Page 6 - Pat Devaney News Today

Illinois lawmakers considering legislation that could hike ComEd bills less than a year after utility admitted multimillion-dollar bribery scheme Dan Petrella, Chicago Tribune © E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune Sen. Sue Rezin, R-Morris, at the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield on Jan. 29, 2020. It’s only been nine months since Commonwealth Edison admitted to a bribery scheme that padded its profits and helped topple former Speaker Michael Madigan, but there’s alread...

In case you missed it this week: Gov. J.B. Pritzkers budget proposal, Michael Madigans resignation, new teaching standards, winter storm news, COVID vaccine updates and more.

Business and labor leaders called for continued support for businesses and unemployed workers Wednesday in a state Senate hearing ahead of Gov. J.B. Pritzkers annual budget address.

(The Center Square) – The Senate Labor Committee heard testimony Wednesday regarding the ongoing problems at the Department of Employment Security, including fraudulent claims, delays in sending out benefits and a shrinking fund that p...

* House Speaker Chris Welch… As of last month, Michael Madigan has dedicated 50 years of service to the Illinois House of Representatives. I thank the former Speaker for his sincere and meaningful contributions to our state. Under him, we’ve had strong, sustained Democratic leadership in Springfield. We legalized same-sex marriage, abolished the death penalty and solidified abortion rights. Illinois also became the first state in the Midwest to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour. Thes...

* Illinois AFL-CIO… The Illinois AFL-CIO today issued the following statement in response to the Illinois House selecting Emanuel “Chris” Welch as the new Speaker: “The Illinois AFL-CIO, representing nearly 1 million working families across the state, today offers a hearty congratulations to new Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch. Speaker Welch has a proven track record of fighting for working families, and we are eager to work with him, Senate President Harmon and Gov. Pr...

  An updated report issued by the Brattle Group for the Illinois AFL-CIO says the closures would cost the region thousands of jobs and millions of dollars. Pat Devaney is the treasurer for the organization. Credit Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco   “Youre talking about 1500 full-time employees got a good paying job, and also a couple thousand supplemental workers that are brought in, during maintenance, outages and refueling,” Devaney said.   In August, Exelon announced plans to close the two f...

Pritzker details $700M in state budget cuts by Kevin Bessler, The Center Square  | December 16, 2020 10:00 AM Print this article After Illinois voters rejected his progressive income tax amendment, Gov. J.B. Pritzker has said he plans to focus on cuts to balance the states budget. On Tuesday, Pritzker has announced plans to reduce state spending by $700 million dollars for fiscal year 2021. The plan includes a hiring freeze, grant reductions and operational s...