Quick hits: Illinois news in brief for Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021
Welch announces House committees
Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch has announced the House committees for the 102nd General Assembly.
The committee list, which includes Democrats tapped as chairpersons, range from appropriations committees to special committees Welch said in a statement they will focus on “on ethics, housing, immigration, and restorative justice.” Welch canceled all but one session day next month.
The Illinois Senate has yet to announce committees and is scheduled back on Feb. 9.
U.S. Supreme Court won’t take union dues case
The U.S. Supreme Court decided this week it won’t take up a case of public-sector employees seeking past union wages the nation’s high court said violated the free speech rights of employees.
The case of previous union dues taken from workers stems from the 2018 Janus vs. AFSCME case where the court determined public-sector employees can’t be forced to pay dues to a union they don’t agree with.
108,800 people in Illinois file for unemployment benefits
Illinois continues to see increased initial unemployment claims.
More than 13,000 more initial claims were filed last week than the week before for a total of 108,800.
That brings the total of insured unemployed to 337,000. There are 175,000 contractors getting unemployment benefits in Illinois.
Less than half of 1.8 million vaccine doses administered
Less than half of nearly 1.8 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine Illinois public health officials report receiving have been administered, or around 773,000 doses.
Nearly 160,000 individuals have been fully vaccinated with both doses, according to state data.
That’s around 1.26 percent of the total population. The state says it’s 7-day rolling average is 33,700 administered a day.
State to spend $73 million to buy building in Chicago
The state is set to buy a building in Chicago the governor says will save taxpayers $20 million a year.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced the purchase of a 17-story building in Chicago’s West Loop for more than $73 million.
About 1,000 state employees will be transferred from other buildings the state leases at a cost of more than $21 million a year.
Preliminary statewide COVID-19 positivity rate at 5.6%
On Wednesday, the Illinois Department of Public Health reported 3,751 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19, including 81 additional deaths.
The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of the total tests from January 20-26 is 4.5%.
The preliminary seven-day statewide test positivity from January 20-26 is 5.6%.
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