* I wonder if it’s sunny in the Swiss Alps…

* Here’s your daily morning roundup…

* Illinois Times | General Assembly passes bill requiring employers to offer paid leave: Sherry Morris, a part-time employee of Help at Home, would gain paid time off, beginning in January 2024, if a bill recently passed by the Illinois General Assembly is signed into law. The Riverton resident also cares for her 30-year-old son, Kyle, who has mental disabilities and lives with her. Sherry Morris says a bill that will soon head to the governor’s desk for his signature would boost her quality of life “tremendously” as she works in low-income clients’ homes to help them maintain independence. “It’s mind-blowing,” Morris, 66, of Riverton said in response to the General Assembly’s recent passage of a bill that would, for the first time, require all Illinois employers to offer up to five days of paid leave for any reason each year.

* Advance Illinois | Statement on the Illinois State Board of Education FY24 Budget Recommendation: Today the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) approved and sent to Governor Pritzker recommendations for the FY24 Budget. While Advance Illinois commends ISBE for taking steps to ensure Illinois students, from early childhood through high school, have the care and education they need to thrive and succeed, today’s proposed budget didn’t go far enough.

* SJ-R | Tucked inside state spending bill, Illinois commits to new statute honoring King: The bill’s passing happened about four months after 24-year-old Fernando Garcia Martinez was arrested for toppling the current MLK statue. The statue, located at the intersection of Capitol Avenue and Second Street, has since been removed from the base and taken to a state warehouse in Springfield. It is unclear when or if it will be returned to the intersection also called “Freedom Corner.”

* Tribune | New records show Gov. J.B. Pritzker has spent $350 million to win his two terms in office: In his two winning campaigns to become Illinois’ chief executive, billionaire Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker, the nation’s wealthiest politician, has spent $350 million, including more than $167 million to defeat Republican Darren Bailey by nearly 13 percentage points in November, according to newly released state and federal campaign records.

* Pantagraph | $180 million more sought for Illinois higher education: The budget request goes to the General Assembly and governor for their consideration in passing the state budget later this year. It includes a 7.5% increase in the total direct funding for the state’s public universities and community colleges. Last year’s budget included a 5% increase.

* Daily Herald | Gay pride parade organizers sue Aurora, saying its permit rules violate 1st Amendment: The city “wreaked havoc” on the parade when it allowed a “heckler’s veto” to cancel the parade, as police officers who had initially signed up for overtime duty withdrew due to the controversy, the suit states.

* Tribune | State OKs $20 million for influx of migrants to Chicago after warning that funding would end: Chicago is poised to receive $20 million from the state of Illinois under an appropriation bill passed by legislators for migrants, but that’s less than half of what Mayor Lori Lightfoot requested to address a recent influx of asylum-seekers.

* WTVO | Rockford’s Hard Rock Casino made $55M in 2022: Numbers from the Illinois Gaming Board show over 463,000 people visited the temporary Rockford Casino: A Hard Rock Opening Act in 2022, bringing in $54.7 million. Of that, $8 million went to the state and $3 million went to Rockford region, with the city taking a majority share in a split with Winnebago County, Loves Park, and Machesney Park.

* ABC Chicago | Illinois abortion provider not deterred by violent extremists targeting Planned Parenthood locations: The attack against the Peoria Health Center also does not come as a shock to Illinois State Rep. Kelly Cassidy, (D) Rogers Park. As a sponsor of the state’s new abortion law, Cassidy said there may be more lawmakers can do to secure clinics.

* Tribune | Former Portage Mayor James Snyder’s attorney argues that appeals court should grant him third trial: In October 2021, Snyder was sentenced to 21 months in prison and one year supervised release for soliciting bribes and obstruction, but the judge ruled that Snyder did not have to report to prison while his appeal was ongoing. Snyder was first indicted in 2016, on the same day former Lake County Sheriff John Buncich was indicted for receiving bribes as part of a towing scheme. While Buncich was sent to federal prison in 2018, Snyder has been convicted twice, shaken up his legal team and spent most of the past six years proclaiming his innocence.

* Effingham Radio | State Reps. Adam Niemerg and Blaine Wilhour: Weapons Ban Faces Multiple Constitutional Problems: Not only is Illinois’ new gun control law a clear violation of the 2nd Amendment, but there are other Constitutional problems with the law, according to State Representatives Adam Niemerg (R-Dietrich) and Blaine Wilhour (R-Beecher City) who attended a court hearing in Effingham on attorney Tom Devore’s legal challenge to the law.

* Fox Chicago | Chicago mayoral candidate Ja’Mal Green lays out tax relief proposal: The plan includes two-year interest-free loans for people at risk of losing their homes, a city “Loyalty Tax Credit” for homeowners who stay in their homes for more than three years and eliminating the property tax escalator put in place by Mayor Lori Lightfoot.

* Sun-Times | Biden to nominate Jeffrey Cummings, LaShonda Hunt for Chicago-based U.S. District Court spots: Both judges, who are Black, will further the goal of Biden and Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., to diversify the federal bench. Last year, attorney Nancy Maldonado became the first Hispanic woman to sit on the Northern District of Illinois. Since the Northern District was created some 200 years ago, it has been dominated by white male judges.

* Sun-Times | Cook County homeowners to get $47 million in property tax refunds: Overpaid property taxes will be refunded to more than 53,000 county homeowners starting this week and continuing for the next three months, the Cook County Treasurer’s Office said Wednesday.

* Chicago Reader | Daring to win: Helen Shiller’s new autobiography details decades of political struggles in Uptown.: Helen Shiller insists that the story of Uptown is not unique. After more than 50 years living in the neighborhood, it’s hard to disagree with her. In many ways, the most pressing concerns that Shiller first identified when she moved to the neighborhood in 1972 still haunt the wider city, and America as a whole: conflicts with police, a lack of adequate housing, and a deep-seated disconnect between the desires of working-class people and the politicians who represent them. In many cases, they’ve worsened.

* WLS-AM | 23-year-old 73rd District State Rep Brad Fritts is ready to serve: One of the youngest state representatives to ever serve in the 74th District, Brad Fritts, joins the Steve Cochran Show to talk about why he decided to run for State Rep at 22, being eager to learn from his colleagues & serve his district. He also offers advice to young people who wish to enter politics.

* NBC Chicago | Unlawfully Towed? Refunds Are Hard to Come By, Even at State Regulators’ Request: For Chicagoans who know the rules and laws of parking in the city, the hope is that if mistakes are made or their cars are taken unlawfully by private tow companies, Illinois state regulators will have their back. Drivers still have to pay a $218 fee to get their vehicle back from the tow yard, but if the tow is ruled as illegal, regulators with the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) can force the tow company behind the tow to refund the driver the money they paid.