Friday, May 17, 2013
Passed by a 35-21 vote, the bill now goes to the desk of Gov. Pat Quinn, who has not yet said whether he intends to sign it.
By a vote of 35-21, the Illinois Senate approved legislation on Friday that would allow doctors in the state to prescribe marijuana as pain relief for severe medical conditions. The bill now goes to Gov. Pat Quinn for his signature. According to the Chicago Tribune, the bill covers 33 specific conditions—including multiple sclerosis, cancer and HIV infection—and includes several controls, with a four-year trial program, dosage limits, fingerprinting, background checks and licensed dispensing centers. “This bill is filled with walls to keep this limited,” the paper quoted sponsoring Sen. Bill Haine (D-Alton), who urged lawmakers to pass the legislation as a compassionate measure for those suffering with extreme pain. In opposition, Sen. …
Thursday, May 9, 2013
A bill that has already passed the Illinois House could pave the way for limited prescriptions of pot.
Illinois lawmakers may be poised to enact one of the toughest medical marijuana laws in the nation after a Senate Committee moved a bill Wednesday allowing those with a limited list of illness to obtain a prescription for the drug. The bill has passed the Illinois House and Gov. Pat Quinn has said he is open to the proposal, reported the Chicago Tribune. The Senate Committee voted 10-5 even after law enforcement officials objected on the grounds that the bill does not include provisions for driving under the influence of marijuana, the Trib reported. The law would allow patients to obtain 2.5 ounces of marijuana every two weeks. Sixty pot dispensaries would be set up throughout the state. The bill is sponsored by former State’s Attorney …
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Gov. Quinn has declared a state of emergency in the wake of flooding throughout the Chicago area.
Governor Pat Quinn declared a state of emergency as state agencies prepared to provide assistance to local governments throughout northern Illinois dealing with severe river and flash flooding. The state of emergency ensures that state resources are activated and that the federal government is aware that a disaster declaration is likely. It also allows the state to request resources as needed, such as personnel and equipment. State and local emergency personnel have been on the ground in hardest hit areas since early this morning. "Heavy rainfall over the past few days has created dangerous flooding in areas across the state," Governor Quinn stated in a press release. "Everyone should stay home and off the roads if possible. To ensure …
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Residents of our state will soon have the right to carry concealed weapons in public, but that doesn't mean safety is guaranteed.
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Hatcher, a Yorkville Republican, reacts to Quinn's state of the state address.
Rep. Kay Hatcher of Yorkville said Gov. Pat Quinn's Feb. 6 State of the State speech showed misplaced priorities. Hatcher, like her Republican colleagues in the state Senate, Jim Oberweis, of Sugar Grove, and Sen. Karen McConnaughay of South Elgin, said the governor failed to address the state's most-serious problems of high unemployment, financial insolvency and pension reform. Instead, Hatcher said the governor focused on social issues, such as gun control, legalization of gay marriage and raising the state's minimum wage to $10 an hour. “With billions in unpaid bills, an unprecedented one billion dollar pension payment looming and families throughout the state looking for work, what we needed to hear today was the governor’s vision for …
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
About 15 minutes after the polls closed, news media sources put Illinois in the Obama column, giving the president 20 electoral votes.
President Barack Obama won Illinois’ 20 electoral votes on Tuesday, defeating Republican Mitt Romney. Illinois, of course, was never in play. The only visit the president made to his home state late in the campaign came Oct. 25, when he returned to the South Side to cast an early ballot at the Martin Luther King Community Center. Obama is the first president to ever vote early in a presidential election. The Wall St. Journal and the Associated Press called the state about 15 minutes after the polls closed. The president's handling of the economy is a major factor in many voters' decision this year. "This election bears serious significance for our future," said Sheila Brady of Orland Park, outside her Fernway Elementary School polling …
Monday, May 14, 2012
It's always good to be caught up on state politics. Here's an easy guide to what happened this week.
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Monday, May 14, 2012
Editor's Note: This article was created by aggregating news articles from Illinois Statehouse News that were written by various Statehouse News reporters. In a week foreshadowing drama to come in this legislative session’s final weeks, Illinois lawmakers passed a bill requiring retired government workers to pay for their health insurance. Meanwhile, Chicago's mayor weighed in on the state's pension crisis, a state representative accused of bribery proclaimed his innocence and a College Illinois! employee was accused of insider investing. House, Senate pass retiree health care payment bill Illinois pays more than $800 million annually for the health care of state retirees, 90 percent of whom pay nothing toward their health-insurance …
Monday, March 26, 2012
It's always good to be caught up on state politics. Here's an easy guide to what happened this week.
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Monday, March 26, 2012
Editor's Note: This article was created by aggregating news articles from Illinois Statehouse News that were written by various Illinois Statehouse News reporters. Give state Rep. Fred Crespo an "A" for effort. Crespo, D-Hoffman Estates, has authored a bill to kill a college scholarship program that legislators have used to reward friends and supporters. Now that bill must be approved by the very legislative body that critics, including Crespo, say benefits from its ongoing misuse. The Illinois General Assembly Legislative Scholarship program allows each legislator to award up to eight one-year scholarships, or two four-year scholarships to students attending in-state public universities. Lawmakers cannot give the waivers to family …
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
It's always good to be caught up on state politics. Here's an easy guide to what happened this week.
- GOVERNMENT
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Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Editor's Note: This article was created by aggregating news articles from Illinois Statehouse News that were written by various Illinois Statehouse News reporters. Amanda Alvey and other residents in Harrisburg need financial help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which denied five southern Illinois communities federal disaster assistance. Harrisburg was hit especially hard by a Feb. 29 line of storms that produced a 170-mph tornado. Alvey’s house had only light damage, but Alvey’s cousin and her uncle lost their houses to the tornado. “Everything they ever owned is now gone,” she said, referring to family and community members. “We went through the debris the other day, just pulling out anything we could find. Even if …
Monday, March 5, 2012
It's always good to be caught up on state politics. Here's an easy guide to what happened this week.
Editor's Note: This article was created by aggregating news articles from Illinois Statehouse News that were written by various Illinois Statehouse News reporters. Illinois hasn’t met its end of the bargain in funding the school districts this year — and it probably won’t next year, state education officials said Tuesday. The state is supposed to help each district provide at least $6,119 for each student each year. This aid is combined with local property tax revenue and federal funding. But this fiscal year, the per-pupil funding was $5,953, or 95 percent of the required spending, because the state did not provide enough aid, said Illinois State Board of Education superintendent Chris Koch told House Education Appropriations Committee …
bigfoot14
10:58 am on Monday, May 20, 2013
Stan.... Actually I know more about MS than I want to.....my wife was diagnosed over twenty years ago......and there are now tests that while not 100% conclusive...positive results from an MRI showing lesions on the brain convince most Dr's that you have MS (and a blood test for MS is in the final testing stages)..... I guess that my point was that, unlike California, this bill is very … more ›