A bill that would make President Barack Obama’s birthday a commemorative holiday passed the House 87-0 on Friday, moving it to the governor’s desk.
The legislation, Senate Bill 55, would make Obama’s birthday, Aug. 4, a commemorative holiday. That’s different from a legal holiday, in which state government offices shut down and schools and businesses have the option of closing.
The bill’s House sponsor, Rep. Marcus C. Evans, Jr., D-Chicago, said the bill wouldn’t cost the state any money and would be a responsible way to celebrate the 44th president’s birthday.
“We want to get one that doesn’t attack our fiscal health considering we still need to work out a budget. This is just another good reason to celebrate, and it’s educational for our children to know what we had,” Evans said. “We may never get another Illinois president in my lifetime. Illinois has Barack Obama and he was passionate about what he believed in.”
* Press release…
Survivors of sexual abuse will no longer have to worry about deadlines to bring their attacker to justice under new legislation that waits for the governor’s signature.
Senate Bill 189, an initiative of Attorney General Lisa Madigan, would eliminate the statute of limitations for certain sex crimes committed against minors. According to many victim advocates, many victims do not come to terms with their assault until after the statute of limitations runs out.
State Senator Scott Bennett (D-Champaign), the legislation’s sponsor, drew on his past experience has an assistant state’s attorney in Champaign County when advocating for the new law.
“Survivors of these heinous crimes should be able to come forward when they are ready to seek justice without arbitrary deadlines preventing them,” Bennett said. “I urge the governor to sign this beacon of hope for survivors as soon as it arrives at his desk.”
Scott Cross, brother of former House Minority Leader Tom Cross, worked with Senator Bennett and Attorney General Madigan to pass the legislation. Cross was one of the many victims of disgraced U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert.
The legislation passed both chambers without opposition.
In December, this page called on [Auditor General Frank Mautino] to step down from his post until the federal probe is complete. Let the professional accountants in the auditor general’s office run it until his case is resolved.
That was five months ago. Because it appears Mautino has no intention of doing so, today we call on lawmakers to quit looking the other way. They have to file spending reports. They know how how the system is supposed to apply equally to everyone. They should pressure their leadership to put Mautino’s continuation as auditor general up for a vote. A proposal filed by Rep. Grant Wehrli, R-Naperville, to remove Mautino sits in House Speaker Michael Madigan’s Rules Committee.
Madigan can keep protecting his pal Mautino by not calling the resolution for a vote. Or he can quit playing God and allow the House to vote Mautino up or down. Make a case for him or send him packing.
Billionaire Democratic gubernatorial hopeful J.B. Pritzker is making a $1 million deposit in Chicago’s last remaining black-owned bank.
Illinois Service Federal Savings is the beneficiary. Pritzker alluded to the investment earlier this week in an interview on WVON radio without naming the bank, but his campaign confirmed the recipient. […]
“JB has made expanding access to capital for small business and entrepreneurs, and making investments in the communities hardest hit by Bruce Rauner’s failed leadership and manufactured budget crisis a top priority for him as governor,” a spokesman said in an email. […]
Pritzker’s move echoes a similar action by Rauner in 2014 as he challenged then-Gov. Pat Quinn. Rauner deposited $1 million in a South Side credit union as a way of demonstrating the Republican private-equity magnate cared about black communities and winning at least some black votes.
In both cases—Rauner’s and Pritzker’s—the institutions are small, and the sums of money very large.
The Illinois Senate has advanced a measure spearheaded by Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno that would allow for permanent term limits of all four state legislative leaders.
“This constitutional amendment is a significant step forward in demonstrating to Illinois residents how serious we are about restoring their faith in government,” said Radogno (R-Lemont).
When the 100th General Assembly was sworn in this past January, the Senate adopted its new rules, which for the first time put in place term limits for Senate legislative leaders. As a result, Senate rules limit both the Senate President and Minority Leader to a maximum of five terms (10 years).
