Quick hits: Illinois news in brief for Friday, Feb. 12, 2021
Senate schedules more hearings for next week
The Illinois Senate has more virtual hearings scheduled next week. One hearing will focus on a report about public safety outcomes.
There’s also a Health Committee hearing, another hearing about unemployment in the Labor Committee and a hearing about a strategic plan for COVID-19 recovery in the hospitality industry.
The House had not scheduled any hearings as of Friday morning, despite approving remote committee work.
Madigan won’t serve on any House committees
State Rep. Michael Madigan, the former longtime House Speaker, isn’t leading any House committees or being appointed to one.
He’s also not anywhere in new House Speaker Chris Welch’s leadership team. Welch put out the list of committee assignments this week and Madigan doesn’t appear in any committees.
Lawmakers on committees get an extra stipend added to their lawmaker salary.
U.S. Attorney for the Central District of Illinois to leave post
The U.S. Attorney for the Central District of Illinois will leave the job at the end of the month. John Milhiser was appointed by former President Donald Trump.
Milhiser said in a letter announcing his resignation he was asked to leave by President Joe Biden.
Biden has taken bipartisan criticism for asking other U.S. Attorneys to resign, including Northern Illinois’ John Lausch, who’s prosecuting and investigating the ComEd bribery scandal that implicated former House Speaker Michael Madigan.
Flu cases drop in Illinois
The common flu isn’t so common anymore.
Two hospital systems in Illinois say combined they’ve had 12 influenza, or flu, hospitalizations since October.
The Illinois Department of Public Health says statewide only 11 flu patients went into the intensive care unit since September last year.
Overall, reports of flu-like cases plummeted compared to years before.
Medical professionals say masks and limiting activity because of COVID-19 could be the reason for decreased flu cases.
Two COVID-19 variants reported in Illinois
There are now two variants of COVID-19 found in Illinois.
The Illinois Department of Public Health reports the variant B.1.351, first identified in South Africa, was detected in Rock Island.
There are 22 cases in Illinois of the B.1.1.7 variant first identified in the United Kingdom. IDPH expects to see more cases of the strains.
Secretary of States shares grant money with libraries
Libraries across the state are sharing in more than $1 million of federal COVID-19 aid money managed by Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White.
The grants range from up to $500 for personal protective equipment and up to $10,000 for digital network access.
Four institutions are getting $125,000 each for electronic books.
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