(SPRINGFIELD) The last day of open enrollment for the ACA Health Insurance Marketplace is tomorrow, Tuesday, January 16th. This year’s deadline was extended an additional day due to today’s Martin Luther King Junior Day holiday, plus the state gave the public an extra month this year to allow people more time to select coverage. It’s estimated that so far, over 378,000 people in Illinois have selected plans since signup began November 1st.
(SPRINGFIELD) Illinois saw a record numbers for cannabis sales in 2023, leading many lawmakers and others to call for taxes collected from the sales to be used to help those in Illinois who need it most. With the taxes split several ways, more than a third goes to the state’s general revenue fund, 25% goes to community groups through the Restore, Reinvest, & Renew program, 10% goes to the state’s list of unpaid bills, 8% goes to law enforcement, and 2% goes to public safety campaigns. Sales taxes collected at Illinois cannabis dispensaries around the state late year totaled $417.6 million.