(DECATUR) Archer Daniels Midland has announced its chief financial officer will resign later this year. Vikram Luthar was put on administrative leave back in January for accounting irregularities in ADM’s nutrition business department, while the company cooperated with an investigation. Luthar, who will step down September 30th, will reportedly receive over $743,000 as a cash performance incentive award for last year, 2023.
(SPRINGFIELD) A measure advancing in Springfield seeks to ban corporal punishment in all private schools, K-12, in Illinois. House Bill 4175 passed last week out of the State House and is now being considered in the State Senate. The bill sponsors say the reasoning comes from the American Association of Pediatrics, which recently renewed its call to ban it in all schools, both private and public. While corporal punishment is not allow in Illinois’ public schools, it is legal in 17 states. However, corporal punishment is legal still in private schools in all but 4 states. Illinois’ current law says public school boards are not allowed to include corporal punishment within their board policies. The bill will not apply to home schools.
(SPRINGFIELD) Some lawmakers are concerned that amid the 324 bills that were past last week by the Illinois House, several included programs and initiatives for state agencies that are “subject to appropriation.” In other words, it’s not stated in these specific bills on whether the funding is by federal and/or state tax money or other funds, plus the cost could be higher or lower than estimated. Some of these bills include creating a new program to help fund certain farm programs, one deals with researching the impacts of arts programs, another allows a state agency to rework a web portal for a state-run program, and another deals with electric vehicles & recreational trails. This could result in an auditing nightmare.
(SPRINGFIELD) Illinoisans love their sports teams and a new study shows they are willing to miss work to watch them. New data from Betway.com ranks Illinois as the sixth state where workers are most likely to in sick for sports. Of the more than 2,000 people surveyed, 63 percent, nearly two-thirds, of Illinoisans admitted to taking a sick day to attend a sporting event. Utah topped the list of states that call in sick the most for sports.