Unprecedented Unemployment Deficit Threatens To ‘Cripple’ Businesses, Claimants
SPRINGFIELD – Since economic shutdowns began and COVID-19 death counts started to rise in March 2020, national unemployment rates have hovered at historically high numbers, stressing state unemployment systems left dealing with an unprecedented number of claims. In Illinois, that’s led to a deficit in the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund – or the pool of […]
Lawmakers Demand Pritzker Open Unemployment Offices To Public, Want Answers On Fraud Payments
SPRINGFIELD — Illinois’ Department of Employment Security has received more than 1.3 million fraudulent claims for unemployment benefits since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. But, the state isn’t making public how much money has actually been paid out to fraudsters. Gov. JB Pritzker this week said an ongoing federal investigation into pandemic-related unemployment fraud […]
News Around Illinois – Sept. 3, 2020
Illinois House Panel To Investigate Long-Serving Speaker CHICAGO (AP) — An Illinois House panel convened at the request of Republicans will investigate Speaker Michael Madigan, a long-serving Democrat who has been implicated in a federal bribery investigation, legislative leaders announced Wednesday. Republicans filed paperwork to form the bipartisan committee earlier this week, a move that […]
News Around Illinois – July 23, 2020
Illinois Reports July’s Highest One-Day Total Of Virus Cases SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — As parts of the nation struggle with a worse coronavirus outbreak than during its high points last spring in other states, Illinois, where officials continue to congratulate residents for keeping the new virus in check, announced Wednesday an increasing number of newly […]
News Around Illinois – July 10, 2020
Gov. Pritzker Names New Head Of Unemployment Department Months After Complaints Pile Up Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker Thursday named a new director of the agency that manages unemployment claims after the department encountered serious problems dealing with the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. The Illinois Department of Employment Security also started a new approach […]
News Around Illinois – June 30, 2020
‘We Are Burying Our Future’: Chicago Mayor Mourns Kids’ Deaths From Weekend Shootings Mayor Lori Lightfoot says the last two Mondays she’s woken up with an “incredible sense of dread” after reading emails, text messages and media reports about the number of Chicagoans shot and killed over the weekend. On Monday morning, Lightfoot took a […]