Under the Dome

On this week’s episode of the Under the Dome podcast the State Journal-Register’s Bernard Schoenburg and Doug Finke work remotely to bring you the latest updates on Illinois' response to the COVID-19 pandemic. They dive into how Gov. Pritzker and the state have responded to the crisis as well as how this is effecting the operations of state government and what this means fiscally for the state's budget with the possible losses in sales tax revenue. Lastly, they dive into the results from the Illinois Primary Election, which at this point feels like it was a year ago. 

On this week’s episode of the Under the Dome podcast the State Journal-Register’s Bernard Schoenburg and Doug Finke discuss the ongoing efforts to combat the coronavirus across Illinois; Rep. Tim Butler and Rep. Avery Bourne are calling for an outside audit and suspension of the state’s automatic voter registration program, following another system glitch; four Illinois sheriffs have filed suit in federal court to overturn the state’s Trust Act they believe interferes with law enforcement’s ability to deal with undocumented immigrants.

On this week’s episode of the Under the Dome podcast the State Journal-Register’s Bernard Schoenburg and Doug Finke discuss the upcoming Illinois primary in the wake of Super Tuesday, the Illinois House GOP believes efforts to enact property tax relief have stalled in the General Assembly, how Illinois and Gov. Pritzker are responding to the novel coronavirus with public health officials in Illinois reporting that a fifth person in the state has been infected and lastly the Illinois Municipal League voices their concerns over Gov. Pritzker's plan to hold 5% of income tax revenues for local governments in reserve in case the graduated income tax isn't approved by voters in November.

On this week’s episode of the Under the Dome podcast the State Journal-Register’s Bernard Schoenburg and Doug Finke discuss the results of an early poll showing which candidate is leading going into the Illinois primary, Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich skips a hearing dealing with his law license and what that means for his future practicing law, Illinois Sheriffs go the Statehouse to make their case about a new policy that they say "aids and abets" undocumented immigrants.

On this week’s episode of the Under the Dome podcast the State Journal-Register’s Bernard Schoenburg and Doug Finke get into Gov. JB Pritzker's budget address including a large portion of spending increases that could be reduced or outright disappear if voters don’t approve the graduated income tax proposal in November. They also touch on President Trump commuting the prison sentence of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

On this week’s episode of the Under the Dome podcast the State Journal-Register’s Bernard Schoenburg and Doug Finke discuss what to expect from Gov. JB Pritzker's upcoming budget address, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is scheduled to meet with Illinois House Republicans in regards to the tax structure for a Chicago casino, Illinois lawmakers push for a "Fair Maps" redistricting amendment, how the field for the primary election for the democratic presidential nominee is shaping up in Illinois and Illinois Supreme Court Justice and former Chicago Bears kicker Robert R. Thomas announces his retirement.

On this week’s episode of the Under the Dome podcast the State Journal-Register’s Bernard Schoenburg is solo as Doug Finke has the day off, so he breaks down the week that was in Illinois politics starting with Gov. JB Pritzker making the case that Illinois should take the spot as the nation's first primary election in the wake of vote-counting debacle around the Iowa caucuses. He also dives into the current legislative session with hearings being held on the problems with the automatic voter registration system and the announcement that the state logged $39.2 million of adult-use recreational marijuana sales in January.

On this week’s episode of the Under the Dome podcast the State Journal-Register’s Doug Finke and Bernard Schoenburg discuss the programming error the occurred in the Secretary of State’s office that inadvertently led to more than 500 possible non-U.S. citizens being registered to vote, Senator Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, was elected as the 39th president of the Illinois Senate on Sunday after hours of behind-the-scenes negotiations, Gov. JB Pritzker to sign bill capping insulin costs and his upcoming State of the State address. 

On this week’s episode of the Under the Dome podcast the State Journal-Register’s Doug Finke and Bernard Schoenburg discuss the resignation of Illinois Director of Agriculture John Sullivan after it was revealed he had received the controversial 2012 email from former top lobbyist Mike McClain, who are the front runners going into Sunday's election for a new Illinois Senate President and why former U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, and former Republican member of Congress, says he will "absolutely not" vote for President Donald Trump in 2020.

On this week’s episode of Under the Dome the State Journal-Register’s Doug Finke and Bernard Schoenburg discuss lawmakers from both parties calling for an investigation of a 2012 email exchange between a government insider and then-Gov. Pat Quinn’s staff regarding a possible cover-up of rape and other criminal activity, the draft report prepared by the property tax relief task force formed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, how the rollout for the sale of legal marijuana went in Illinois and where the current race for Senate President stands going into a vote on January 19th.