staff, a day after she said the state was headed for a full reopening this summer.

On Tuesday, Anne Caprara told a Senate committee she and the governor hoped to have restrictions lifted soon.
“I think we both hope that we are going to be in a place to move to Phase 5 in the beginning of the summer,” Caprara said. “I always hesitate to say definitively where we are going to be because we have now ridden through several rises and falls of COVID cases.”

During a news conference Wednesday in Rockford, Pritzker said not so fast.
“I wouldn’t characterize it as saying that the reopening starts as the summer starts,” Pritzker said.
Pritzker once again said there are metrics to meet, including about 5 million Illinoisans, or 50% of the state’s population older than 16, needing to be fully vaccinated. According to the New York Times Vaccine Tracker, 19% of people in Illinois are fully vaccinated.
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50 min
April 02, 2021 Episode 132: Are vaccination passports coming to Illinois?
Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Wednesday that vaccination passports could be useful in the coming weeks as more Illinoisans get vaccinated for COVID-19.

As for a vaccination passport to prove a person has been inoculated against the coronavirus, Pritzker says a vaccination app would be useful, but should not be required to enter an event or facility.

“As long as it is your choice,” Pritzker said. “If people ask you to show that for a particular venue or private venue, they have the ability and right to do that. You don’t have to show that to them. You don’t have to be to go to that venue or be engaged in that activity.”

The U.S. is not distributing vaccination passports and there are concerns over falsified records and also potentially violating federal health care privacy laws.

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1 hr 4 min
March 26, 2021 Episode 131: Illinois inches its way toward reopening
Illinois is nearing another phase in the state’s reopening plan, but things won't open up all at once.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker last week unveiled what he called his “Bridge Phase,” announcing new guidelines that will allow for higher capacity limits at public places such as spectator events. The guidelines also involved fewer restrictions on businesses during the transition between the current Phase 4 and a full reopening in Phase 5.

To reach the Bridge phase, 70% of people 65 and older must have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Despite a cry by many to speed up the country’s vaccination drive to end the pandemic, the first few months of the rollout suggest faster may not be necessarily better.
An analysis conducted by Surgo Ventures found that states such as Missouri and Florida that raced ahead of other states to offer the vaccine to a larger demographic of people have vaccinated smaller shares of their population than states that moved more slowly, such as Connecticut and Hawaii.
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44 min
March 19, 2021 Episode 130: Coroner questions Illinois' COVID death count
State officials have recorded 21,000 confirmed COVID-19 deaths in Illinois since the outset of the pandemic.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention listed 19,893 deaths through the end of February in Illinois where COVID-19 was listed among multiple causes. Of those deaths, about 1,830, or 9.2%, had COVID-19 listed as the sole cause of death.
That percentage is higher than it was in September 2020 when the rate was about 6%. Monroe County Coroner Bob Hill is calling for a full audit after reviewing some of the deaths in his county.
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49 min
March 12, 2021 Episode 129: More than 10 billion taxpayer dollars headed to Illinois
Despite being the highest taxed state in the nation, financially strapped Illinois is set to get more than $10 billion in federal tax dollars from the $1.9 trillion spending bill that passed the U.S. House Wednesday. Illinois’ Democratic leaders cheered the passage of the bill while Republicans were critical.
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52 min
March 05, 2021 Episode 128: Illinois in limbo as other states open up
There’s a growing chorus in Illinois urging Gov. J.B. Pritzker to provide the hospitality sector some clarity and certainty about when things will open more.
Pritzker didn’t give specifics about when he would relax COVID-19 mitigation when asked on Wednesday.
Texas is set to open up 100% March 10.
The Illinois hospitality sector has seen a massive decline in revenue over the past year and the industry warns of long-term consequences for the state if clarity isn’t provided soon.

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57 min
February 26, 2021 Episode 127: Madigan's replacement resigns after 2 days
Just days after his handpicked replacement to the Illinois House, state Rep. Edward Guerra Kodatt, stepped down, former state Rep. Michael Madigan is now backing Angelica Guerrero Cuellar.

In a joint statement with Chicago Alderman Marty Quinn late Tuesday from a Madigan spokesperson, Madigan suggested Kodatt resign “after learning of alleged questionable conduct.”

Madigan did not elaborate on the nature of the conduct.
Madigan selected Kodatt on Sunday. Madigan has a weighted vote in the district that allowed him to select his replacement. The selection was not unanimous. There were two other candidates that were nominated Sunday by other Democratic party officials from the district.
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49 min
February 19, 2021 Episode 126: Madigan calls it quits
Former House Speaker Michael Madigan, the longest serving statehouse speaker in the country, and the longest serving state legislator in Illinois, resigned Thursday.
In a statement Thursday, Madigan thanked his family and touted his accomplishments over five decades in office.
He leaves under a cloud of a federal corruption probe involving bribes utility ComEd admitted it paid to associates in an effort to influence Madigan.
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44 min

About Illinois in Focus

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The podcast bringing you the most important stories out of Illinois from TheCenterSquare.com. Join us as we dive into the top headlines and provide insightful commentary and analysis.