Capital Facts

You’ve probably read about the Republican Party implosion last week in suburban municipal and township campaigns, particularly in DuPage County.
It’s important to remember that these consolidated elections are not always a reliable indication of the future. They’re very low turnout, and in years like this – when the election was held during a hugely controversial US president’s first 100 days – they can be influenced by the outrage of the moment, particularly when one political party was putting its finger on the scale, as the Democratic Party of Illinois was.

Two major proposals backed by Gov. JB Pritzker did not advance out of legislative committees before last week’s passage deadline.
Sen. Suzy Glowiak Hilton confirmed that she won’t be advancing her legislation supported by the governor that would dissolve townships with populations below 5,000 (SB2217), and eventually abolish townships with populations below 50,000 and lower the petition threshold to 5 percent from 10 percent to put a township abolition on the ballot.

Advocates say a major storm is brewing that could overwhelm the state’s child foster care system.
The problem is legal liability insurance, or, more specifically, the lack thereof.
Insurance companies, advocates and providers say, are not taking on new private foster care agencies as clients and some agencies are being notified that they’re losing their insurance, including some of the state’s biggest foster care providers. Some others are being forced into high-priced, low benefit insurance plans. Many may ultimately find themselves out of business.

Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch didn’t sound all that enthused about passing any new ethics reforms during an interview last week.
In the wake of former House Speaker Michael Madigan’s conviction on 10 felony counts earlier this month, I asked Speaker Welch if he believed Madigan’s conviction called out for new reform laws.