Jun 17, 2019
Executive Director Bob Gilligan discusses the complete funding of the Tax Credit Scholarship program in the FY 2020 budget with Juan Rangel of Empower Illinois; human trafficking with Pat Winn, who heads up Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Rockford; and the final version of the "Reproductive Health Act" with Ralph Rivera of Illinois Right to Life.
Jun 4, 2019
In the final days of the 2019 legislative session, Illinois lawmakers approved legislation making abortion a fundamental right, legalizing marijuana for recreational use, switching the state's income tax from a flat rate to a graduated rate and to be put before voters in November 2020, expanding gambling with up to six new casinos that include a site in Chicago, legalizing sports betting, doubling the gas tax, hiking annual license plate fees by 50 percent, and increasing cigarette taxes by a dollar a pack. Earlier in the year, legislators OK'd a measure to increase the state's minimum wage to $15 by 2025.
