(SPRINGFIELD) Governor J.B. Pritzker is expected to sign House Bill 5238, which will mandate that developers and operators of mobile home communities to provide and install a weather alert radio in each mobile home. Going further, the bill also urges the operators to provide written reminders to mobile home owners to replace the batteries each year during National Fire Prevention Week. Opponents of the plan argue the unfunded mandate will make the popular, affordable housing option, more expensive.
(SPRINGFIELD) The Governor is also expected to sign a flurry of other bills, including Senate Bill 2803, which expands reentry identification card programs for inmates who served time in prison or county jails in Illinois. Those against the plan, including several downstate lawmakers, say statewide law-abiding citizens, who have never gone to prison or jail, have to pay a fee to get a state issued ID Card, however the former criminals get the ID Cards for free. Those in favor says the plan’s goal is to help prisoners from backsliding.
(SPRINGFIELD) More than 140,000 Illinois Government-sector workers and retirees received more than $100,000 in annual compensation last year in 2023, a 50% increase over numbers five years ago, in 2018. A new report from Wirepoints shows that while Illinois residents are forced to pay the nation’s highest property taxes, having one of the nation’s highest tax burdens overall, funding the $100,000-plus government salaries and pensions of the public sector is unsustainable, according to the numbers. Public School teachers and superintendents have the biggest share of the taxpayer funded pie with over 56,000 people getting a pension or salary over $100,000.
(SPRINGFIELD) Two Illinois cities made the top twenty (20) in a list of the safest and most affordable cities in the United States. To compile the list, GoBankingRates looked at data from several sources, including the U.S. Census American Community Survey, the FBI’s Crime Data Explorer, and the Zillow Home Value Index. The City of Elgin took the nation’s number one spot on the list, while Joliet was at number 17.