Peoria Standard

House Republican Leader Tony McCombie and former Illinois Governor Pat Quinn have proposed a constitutional amendment in Illinois to tackle corruption. Spain stated, “The state legislature has failed to deliver needed ethics reform to clamp down on this behavior.” Quinn added, “The legislature has shown it’s not able to adequately reform its ethical requirements on its own.” Their proposal, House Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment 19, aims to allow citizens to establish and enforce stronger ethical standards on elected officials.

In a separate press conference, State Representative Dan Ugaste highlighted how high taxes in Illinois are stifling economic growth. Ugaste criticized the Governor's budget proposal for increasing taxes on businesses. He introduced House Bill 4866, a property tax relief plan projected to save taxpayers $82 billion over the next 21 years.

State Representative Tom Weber, along with fellow Representatives Joe Sosnowski and Martin McLaughlin, called for property tax relief by proposing legislation to place hard caps on property tax increases. Weber emphasized the need for stable and predictable tax environments to prevent excessive tax bills that are driving people out of the state.

House Minority Leader Tony McCombie, along with State Representatives Dave Severin and Bill Hauter, revealed a legislative package to address failures at the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. McCombie’s License Convenience Act aims to require electronic payments for licenses and fees. Hauter’s House Bill 1572 seeks to expedite licensure for healthcare professionals.

The Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability presented budget forecasts for FY24 and FY25 to the Illinois General Assembly, noting steady growth but warning of concerns such as flat state sales tax revenues and slowing growth rates of state income tax revenues.

Second Amendment advocates have appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court to scrutinize Illinois' firearms ban, arguing that the law violates the U.S. Constitution. The appeal is part of ongoing constitutional litigation that could potentially strike down the new Illinois statute.

Lastly, the Pritzker administration has implemented a “redetermination” process to preserve a $1 billion healthcare program for undocumented immigrants in Illinois. The process requires enrollees to verify their eligibility status, potentially leading to the removal of individuals who are not legal permanent residents of the United States.

The Illinois Department of Employment Security released a delayed metro areas job report for January 2023, showing rising unemployment rates in various suburban and Downstate communities across Illinois. Areas like Kankakee and Rockford experienced significant increases in joblessness compared to the previous year.

These developments reflect ongoing efforts and challenges in areas of ethics reform, taxes, firearms legislation, professional regulation, budget forecasting, immigration, and job market trends in the state of Illinois.