The measure advanced Friday, Senate Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment 2 (SJRCA 2), would permanently create leadership term limits via constitutional amendment by limiting the terms to five General Assemblies (10 years) for the Illinois Speaker of the House, President of the Senate, House Minority Leader and Senate Minority Leader.
If approved by both the Illinois Senate and House with a three-fifths vote, SJRCA 2 would be on the Illinois ballot in November 2018.
The Illinois Supreme Court ruled Thursday the Illinois High School Association, which organizes sports tournaments between high schools, does not have to release internal records.
The Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA, is supposed to make sure anyone can get documents, memos — even emails — from a government body upon request.
But the state Supreme Court unanimously ruled the IHSA is NOT a government body. It wrote the IHSA’s sports events are not something public schools would otherwise be expected to do. […]
The Court wrote that FOIA requests can apply to functions of government — in other words, if governments outsources one of its responsibilities to a private entity, that is subject to FOIA.
“We were happy to see the Supreme Court adopted a much more liberal test for what constitutes a governmental function,” [Matt Topik, who represents the Better Government Association which brought the suit] said.
* Mayor Emanuel laid out his plan today to keep the school doors open. Tribune…
The CPS board will vote on Wednesday to take out a $389 million short-term loan backed by expected state aid payments that have been delayed by the long-running budget impasse, said Carole Brown, the city’s chief financial officer. […]
State block grant payments now are nine months behind schedule. City officials say the state now owes it $467 million, but Brown said the district is only allowed to borrow on 85 percent of that amount.
The new short-term borrowing, which will come at a hefty cost because of the school system’s junk bond rating, will allow the district to make a required June 30 contribution to the Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund, Brown said.
The fund is owed $721 million. The borrowed money would cover the bulk of that payment, while money coming in later this summer from a first-time pension property tax levy of $250 million will cover the rest. […]
Even if Emanuel’s short-term plan is implemented and carries CPS through the summer, the district would still face a massive shortfall in 2018 absent some new source of revenue or infusion of cash from the state. The mayor is expected to unveil another plan to deal with next year’s finances, one that likely would include a tax hike, according to sources familiar with the mayor’s plans.
The grant money upon which the borrowing will be secured is part of $1.1 billion in state payments Illinois owes to more than 400 school systems. The state has been unable to distribute those grant payments because of the unrelenting budget stalemate.
The mayor’s office said CPS expects to receive its allotment of state grant funds in “coming months.” But Abdon Pallasch, a spokesman for Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza, said on Friday his office has no idea when the money will be disbursed.
The comptroller’s office just made last September’s quarterly grant payment in April. So, it’s going to be a while before CPS gets any more of that money.
Attached to the press release was this map, which CPS claims shows “school districts across Illinois that are facing funding challenges because of the state’s delayed payments”…
This spring marks five years since backers of the Route 53 extension allowed themselves to feel a sense of optimism following the release of a Blue Ribbon Advisory Council report which endorsed construction of a four-lane “modern parkway” with a 45-mph maximum speed and a “context sensitive” design. […]
But even without taking sides, it’s fair to say that momentum on the Route 53 project — to use a generic name for what would actually be a Route 53 extension from Long Grove to Grayslake and a Route 120 bypass around Grayslake — is not moving in the direction of seeing the roadway turning its first spade of dirt […]
It’s also fair to observe that, if there is a current void of information regarding any progress toward Route 53 becoming reality, opponents of Route 53 have been filling it with their messaging. Periodic protests and public statements against the whole idea were echoed Tuesday with the release of a report from the consumer-watchdog United States Public Interest Research Group (PIRG), which included Route 53/120 on its third somewhat-annual list of “Highway Boondoggles” around the country.
“Year after year, state and local governments propose billions of dollars’ worth of new and expanded highways that often do little to reduce congestion or address real transportation challenges, while diverting scarce funding from infrastructure repairs and 21st century transportation priorities,” the report states, swinging for the fences.
