LIGHTFOOT BUOYED IN BAY AREA — BIGOTRY LANDS IN ILLINOIS — WELCH s BIPARTISAN PITCH politico.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from politico.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Workers at Ford Chicago Assembly Plant have been forced to shoulder the brunt of the global shortage of semiconductor chips, a product of capitalist anarchy, that has idled auto production on several continents.
Unemployed Illinoisans will keep receiving an extra $300 in pandemic-enhanced weekly benefits, Gov. JB Pritzker said Wednesday, even as Republican-led states around the nation move to end those benefits early, claiming they’re disincentivizing working-age people from getting jobs.
“Our job here is to make sure we’re creating jobs and helping people to rebuild the lives they had before the pandemic, and so we’re not going to pull the rug out from under people,” Pritzker told reporters at an unrelated event Wednesday.
The governor’s comments came a few hours before one of the state’s leading business groups representing employers sent Pritzker a letter asking for an early end to the boosted unemployment benefits, which are set to expire Sept. 6.
The governor’s comments came a few hours before one of the state’s leading business groups representing employers sent Pritzker a letter asking for an early end to the boosted unemployment benefits, which are set to expire Sept. 6.
In his letter, Illinois Manufacturers’ Association President and CEO Mark Denzler cited data from the state’s Department of Employment Security showing approximately 358,800 fewer Illinoisans in the state’s workforce in March versus March 2020, when the pandemic began. Denzler attributes this labor shortage to the extra $300 in weekly COVID unemployment benefits, which means an individual with no dependents in Illinois can receive the equivalent of more than $19 an hour.
Makers Madness Contest For The Coolest Thing Made In Illinois
The Illinois Manufacturers’ Association launched the second annual Makers Madness contest to crown the coolest thing made in Illinois.
Now through February 14 Illinoisans can nominate products as “The Coolest Thing Made in Illinois”.
The Illinois Manufacturers’ Association President and CEO Mark Denzler says anything made in Illinois can be nominated.
“You just submit the name of the product, a picture of the product, we ask for the nominators name, email and phone number in the event we have questions, once all the nominations come through we vet them, verify just to make sure they’re made in Illinois, because in some cases you might have a headquarters here but the product is made elsewhere.”