Quick hits: Illinois news in brief for Wednesday, July 28, 2021
Davis wants security lapse questions answered
While one Republican congressman from Illinois was a featured member of Tuesday’s commission hearing about the Jan. 6 capitol riots in Washington D.C., another fears the investigation will be used for politics.
Congressman Adam Kinzinger was appointed to the commission by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, but Congressman Rodney Davis, who was appointed but later retracted by the minority leader, said he worried important questions about why there were security lapses will go unaddressed.
Pritzker plans to sign bills
Gov. J.B. Pritzker signs several bills this morning.
In Chicago, he signed a measure that increases opportunities for students with special needs.
At a separate event, he signed a bill that increases access to high-quality child care. The governor has been working through more than 650 bills lawmakers passed both chambers during the spring session.
Republicans urge veto on ethics bill
Some Republican state lawmakers are calling on Gov. J.B. Pritzker to veto an ethics reform bill headed to his desk.
The bill is aimed at preventing lawmakers from lobbying other units of government and interrupting the so-called “revolving door”, but the bill bars the Legislative Inspector General from investigating anything that isn’t a violation of the Illinois Governmental Ethics Act or other laws “related to the member’s or employee’s public duties.”
State to follow latest CDC guidelines
The Illinois Department of Public Health, in line with the CDC, is strongly recommending that face masks be worn in schools by anyone who isn’t fully vaccinated.
They say districts that choose not to follow their advice should contact their insurers because there could be issues regarding risk assumption and liability coverage for failure to adhere to public guidance.
NWS puts new warnings in place
The National Weather Service will enact a new severe thunderstorm warning criteria.
The change is expected to go into effect next week and will add two new damage threat categories along with a severe thunderstorm warning.
The most notable change will be the new “destructive” damage threat category. When issued, a wireless emergency alert will be triggered on smartphones in the area, warning of a storm with possible 80-mile-per-hour winds and baseball-sized hail.
Black workers trail amid Illinois’ slow recovery from COVID-19
Illinois is lagging behind the rest of the nation in terms of economic recovery and minorities have been hit the hardest, according to a report from the Illinois Policy Institute.
Illinoisans have seen a recent decrease in unemployment amongst Hispanic and White workers.
Despite the labor market recovery, the employment rate of Black workers is 5.4 percentage points lower when compared to a year ago.
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