“These projects, some originally proposed decades ago, double down on the failed transportation strategies of the past while causing harm to local communities and absorbing scarce transportation dollars.”
* Press release…
The Illinois Road and Transportation Builders Association (IRTBA) today launched a major cable, radio, and digital ad campaign supporting the Illinois Route 53 expansion project.
The campaign features IRTBA’s first television advertisement of the year. “Works” highlights the significant benefits the Route 53 expansion project will bring to Lake County.
In addition to reducing congestion and traffic, saving the average commuter 20 hours per month, the Route 53 project will boost the Lake County economy by creating up to 30,000 new full-time jobs without harming the environment.
“The Route 53 project will enhance the quality of life for residents of Lake County by creating new full-time jobs and reducing traffic so residents have more time to spend with their families,” IRTBA President & CEO Michael Sturino said.
* Background for this letter is here. From the Senate Democrats…
May 19, 2017
Maggie Hickey
Executive Inspector General of Illinois
Office of Executive Inspector General, Division of Investigations
Inspector General Hickey:
It has been brought to our attention that records and information from Governor Bruce Rauner’s administration and the Illinois State Board of Education were provided to a political group funded by the governor’s campaign. This is disturbing. The citizens of Illinois deserve honesty and integrity at every level of government.
Please consider this a formal request that your office research and investigate this situation.
If you or your office need additional information or have questions, please contact us.
Sincerely,
State Senator Andy Manar (D-48)
State Senator Toi Hutchinson (D-40)
State Senator Donne Trotter (D-17)
Assistant Majority Leader
State Iris Y. Martinez (D-20)
Assistant Majority Leader
State Senator Michael E. Hastings (D-19)
State Senator Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant (D-49)
* The JB Pritzker campaign stepped in as well…
“It’s despicable that Bruce Rauner and Republicans would resort to leaking fake news in order to slow down progress for our state, and specifically for education,” said Pritzker campaign spokeswoman Galia Slayen. “Students in Illinois shouldn’t be held hostage while Rauner tries to slash important programs and prevent their teachers from making a decent living. Illinois families deserve a governor that works to solve problems, not create them.”
* OK, now, if you click here, you’ll see a pdf of the original story on Dan Proft’s Kankakee Times website.
The state funding cuts wouldn’t take effect immediately. Manar’s bill also includes a temporary “hold harmless” clause that would effectively delay them for two years.
As a Republican pointed out to me a few minutes ago, the ISBE analysis referred to is of SB 231, which was introduced last year. That analysis is available online. Click here and then scroll down to the SB 231 link to see it.
* I just talked to Proft and here are some quotes…
Everything Manar said at that press conference is false. We got no information from the governor’s office. None. Zero.
We got the numbers from Reboot Illinois. We did the story based on the last, best numbers we had.
The real story is that the Senate voted on that bill without any numbers… without knowing the implications of state funding schools… By their own admission, they don’t have the numbers.
*** UPDATE 1 *** At my request, Proft sent me the e-mail chain with Reboot. I redacted all e-mail addresses and phone numbers. Click here.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Press release…
The Rauner Administration released the following statement regarding the Senate Democrats’ false accusations. The following is attributable to spokesperson Eleni Demertzis:
“The Senate Democrats today jumped the shark. One cannot leak something that is on a public web site. Their false and outrageous accusations have been disproven, and they should apologize for manufacturing blatantly false accusations.”
*** UPDATE 3 *** Press release…
State Senator Andy Manar is urging Illinois school superintendents to be aware that misleading figures are being peddled about Senate Bill 1, the school funding plan that passed in the Illinois Senate this week.
Gov. Bruce Rauner’s office this afternoon acknowledged the figures are inaccurate and outdated but stopped short of denouncing them.
“This appears to be a textbook example of fake news. I am disturbed as to how and why this information was put out there and framed as official information from the Rauner administration, clearly with the intent of confusing and misleading people about Senate Bill 1,” said Manar, a Bunker Hill Democrat.
