News

The Illinois Emergency Management Agency and Office of Homeland Security (IEMA-OHS) was notified by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) of two grant opportunities available to non-profit organizations across Illinois. “These outstanding 2024 grant opportunities provide organizations across Illinois the chance to implement enhanced safety measures to increase safety and security,” said IEMA-OHS Director and Homeland Security Advisor to the Governor Alicia Tate-Nadeau. “Organizations can take advantage of security equipment, facility hardening, and other operational actions during this 3-year grant performance period.”

On April 24, 2024, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (Illinois EPA) Director John J. Kim announced an open-ended $17.7 million Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) to fund the replacement of existing diesel school buses with new all-electric school buses located and operated in any of the three priority areas outlined in the Volkswagen Beneficiary Mitigation Plan (BMP) and further described below. Illinois EPA will also fund a portion of electric bus charging equipment if charging infrastructure is needed for buses with these funds. This funding opportunity will remain open until funding is depleted with grants awarded on a first- come, first-serve basis.

On April 24, 2024, Governor JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity (DCEO) announced the recipients for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) for Housing Rehabilitation. A total of $8.9 million has been awarded to 14 communities, which will support housing rehabilitation projects. "No one should have to worry if their home is structurally safe or if their appliances will turn on," said Governor JB Pritzker. "Thanks to this federal grant, 14 communities across the state will become stronger and more resilient by rehabilitating their vulnerable residents' homes." "For half a century, the Community Development Block Grants Program has provided critical assistance to keep communities safe and healthy," said DCEO Director Kristin Richards. "This grant funding will ensure communities and families across Illinois have the resources they need to rehabilitate homes in the areas that need it the most."

Every day, Berdeena Leturno checks her email for an update on when the state of Illinois will finally pay her $80,000. It’s been over two months since she signed the paperwork to sell her flood-damaged home as part of a buyout program, and over a year and a half since the creek across the street rose so high that it filled her home with water. Now, she’s waiting to close and get the check for her old house – a white-paneled ranch where she and her husband raised their four kids, spent nearly 20 years and planned to retire.

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) commends the Biden Administration for launching the America the Beautiful Freshwater Challenge to conserve and restore America's vital freshwater systems for future generations. The America the Beautiful Freshwater Challenge: A Partnership to Conserve and Restore America's Rivers, Lakes, Streams, and Wetlands sets a national goal to protect, restore, and reconnect 8 million acres of wetlands and 100,000 miles of our nation's river and streams.

Illinois Rep. La Shawn Ford is ramping up the fight against the opioid crisis by pushing to create overdose prevention sites and declaring a new Harm Reduction Solidarity Week. Ford, whose district includes Austin, Oak Park and Forest Park, has long been a drug-treatment advocate. In late 2022, for example, he proposed House Bill 0002, which proposes the opening of pilot overdose prevention sites in Illinois. Earlier this year, Ford filed House Resolution 665, which, when it passed, declared April 14 through April 20 Illinois’ first Harm Reduction Solidarity Week.

Legal settlements with prescription painkiller manufacturers, distributors and sellers have put Illinois in line for some $1.3 billion in payouts intended to help in fighting an opioid crisis that’s still killing tens of thousands of Americans every year.

The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Energy is announcing $902,200 in grants to four recipients of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Programs (EECBG) awards from the first round of EECBG Program funding, while also opening a third EECBG Program funding opportunity for a total of $500,000.

Residents of 11 Illinois counties can dispose of unwanted agrichemicals for free this year through the Illinois Department of Agriculture's (IDOA) agricultural pesticide "Clean Sweep" program. A "Clean Sweep" collection has been scheduled in late summer for Bureau, Carroll, Henry, JoDaviess, Lasalle, Lee, Ogle, Rock Island, Stephenson, Whiteside and Winnebago Counties, IDOA announced today. The collection, which rotates among Illinois counties, is open to farmers, retired farmers, nursery owners, private pesticide applicators, structural pest control applicators and landowners who inherited unwanted agricultural pesticides with their property.

The Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) announced today that the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.8 percent, while nonfarm payrolls increased +12,700 in March, based on preliminary data provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), and released by IDES. The February revised unemployment rate was 4.8 percent, unchanged from the preliminary February unemployment rate. The February monthly change in payrolls was revised from the preliminary report, from +23,100 to +26,700 jobs. The March unemployment rate and payroll jobs estimate reflect activity for the week including the 12th.

The Illinois Liquor Control Commission’s (ILCC) Legal Division is pleased to announce that licensees now have the ability to pay ILCC fines and penalties online through MyTax Illinois. Previously, licensees had no method to pay fines or penalties online. Licensees who have been assessed a penalty via an Offer in Compromise, Post-Conference Letter, or a Final Order of the Commission, can now pay those penalties via their MyTax Illinois Account.

The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) has announced Sigue Corp. will cease to provide money transmission services in Illinois, as the company can no longer responsibly serve customers due to its declining financial position. Illinois joins 38 other states, along with Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, in this consent order after Sigue failed to satisfy outstanding money transmission liabilities, violating state law. Sigue is a state-regulated money transmission company licensed in Illinois and 48 other states (NMLS ID 915912). Over the past several months, Sigue experienced significant financial deterioration, leading to the company failing to complete multiple money orders and transmissions, and failing to maintain adequate net worth and assets to cover outstanding liabilities. Both are violations of Illinois money transmission law (205 ILCS 657/80). As part of the consent order, Sigue must preserve and provide access to all books and records, including information on affected customers. Illinois and other states will use the company's signed declarations to file bond claims on behalf of affected customers involved in the following transactions:

The recent surge of international migrants arriving in Illinois has brought with it a host of new challenges for state and local officials. Those range from filling their most basic needs like emergency food, clothing and shelter, to more complex issues like lining them up with basic health care, financial assistance and other social services. But there is another challenge stemming from the influx of migrants that some advocates say the state has not done enough to address – educating the children of those coming across the border. Jeannie Stachowiak, superintendent of North Palos School District 117, a district of about 3,500 students in Chicago’s southwest suburbs, told a legislative committee this week how the crisis has affected her schools.

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources will host a grant submission webinar for the Open Lands Acquisition and Development (OSLAD) matching grant program at 11 a.m. Wednesday, May 15. OSLAD provides funding assistance to local government agencies for the acquisition and development of land for public parks and open space. The program is administered by IDNR. Projects vary from small neighborhood parks to large community parks and nature areas.

The Lake County Division of Transportation (LCDOT) today announced the 2024 construction program that includes $127 million for infrastructure projects to increase driver and pedestrian safety, improve mobility and reduce carbon emissions on Lake County's transportation system. More than 20 transportation projects will be under construction in 2024, featuring intersection improvements, non-motorized paths, resurfacings and bridge maintenance.

There is a desperate call for volunteer help in the suburbs, as CASA Kane County seeks out "CASAs," or court appointed special advocates. "I feel a shared sense of purpose and meaning, and that’s very satisfying," said volunteer, Ellen Ljung. Ljung is a retired educator and has been volunteering with CASA for three years. "We can change a child’s story, and it is incredibly rewarding when that happens," she said. Volunteers act as child advocates. They are trained and supervised, then a judge appoints them to cases where they work in the best interest of children in abuse, neglect, and probate court.

Illinois officials have shut down Route 185 after a sinkhole appeared near the road. The location is between Hillsboro and Coffeen, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation. The sinkhole has increased slightly in diameter making the area unsafe for travel, IDOT said. A geotechnical consultant will evaluate the situation. Until then, motorists are advised to seek alternate routes. Sinkholes are not uncommon in Illinois. They can occur naturally or through man-made causes, such as underground mining.

A new lawsuit aims to abolish the long-standing practice of Illinois counties selling properties over their unpaid taxes in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year that declared the practice unconstitutional. At stake is potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in home equity that property owners lost when Illinois counties sold their homes or commercial property for back taxes. A study by the Pacific Legal Foundation estimated that in the years 2014 to 2021, property owners in 11 Illinois counties sacrificed about $300 million in equity when their properties were sold for tax debt. Several Illinois counties are asking a court to rule that the Tyler case doesn't apply here because in a tax-debt sale, the county doesn't profit. It only gets back the taxes it's owed.

