Quick hits: Illinois news in brief for Thursday, Aug. 6, 2020
The dome of the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield, Illinois.
More than 24,000 Illinoisan seek unemployment benefits
Nearly 25,000 Illinois workers filed for unemployment benefits last week.
While that’s around 8,500 fewer than the week before, it’s still more than 1.4 million Illinoisans who have filed for unemployment benefits since the beginning of March.
Across the country, unemployment filings are also down with 1.2 million filing initial claims just last week alone.
Davis seeks hearings on unemployment fraud
There’s continued demand for there to be hearings into what happened with debit cards going out with unemployment benefits for people who didn’t apply.
Congressman Rodney Davis said it is troubling Gov. J.B. Pritzker hasn’t made officials available to take questions from lawmakers.
Pritzker on Wednesday said his administration found more than 120,000 instances of suspected fraud.
Davis doesn’t know how he caught COVID-19
U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis says he can’t pinpoint where he may have contracted COVID-19.
Davis said he’s now wearing a mask inside his house and staying away from his wife, who’s also quarantined though she tested negative.
Davis said he feels fine but will likely have to miss votes if legislation advances in Congress until he tests negative.
Bailey wants judge to put Pritzker in jail
State Rep. Darren Bailey wants a Clay County judge to find Gov. J.B. Pritzker in civil contempt for continuing to issue COVID-19 orders despite that county court saying such orders are void.
Bailey is also asking a judge to put Pritzker in jail until he rescinds recent orders. Pritzker called it “ridiculous.”
Meanwhile, the Illinois Supreme Court consolidated several cases Attorney Thomas DeVore filed at the county level challenging whether there’s a public health emergency.
Those cases will now be heard in Sangamon County.
ComEd pleads not guilty
Despite a deferred prosecution agreement ComEd entered with federal prosecutors last month in a patronage scandal aimed at influencing House Speaker Michael Madigan, the utility entered a not guilty plea Wednesday.
The Chicago Sun-Times reported the plea came at the insistence of the judge.
The judge also agreed to postpone the case for three years.
Illinois Treasurer returns $1 billion since taking office
Illinois Treasurer Michael Frerichs says since he’s been in office he’s returned around $1 billion in unclaimed property back to the rightful owners.
Find what the state may have of yours at IllinoisTreasurer.gov/ICASH.