“Senate Democrats have asked the executive inspector general to look into that, but right now I want to make sure school superintendents are aware that outdated information is fraudulently being passed off as up-to-date news about Senate Bill 1.
“Furthermore, I hope Gov. Rauner and Education Secretary Beth Purvis will follow our lead and alert school officials about this misleading information to set the record straight. Anything less makes them complicit in a concerted effort to jeopardize Illinois’ shot at achieving meaningful school funding reform.”
There’s only two weeks left of the Illinois legislative session and there’s still no budget.
A center helping disabled resident says if a budget isn’t passed soon it will have to close its doors. […]
“We can`t foot the bill for the state of Illinois,” said [Northwestern Illinois Center for Independent Living] Executive Director Michele Miller.
The center helps people with disabilities live on their own, like Kay Bryant. […]
With no state budget for the last two years, NICIL has had to come up with ways to save money, from laying off staff to even temporarily closing.
“We`re burnt out all of us are covering three and four jobs just to be able to satisfy the customers,” said Miller.
If a budget isn’t passed soon, the center which serves five counties will need to lay off its remaining staff by July 1st. That would leave it’s 300 clients on their own.
Friday, May 19, 2017 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
HB2774/SB1502 & HB3449 all claim to protect online privacy, but instead they will create expensive and unnecessary new regulations, increase costs to businesses of all sizes and open up consumers to higher risk of identity theft and fraud.
This is why businesses and organizations across our state and the country are strongly opposed to this legislation, including:
• BLUE1647
• Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce
• CompTIA
• Illinois Black Chamber of Commerce
• Illinois Chamber of Commerce
• Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
• Illinois Restaurant Association
• Internet Association
• Illinois Technology Association
• National Federation of Independent Businesses
• NetChoice
• Southwestern Illinois Employers Association
• TechNet
These bills are wrong for Illinois consumers and businesses – VOTE NO ON HB 2774/SB 1502 & HB 3449
* Posted in order they were received. From the JB Pritzker campaign…
As the fiscal mess of Bruce Rauner’s own making continues to wreck the state’s economy, the Illinois business community and bondholders are turning their backs on him.
Yesterday, a group of the region’s largest employers came out in support of a budget that Rauner opposes. They cited “catastrophe” and “crisis” in their support of a plan that directly contradicts Rauner’s key priorities.
Bondholders are also responding to Rauner’s failed leadership and demanding higher yield for state debt, another Rauner expense that will fall on the backs of Illinois families. This comes after Moody’s warned months ago that our state is at a “do-or-die moment” due to Rauner’s historic budget impasse.
“It’s no surprise that the business community is turning their back on Bruce Rauner as he drives our state’s economy into the ground,” said Pritzker campaign spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh. “We’re reaching 700 days without a budget and the Illinois business community and hardworking families across the state have had enough. Illinois deserves a governor who will pass a budget and get our state back on track. The business community knows that Bruce Rauner is not that governor.”
* ILGOP…
In a stunning display of partisanship, Democratic Rep. Robert Martwick – a supporter of billionaire J.B. Pritzker – announced yesterday that he would kill his own bill, HB 2517, that would crack down on the kind of vacancy fraud the billionaire is engaging in to wrongly slash his property tax burden.
After House Minority Leader Jim Durkin signed on to the Vacancy Fraud Act, Capitol Fax reports that Martwick issued a statement saying he would not call the bill, calling the bipartisan backing he received “political gamesmanship”.
Only a Madigan-Pritzker politician would attack bipartisanship.
But it’s clear why Martwick was for cracking down on property tax fraud before he was against it – he’s in Pritzker’s corner and doesn’t want to make Mike Madigan’s new financial muscle mad.
After all, Martwick is hosting a meet and greet with Pritzker days from now.
Click here for a link to Martwick’s June 6th meet and greet announcement.
Who do you think had the better release?
*** UPDATE 1 *** The ILGOP responds to the Pritzker release…
After lying about his “uninhabitable” mansion property tax scam, J.B. Pritzker’s flailing campaign for Governor is trying to change the subject… by doubling down on his support for massive tax increases.
