Scott T. Holland

The U.S. Constitution leaves almost everything related to elections up to individual states, but people who don’t like the outcomes are relentless in trying to use federal courts to reach their desired goals.

The agencies combine on a rental housing study titled Out of Reach, which this year determined a full-time worker in Illinois needs an hourly salary of $29.81 to afford the market price of a two-bedroom apartment.

The point of sharing isn’t to advocate for the report’s suggestions, but to present an opportunity to explore the groundwork lawmakers and lobbyists will reference as these concepts make their way into public remarks, committee meetings and eventually legislation.

“Illinois is the only state in the country that does not prohibit rates from being ‘inadequate, excessive or unfairly discriminatory,’ which means it has no authority to reject a rate filing on those grounds.”

Needless to say, things are a little bit more consequential for the medical care of almost 30,000 inmates, and being able to see the problem coming makes it that much more frustrating.

Invest In Kids was about private schools. Illinois Gives money is available to agencies that “provide charitable grants for the benefit of residents of Illinois or charities and charitable projects located in Illinois.”

All the legitimately interesting discussion from May 2024 seems unlikely to yield any fruit, or at the very least must be repeated should lawmakers ever try to restart the process.

Serving as a professional reference or suggesting a friend hire a friend is just networking. But knowing the job is a sham or lying about someone’s qualifications is never above board. The feds have long insisted McClain knew about quid pro quos.

If one candidate breaks 50% as everyone’s top choice, the tallying ends. But absent a majority, whichever option has the fewest top-choice votes is eliminated, and any ballots listing the last-place finisher as the top choice get added to those voters’ second choice.

It’s also a local economy issue: SNAP recipients are customers and the retailers who sell them food might not be prepared to lose out on that business. After all, grocery store cash registers don’t care where the money originates.

The final 17 pages are a breakdown of all pension legislation from the recently concluded spring session from COGFA Pension Unit Manager Dan Hankiewicz.

In proposing the fiscal 2026 budget, Pritzker suggested spending $7.6 million less on housing programs. Lawmakers actually cut $14.6 million. The Court-Based Rental Assistance Program, which helps people facing evictions, is down $25 million.

How much does the marching band spend on new music each fall? Who pays to paint the school logo at midfield? What is the impact of overdue fines on the library budget? When I buy a box of popcorn at the pool, does any of that go toward lifeguard paychecks?

The Illinois Economic Policy Institute and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s Project for Middle Class Renewal reported that the state currently is short 142,000 housing units but would need to open 227,000 units over the next five years to meet projected demand.

I appreciate a quality professional display a few times a year yet have almost zero tolerance for amateur hour, especially when it extends across a whole weekend.