Capital Facts

In the wake of last week's Census numbers release, the news media has widely reported a seeming reduction in the number of white people, both nationally and here in Illinois.
"Census shows U.S. is diversifying, white population shrinking," the Associated Press reported. "Overall, in the five collar counties, the white population declined by 183,869 over the past decade," the Chicago Tribune reported.
But is that true?

This past May, Illinois House Deputy Majority Leader Jehan Gordon Booth (D-Peoria) and Gov. JB Pritzker worked out a deal with some key state business groups to mandate seven days of paid leave per year for every employee in Illinois. Workers wouldn't have to give any reasons for the guaranteed paid leave.
But organized labor, in particular some Chicago union leaders, angrily came out against it, arguing that the bill's home rule preemption language would prevent Chicago from eventually enacting an even broader ordinance.

As I write this, two of the three national credit rating agencies have upgraded the State of Illinois’ rating in a week’s time. And the only remaining holdout owes us one. Bigtime.
As you know, Moody’s Investors Service upgraded its Illinois rating by a notch in late June and S&P Global Ratings followed suit on July 8. Fitch Ratings is the only one left.
Back in April of 2020, when the pandemic was gripping the world, Fitch downgraded Illinois’ credit rating – the only credit downgrade Illinois has received since Bruce Rauner’s days as governor.

Last week, I asked the spokespersons for all four state legislative caucus leaders if they considered the spring session’s COVID protocols in their respective chambers to be a success. I didn’t think I’d get much in the way of a newsworthy response, but I actually did.
Jaclyn Driscoll was a Missouri Statehouse reporter before she was hired as House Speaker Chris Welch’s spokesperson this spring. Driscoll also covered the Illinois Statehouse before moving to Missouri.