While Pritzker himself refuses to pay his fair share of taxes, he’s pushing for higher taxes on everyday Illinoisans.
First, Pritzker this week came out against a property tax freeze. On Tuesday, the Wednesday Journal of Oak Park reported that at a public forum, “Pritzker said that he opposed a property tax freeze”.
Then, Pritzker’s campaign issued a press release this morning praising a plan that includes taxing retirement income while excluding a property tax freeze.
That’s right, Pritzker’s campaign is praising a proposal that includes a plan to “Tax all federally taxable retirement income” (p. 14).
All of this comes after Pritzker began his campaign by announcing his support for a massive income tax hike behind closed doors to members of the Madigan machine.
Pritzker has now revealed he is for a retirement tax and against a property tax freeze.
*** UPDATE 2 *** From Galia Slayen, communications director for JB Pritzker…
We’re praising business leaders for wising up to Bruce Rauner’s failed leadership. Like Illinois families across this state, they’re not willing to see our most vulnerable communities held hostage to Rauner’s destructive agenda. It’s laughable that the ILGOP is desperately twisting the words of a press release while their governor stumbles towards 700 days without a budget.
*** UPDATE 3 *** We may be at this all day. From the ILGOP…
Given the chance to directly reject a tax on retirement income, the Pritzker campaign tried to change the subject instead.
Pritzker keeps defending a plan to tax retirement income while refusing to freeze property taxes for the middle class.
J.B. Pritzker is an out-of-touch billionaire unwilling to pay his fair share of property taxes, but will hike taxes on everyone else. Illinoisans are seeing right through his scam.
*** UPDATE 4 *** E-mail…
Rich,
My name is Dave Feller. I’m the President of the West Portage Park Neighbor’s Association (WPPNA) a local community group on the Northwest Side. I wanted to correct something that was posted on your blog today. On June 6th 2017, the WPPNA is hosting the FIRST of a series of Meet & Greets with all the candidates for Governor. Rep. Rob Martwick along with other area electeds are co-hosting the event in order to assist with outreach. This is NOT an endorsement session or a political event. As far as I know all the electeds listed on the flyer have not yet made an endorsement in the race.
Rich, our contact info is on the flyer. If the IL GOP would have bothered to reach out to us I would have answered any questions they had. But I guess it’s easier to try to score some cheap political points then it is to get at the truth.
Small wonder Rauner has drawn so much opposition with these type of people running his operation.
Kankakee County schools would be net losers of state funding under a bill that passed the Illinois State Senate Wednesday.
Collectively, the county’s 12 school districts would get $1.15 million per year less from the state’s school funding formula, a two percent decrease from their 2015 funding levels, according to an Illinois State Board of Education analysis obtained by the Kankakee Times.
Both Kankakee County State Senators– Sen. Toi Hutchinson (D-Olympia Fields) and Sen. Donne Trotter (D-Chicago)– voted “yes” on Senate Bill 1, which passed 35-18 with three Senators voting present.
Herscher District 2 (44% decrease), Grant Park District 6 (37% decrease), Manteno District 5 (19% decrease), Bourbonnais District 53 (19% decrease), St George District 258 (17% decrease) and Bradley-Bourbonnais District 307 (16% decrease) would all be losers if Senate Bill 1 is enacted into law.
Kankakee District 111 (+9 percent), St. Anne District 302 (+8 percent), Pembroke District 259 (+7 percent) and Momence District 1 (+4 percent) all stand to receive more state funding from the bill.
Senate Bill 1, sponsored by State Sen. Andy Manar (D-Bunker Hill), includes a $385 million bailout of Chicago Public Schools, which face bankruptcy due to years of deficit spending.
