In this issue:
- Next year’s General Assembly will have Democrat supermajorities again
- Unemployment rate holding steady at 5.3%
- State Board of Education releases 2024 Illinois Report Card
- Thank you to our Veterans!
Next year’s General Assembly will have Democrat supermajorities again
When the 104th Illinois General Assembly convenes next January it will once again have Democrat supermajorities in the House and Senate.
Not all of the final numbers were in as of the time of this writing, but Democrats had secured enough seats in Tuesday’s election to hold at least three-fifths of the membership of the House and the Senate, giving them a veto-proof supermajority once again. Governor Pritzker and our five other statewide elected officials were not on the ballot this year, neither were our two U.S. Senators. All 17 of Illinois’ members of Congress were re-elected for two more years in Washington.
I am grateful for the opportunity to serve as your state representative. As we enter this new term in the General Assembly, I will do my best to be an effective voice for you in Springfield. Thank you for this opportunity.
Unemployment rate holding steady at 5.3%
Illinois’ unemployment rate was unchanged according to the most recent report from the Illinois Department of Employment Security, holding at 5.3%. This rate is higher than the national rate and higher than where Illinois stood at this time last year.
Some sectors of the economy showed job gains, while others declined. Among those growing were Government and Leisure and Hospitality. Sectors losing jobs included Construction as well as Professional and Business Services.
The national unemployment rate is 4.1%. The national rate has been consistently ahead of Illinois for a long time. One year ago, Illinois’ unemployment rate was 4.7%, a little over half a percentage point better than it is now. The state’s unemployment rate was unchanged from where it stood a month earlier.
State Board of Education releases 2024 Illinois report card
The annual report card from the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) is out, showing how well each school district in the state is doing in a variety of categories.
Elementary and middle schools are evaluated on English, science and math proficiency, as well as absenteeism rates. High school data points also include English, science and math proficiency in addition to the school’s graduation rate. ISBE releases the report card every year as a way for educators, parents, students and taxpayers to see how well their school districts are doing on these key data points.
Data for the report card is collected through electronic tests and exams, and it reflects each districts’ performance during the 2023-2024 academic year. Overall, Illinois schools received good marks in English proficiency, and graduation rates were near all-time highs. Math proficiency rates lagged improvements in other areas. Chronic absenteeism was also down this year.
Click here to see this year’s report card and to find out how your local school district did.
Thank you to our Veterans!
This Veterans Day, we pause to honor and thank all of the men and women who have served our country. Your unwavering bravery, resilience, and courage are unmatched and have ensured our freedom for generations.
Thank you to all who have served!
Our current bill backlog
When a vendor provides the state with goods and services, they submit the bill to the Illinois Comptroller for payment. The Comptroller processes the paperwork and pays the bill when funds are available in the state’s checking account. Currently the total amount of unpaid bills is $2,083,166,675. This figure changes daily. Last year at this time the state had $2.2 billion in bills awaiting payment. This only includes bills submitted to the Comptroller for payment, not unfunded debts like the state’s pension liability, which is well over $100 billion.
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