The first three months of this new year have shown 2021 to be quite a year of change. Of course, President Biden has assumed the helm in Washington and is filling out his cabinet posts. The pace of change in Springfield has...more
As we watch the COVID numbers slowly improve and the pace of vaccinations slowly increase, there is a sense that state and local governments can soon begin to function as they did pre-COVID. In Springfield, lawmakers gathered...more
It’s a time of transition, both in Washington DC and in Springfield. Nationally, the Biden Administration is filling out its Cabinet and other appointments. In Springfield, newly-minted Speaker Welch is working through new...more
1/29/2021
/ City of Chicago ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
General Assembly ,
Governor Pritzker ,
Illinois ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Public Health ,
Public Policy ,
Public Schools ,
State and Local Government ,
Teachers ,
Vaccinations
While one could reasonably have expected 2021 to be a more docile year for politics than 2020, these past two weeks have utterly shattered that expectation. Nationally, the events of January 6th will reverberate for some time...more
As Congress negotiates a COVID-19 relief package for the United States, the state of Illinois and cities across the state are hoping for additional pandemic relief. The next 48 hours will be key. In Illinois, all eyes are on...more
As America digests the results of the Presidential election and the transition to a Biden Administration begins, all political eyes in Illinois are focused on whether Speaker Madigan will be re-elected as Speaker of the House...more
Now that the initial vote-counting has been completed here in Illinois, and most (but not all) jurisdictions have published at least their unofficial election results, we provide a rundown of the results in key races. Races...more
Voting in Illinois is in full swing. Election day is less than two weeks away. The last Presidential debate is this week. In Illinois, the biggest fight is over the proposed Constitutional Amendment to do away with Illinois’...more
Election Day is within sight and campaign activity is at a fever pitch. Here in Illinois, the campaign getting the most attention is the Pritzker-led effort to amend the Illinois Constitution to allow the General Assembly to...more
Voting in Illinois will officially be underway this week, and the campaign season is in full swing. While the Presidential debates will begin next week, the most intense electoral battle in Illinois is the fight over the...more
With Labor Day in our rearview mirror, the traditional campaign season is now in full swing. While Illinois is not considered to be in play for the presidential election, don’t think that there will be an absence of campaign...more
As we hit the dog days of August, government at all levels continues to battle COVID-19 while supporting businesses and families. Nationally, negotiations over a relief package have stalled, and President Trump has issued an...more
8/13/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Aid ,
Financial Distress ,
Governor Pritzker ,
Illinois ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Masks ,
Mortgages ,
Political Parties ,
Protests ,
Public Schools ,
Relief Measures ,
Remote Learning ,
Rental Payments ,
State Aid ,
State and Local Government ,
State Budgets ,
Trump Administration ,
Unemployment Benefits
Since our last newsletter, the US Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois charged utility giant ComEd with a bribery scheme that implicates powerful Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan, prompting growing calls for the...more
As has been the case for most of this year, government at all levels continues to be focused on handling COVID-19, both in terms of the health of our citizens and the pandemic’s effect on our economy. Aid for local...more
As Illinois moves to Phase 4 of its COVID 19 response, we see relative quiet on the legislative front. We’re watching for the prospects of an additional round of COVID 19-related stimulus out of Washington perhaps in the next...more
Clark Hill Illinois' Government and Regulatory Affairs team continues to actively monitor the de-escalation of COVID-19, continued anti-racism protests, and governmental budgets, among other issues. Amid these issues, the...more
While all eyes are rightly on the protests following George Floyd’s senseless death, the Illinois Legislature recently concluded its COVID-19-shortened “special session” in which only the budget and a few time-sensitive...more
In Springfield, the Illinois Legislature is meeting this week for the first time since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in a “special session” that will consider only a very limited number of topics. The State budget and...more
The timing of the coronavirus pandemic was a major factor in historically low turnout for an Illinois primary in a Presidential year. Initial estimates put turnout in the City of Chicago, for example, at about 35%, much lower...more