News

At the request of the City of Chicago, Governor JB Pritzker is activating 125 personnel from the Illinois National Guard to stand by to support the Chicago Police Department with a verdict expected in the trial of Derek Chauvin. Members of the Guard will deploy to Chicago beginning tomorrow, April 20, to pre-position and support the Chicago Police Department as needed. The Illinois National Guard will carry out a limited mission to help manage street closures and will not interfere with peaceful protestors exercising their First Amendment rights, much the same role as Guard members played in previous deployments.

At the request of the City of Chicago, Governor JB Pritzker is activating 125 personnel from the Illinois National Guard to stand by to support the Chicago Police Department with a verdict expected in the trial of Derek Chauvin. Members of the Guard will deploy to Chicago beginning tomorrow, April 20, to pre-position and support the Chicago Police Department as needed. The Illinois National Guard will carry out a limited mission to help manage street closures and will not interfere with peaceful protestors exercising their First Amendment rights, much the same role as Guard members played in previous deployments.

On April 12, 2021, Governor JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) announced $110 million in funding from the bipartisan Rebuild Illinois capital plan is available to improve public ports across the state of Illinois. The Department is seeking project proposals to improve public ports and help modernize and revitalize the state’s marine transportation system. Applications are due June 11 to be eligible for a total of $110 million in funding to be released later this year.

On February 22, Governor JB Pritzker announced the launch of two additional state-supported mass vaccination sites in Rockford and Collinsville. The sites will launch on Tuesday, February 23 and each will ramp up to provide up to 1,350 doses per day at full capacity. Governor JB Pritzker is also activating additional members of the Illinois National Guard to support Winnebago and Madison counties in standing up additional mobile vaccination sites to reach rural and underserved communities.

Building on guidance by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), Governor JB Pritzker announced guidelines for the next stage of COVID-19 vaccine distribution across Illinois - Phase 1B.

Republican Leader Bill Brady resigned from the Senate seat he has held since 2002. Senator Brady has served as Senate Republican Leader since 2017.

Illinois’ minimum wage is set to increase to $11 an hour on Friday, January 1, 2021. This is the latest increase in the law that will ultimately raise Illinois' minimum wage rate to $15 per hour by 2025. During 2020, the minimum wage was increased to $9.25 per hour in January followed by an increase to $10 per hour in July.

On Wednesday, December 23, 2020, Governor JB Pritzker announced the administration is directing additional funding to support child care providers that are part of the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) which helps low-income working families access high-quality childcare, impacting 100,000 children annually. The administration will utilize funding allocated to Illinois through the federal CARES Act to cover all eligible days of CCAP payments for December, January, and February regardless of attendance.

Counties are on the front lines protecting our communities from the coronavirus and other illnesses that have the potential to become a pandemic. Counties support over 900 hospitals and operate over 1,900 public health departments, which are the ground troops in the fight against the coronavirus outbreak. During this crisis, the National Association of Counties (NACo) is focused on disseminating useful information to our members, and facilitating the exchange of effective strategies and approaches.

The ISACo weekly News and Views e-newsletter for December 7, 2020, reports on the latest guidance by the U.S. Treasury Department on Coronavirus relief fund reporting requirements, provides information about a new COVID-19 stimulus package announced by Congress, offers an update on COVID-19 vaccine distribution within Illinois, shares information about a new report released by the Worker Protection Task Force, references an upcoming NACo webinar opportunity, spotlights ISACo corporate partner Nationwide and invites counties to join ISACo.