Quick hits: Illinois news in brief for Friday, March 12, 2021
Clocks spring forward this weekend
Spring forward Sunday. Daylight Saving Time has clocks in Illinois move an hour ahead this weekend.
Some at the Illinois statehouse want that to be permanent.
There are seven bills filed in the House by Democrats and Republicans to make Daylight Saving time the standard for Illinois.
A hearing for some of those measures could happen next week.
State agencies present budget requests
State agency budget requests continue at the Illinois statehouse with virtual hearings about how to spend $40 billion of taxpayer resources.
Lawmakers are also hearing about how the state can spend $7.5 billion from federal taxpayers.
Democrats and Republicans in a House committee told the governor’s office during a committee they expect to be part of the conversation on how those tax dollars are spent.
Federal gun bill splits Illinois Congressional delegation along party lines
Illinois’ congressional delegation was mostly split on a federal bill expanding background checks.
Democratic members supported the measure. Republicans mostly opposed the bill.
But in Illinois, Republican U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger supported the bill. Illinois Republican U.S. Rep. Mary Miller criticized the measure, saying more gun laws aren’t the answer, enforcement of current law is.
Fewer people in Illinois file for unemployment benefits
Fewer people filed for unemployment last week than the week before in Illinois, but the total number of first-time filers still exceeded 61,000.
The number of independent contractors seeking unemployment benefits was 15,500 last week, up nearly 1,900 from the week before.
WalletHub says Illinois has the sixth slowest recovery in the nation.
Pritzker plans to bring vaccines to more rural areas
The state of Illinois is partnering with nine critical access hospitals as part of a Safety Net Direct Vaccine Allocation Pilot program announced by Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
The plan has federally qualified health centers and safety-net hospitals receiving a direct distribution of COVID-19 vaccine to target rural communities.
Illinois Senate Republicans raised questions about how doses are being allocated and why some counties are getting more than others.
BIG grant problems surface
The state of Illinois sent companies that had been dissolved federal COVID-19 relief funds.
WCIA reports about $1.1 million of the $275 million in federal funds allocated by the Pritzker administration through Business Interruption Grants went to 72 entities that were considered dissolved or terminated long before the pandemic began.
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