* As I told subscribers earlier today, the ISBE analysis and the resulting newspaper article were based on Amendment 4, which the chamber did not vote on this week. Sponsoring Sen. Andy Manar says the same analysis was distributed at a budget meeting yesterday. [The two analyses were different.] More from Politico…
Proft, the recipient of millions of dollars from Rauner as a political operative, oversees a chain of 20 publications. That had Manar fearing that bad district-specific information would spread across the state.
“No one in Kankakee County will lose a penny,” he said. “Everyone in Kankakee will get more,” under the bill as passed, he said. […]
“This looks a lot like the Rauner administration is leaking fake documents to a politically connected publication to manufacture problems that don’t exist so Republican members can cleanse their ‘no’ votes — and avoid being thrown under the bus by their governor,” Manar charged. […]
“This claim is false, and Manar is just trying to paper over the fact that he just ran a Chicago bailout yesterday,” said Rauner spokeswoman Catherine Kelly. “Rather than making false, wild accusations, they should stop the partisan politics and return to the negotiating table to achieve a bipartisan school funding formula that meets the needs of all students in the state.”
Both amendments contain “hold harmless” language, so Manar is right that the reductions won’t happen.
Proft told me this morning that the piece would be corrected.
*** UPDATE 1 *** More on the government fake news angle…
A Dan Proft "news" story in Kankakee Times spelling out "winners/losers" in @AndyManar school funding bill appears to be pure fiction.
The worst part: SB 1 docs were doctored by Rauner administration, sourced to ISBE, & sent to "news"/donor outlet. Good faith negotiations? https://t.co/HJIqdXLQSk
Senator Andy Manar (D-Bunker Hill) and other Senate Democrats will react this morning to news regarding the release of fraudulent education funding numbers to a Rauner-backed political operation.
When: 11 a.m. Friday, May 19, 2017
Where: State Capitol press briefing room (blue room)
*** UPDATE 4 *** Sen. Manar just said he and his colleagues are sending a letter today to the Executive Inspector General calling for an investigation.
*** UPDATE 5 *** From the SDems…
Manar: It's a violation of the law to manipulate data, send to supporter website. Our plan does not cut any district's funding.
* For whatever reason, Crain’s Chicago Business published my column online early this week. So, we get to talk about it today instead of on Monday..
Back in 2011, private citizen Bruce Rauner was involved with legislation in Springfield to change how public school teachers were evaluated and to curtail the power of the state’s teachers unions. Rauner didn’t care for the outcome, but after months of tedious and often contentious negotiations, the bill passed with just one “no” vote in both chambers.
Rauner wanted to use the legislation, in part, to prevent the Chicago Teachers Union from striking the following year. One important thing to know about Rauner is that he hates the CTU above all else. But a small portion of a subsequent “cleanup” bill allowed the CTU to decide who could vote on a strike.
“This has to be killed,” Rauner wrote in a May 24, 2011, email to the Illinois House Republican leader’s political director. “Every repub has to vote against.”
Three days later, the Senate approved the bill 51-5 and then the House passed it 116-0. The House Republican leader, the target of Rauner’s insistent email, was a chief co-sponsor.
That may give you an inkling of what the General Assembly has been dealing with since Rauner was sworn in as Illinois’ 42nd governor two and a half years ago.
Rauner came into office with the same bluster he displayed in that email. It was his way or the highway. The only difference now is that when he wants something killed, it gets killed. Republicans almost never cross him. One tried, and Rauner spent millions to defeat him in a primary.
After another failed negotiation session to end the long governmental impasse with Rauner and House Speaker Michael Madigan last December, Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno approached Senate President John Cullerton about devising their own plan, which was eventually called the “grand bargain.”
The e-mail mentioned above is here. Lots of naughty words at that link, so be careful if you’re at work.
* As subscribers know, it’s not all good news in the Senate, but talks continue despite threats by both sides to walk away. Finke…
Illinois Senate negotiators continued to work Thursday on a comprehensive spending and revenue plan, a day after the Senate failed to move along legislation aimed at ending the state’s nearly two-year budget stalemate.
