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State budget
Quick Hit
by Matthew Blake
6:55pm
Wed Sep 26, 2012

Lawmakers, Advocates Make Human Rights Case To Close Tamms

With the fate of Tamms supermax prison at an impasse, those who support its closure made the case today that the facility must shut down on human rights grounds.

Advocates with the Tamms Year Ten coalition spoke grimly of the 23-hour daily solitary confinement experienced by inmates who are fed through slots in cell doors and often deal with sensory deprivation. Speakers noted that both Amnesty International and the ACLU condemn the prison for violating international human rights agreements.

“This is a moral issue,” declared U.S. Rep. Danny Davis (D-Chicago). Read more »

PI Original
by Matthew Blake
12:24pm
Tue Sep 25, 2012

Pat Quinn's Roadmap Toward A Gambling Bill - And Lou Lang's Skepticism

Springfield

Gov. Pat Quinn vetoed legislation to expand Illinois gambling at the end of August, but he also may have laid the framework for compromise in the fall veto session. Quinn dropped his objection to slot machines at horse racing tracks and set in motion a plan to link gaming revenue with replenishing the state education budget.

Quick Hit
by Matthew Blake
5:31pm
Thu Sep 20, 2012

State May Need To Cut More To Achieve $1.6 Billion In Medicaid Savings

A dispute between Gov. Pat Quinn and Illinois Republicans on the pace of implementing a Medicaid eligibility verification system raises the larger issue of whether the state can actually cut a total of $1.6 billion from Medicaid.

Read more »

Quick Hit
by Brandon Campbell
12:25pm
Thu Sep 20, 2012

DCFS Workers Warn That Cuts, Move Towards Privatization Will Harm Illinois Children (VIDEO)

As the days draw closer to October 1, when about 375 state social workers will be laid off, a group of more than 350 angry Illinois Department of Child and Family Service (DCFS) employees showed up at Gov. Pat Quinn’s Chicago office Tuesday afternoon to decry recent budget cuts. 

Those cuts, the workers argue, will lead not only to the aforementioned job losses, but will harm the children and families who rely on the services provided by those state workers.

Read more »

PI Original
by Matthew Blake
6:32pm
Wed Sep 19, 2012

Teachers Strike Over But Budget Problems Have Only Started

Education

The Chicago Public Schools management team breathed a sigh of relief yesterday as the Chicago Teachers Union House of Delegates voted to suspend the CTU strike and let their membership consider a new contract. But while teachers are expected to green light the deal, CPS does not know how to pay for it.

Quick Hit
by Matthew Blake
1:14pm
Wed Sep 19, 2012

As Prison Population Goes Up, Facility Closure Plan Stalls

Illinois prison reform advocates received news sparking two causes for concern in the last few days.

On Friday, a state appellate court denied Gov. Pat Quinn’s appeal to undo a restraining order that has postponed state facility closings, including the shut down of Tamms Supermax Prison. And yesterday the Associated Press reported that the state’s prison population hit a record-high of 49,154 inmates over the weekend. The Illinois Department of Corrections system is designed to hold 33,700 prisoners. Read more »

PI Original
by Matthew Blake
1:51pm
Mon Sep 17, 2012
1 comment

Why Pat Quinn's Relationship With Labor Is On The Rocks

Labor

On August 10, Gov. Pat Quinn visited Caterpillar machinists on a picket line in Joliet, donating $10,000 to a union strike fund. But Quinn offered no position on the walkout, except bromides such as “believe in yourselves” to machinists who had been on strike for more than three months.