(SPRINGFIELD) The Illinois Department of Employment Security has announced that the unemployment rate was unchanged in Illinois at 4.7% in January. The national joblessness number was at 3.7% in January, also unchanged from the previous month. The number of unemployed workers in Illinois in January was at 305,500, up over 7% over the same month one year ago in 2023. The largest job gains in Illinois came from the state’s industry sectors.
(SPRINGFIELD) A new bill has been introduced in the Illinois State Senate that demands several state agencies identify all spending on services and resources for non-citizens in Illinois. Senate Bill 3170 would also require state agencies to submit a report to the General Assembly detailing their spending on or before November 15th, 2024. Many Republican lawmakers and even some Democrats say there is a serious lack of transparency when it comes to diverting huge amounts of taxpayer dollars toward serving tens of thousands of foreign nationals arriving from the southern border illegally and that there is a wide range of agencies and non-profit organizations that spend taxpayer dollars on the issue.
(SPRINGFIELD) An Illinois state commission has issued a report calculating that public universities in the state are underfunded by about $1.4 billion. The Commission on Equitable Public University Funding is comprised of 34 members, including lawmakers and university administrators. It found that dedicating an additional $100 million annually to schools would allow the state to bridge the funding gap within the next decade.
(SPRINGFIELD) The Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshall reminds statewide residents to test, inspect, and replace broken or expired smoke alarms in their homes with new 10-year sealed battery alarms while they move their clocks up one hour this weekend. The National Fire Protection Association reports between 2014 and 2018, almost three out of every five home fire deaths in America resulted from fires in homes with non-working smoke alarms or no smoke alarms at all. Folks can contact their local fire departments for assistance.