Despite continued pronouncements that Republicans and Democrats in the Senate are close to an agreement on an overall plan, there were no votes on any of the remaining components of the “grand bargain.” That included workers’ compensation changes that Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, said were close enough to agreement that they could get a vote Thursday.
“There is not yet an agreement (on workers’ comp),” said Cullerton spokesman John Patterson. “A workers’ comp reform proposal is going to require support from both sides of the aisle.”
Patterson also said budget teams were continuing to meet to come to agreement on a tax-and-spending plan that can be sent to the House. Both the Senate and House are controlled by the Democrats.
The Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) announced [yesterday] that the unemployment rate declined -0.2 percentage points to 4.7 percent in April and nonfarm payrolls decreased by -7,200 jobs over-the-month, based on preliminary data provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and released by IDES. March job growth was revised up to show a decrease of -7,700 jobs rather than the preliminary estimate of -8,900 jobs. April’s monthly payroll drop kept over-the-year job growth well below the national average. Due to payroll declines for both March and April, Illinois remains -25,600 jobs short of reaching its prior peak employment reached in September 2000.
“Illinois did not participate in the nation’s job growth in April,” said IDES Director Jeff Mays. “Furthermore, the decline in the unemployment rate was largely due to a drop in the labor force, not more people working.”
“We continue to see sluggish growth in our economy due to the inability of the legislature to institute common-sense structural changes that would encourage investment in our state,” said Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity Director Sean McCarthy. “If we create a business-friendly environment, we will see greater opportunities and more good paying jobs in every community.”
In April, the three industry sectors with the largest gains in employment were: Education and Health Services (+2,600); Manufacturing (+1,900); and Information Services (+1,300). The largest payroll declines were in the following sectors: Trade, Transportation and Utilities (-7,100); Construction (-4,500); and Leisure and Hospitality (-2,400).
Over-the-year, nonfarm payroll employment increased by +22,100 jobs with the largest gains in these industry sectors in April: Education and Health Services (+16,200); Professional and Business Services (+11,600); Financial Activities (+8,700). Industry sectors with the largest over-the-year declines include: Construction (-6,600); Trade, Transportation and Utilities (-6,500); and Manufacturing (-3,600). The +0.4 percent over-the-year gain in Illinois is about one-fourth as strong as the +1.6 percent gain posted by the nation in April.
The state’s unemployment rate is +0.3 percentage points higher than the national unemployment rate reported for April 2017, which decreased to 4.4 percent. The Illinois unemployment rate is down -1.3 percentage points from a year ago when it was 6.0 percent. At 4.7 percent, the Illinois jobless rate stands at its lowest level since March 2007, after having decreased for three consecutive months.
The number of unemployed workers decreased -4.7 percent from the prior month to 307,000, down -21.9 percent over the same month for the prior year. This brings the number of unemployed workers to its lowest level since February 2007.The labor force decreased -0.3 percent over-the-month and declined by -0.7 percent in April over the prior year. The unemployment rate identifies those individuals who are out of work and are seeking employment. An individual who exhausts or is ineligible for benefits is still reflected in the unemployment rate if they actively seek work.
…Adding… Press release…
Illinois continues to lose nearly ten manufacturing employees every day according to the latest dismal jobs report from the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES). This report comes on the heels of Butterball’s announcement of their plant closing in Montgomery, Illinois. Greg Baise, CEO and president of the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association, has released the following statement underscoring the importance of enacting a balanced budget with strong economic reforms, especially focused on workers’ compensation policy:
“This jobs report coupled with another business closing its doors in Illinois reinforces the need for action. Since 2009, Illinois has lost more than 1,600 manufacturing jobs while our neighbors have added tens of thousands of new jobs. With 11 days left of session, we hope this announcement injects a heightened sense of urgency to enact a balanced budget imposing fiscal restraint and strong economic reforms, centered on real workers’ compensation changes. Another 600 families are out of work on top of the 10 manufacturing jobs we are losing on a daily basis according to today’s IDES report.”