Lead pipes in public water systems and drinking fixtures have been banned in new construction since 1986, when Congress amended the Safe Drinking Water Act, but they are still in use across the U.S. and in Illinois. The presence of lead pipes has persisted due in part to a lack of a centralized federal or state removal strategy, as well as inadequate funding and insufficient inventories of where lead pipes are located. In Illinois – which has the most lead pipes per capita of any state, according to a 2023 study by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency – water suppliers are in the process of inventorying their lead pipes to get a clearer picture of timelines for removal over the next several decades. The health impacts of lead exposure are widely known. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there is no safe level of lead exposure for children. While not technically enforceable, the U.S. EPA’s goal for maximum contaminant level of lead is zero.

On April 13, 2024, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency honored a group of creative fifth and sixth grade students selected for their artistic and writing skills used to express environmental awareness, as part of the Agency's Annual Poster, Poetry, and Prose Contest. The students selected from throughout Illinois were recognized at a ceremony at the Illinois State Library in Springfield. Each year, fifth and sixth grade students in Illinois take part in the Poster, Poetry, and Prose contest as one of the agency's environmental education initiatives. As part of the contest, participating schools study environmental concepts with an emphasis on the current year's environmental theme. Many teachers round out the classroom instruction by having the students create posters or poetry/prose works to illustrate what they have learned and submit these to the Illinois EPA. Participating schools can select four works in each category to submit for competitive judging. This year's theme, "Where Does Water Go? How Can We Slow the Flow?" focuses on understanding how rain moves through the landscape, the effects of droughts and floods, and how we can adapt to help protect our water resources.

As Gov. JB Pritzker has proposed to eliminate the state’s sales tax on groceries, a new University of Illinois study suggests the idea hurts cities more than it helps families. “I think there is a perception that the grocery tax is very regressive,” said Elizabeth Powers, an associate professor of economics at the U of I and interim associate director of its Institute of Government an Public Affairs. “That it causes very low-income people to pay more than their fair share of taxes.”

The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) announced it has awarded $2 million to three different organizations to provide training that will increase access to safe, high-quality abortions across the state. The Abortion Provider Capacity Building Grant Program awarded grants to the Midwest Access Project (MAP), Planned Parenthood of Illinois (PPIL), and the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) College of Nursing.

Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (Illinois EPA) Director John J. Kim today announced $25.1 million is being awarded to 20 applicants for electric vehicle charging infrastructure under the Driving a Cleaner Illinois program. The grants will fund 643 new Direct Current Fast Charging (DCFC) ports at 141 locations throughout the state. The awards are based on a Notice of Funding Opportunity issued in late 2023, seeking publicly accessible locations statewide. These grants were made possible through Governor Pritzker's bipartisan Rebuild Illinois capital plan and authorized under the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA). In 2023, Illinois EPA awarded $12.6 million in Volkswagen Settlement funding for more than 300 new EV fast charging ports.

A memorial service will be held on Sunday to honor the life of Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough. Yarbrough, 73, died on April 7 after she was hospitalized last week with an undisclosed medical condition. The public memorial service will take place on April 14, at the Rockefeller Chapel on the campus of the University of Chicago. Doors will open at 2:30 p.m. in advance of the 3 p.m. memorial service. Yarbrough was remembered as a trailblazer. She had a career that spanned local and state politics over three decades. First elected in 2018, she is the first woman and first African American to hold that office, overseeing elections in suburban Cook County and maintaining the county's vital records, such as birth, marriage, civil union, and death certificates.

On April 9, 2024, Governor JB Pritzker and Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton joined food justice advocates and local stakeholders to announce a new grant program from the Illinois Grocery Initiative. The New Stores in Food Deserts Program will offer competitive grants to encourage the establishment of new grocery stores in USDA-defined food deserts. Paired with the Equipment Upgrades Program, the initiatives are a $20 million effort to address food deserts and prevent grocery store closures in Illinois.