State Week

More progress is being made in distributing the COVID-19 vaccine, accompanied by more criticism of how it's been handled so far. State lawmakers have been authorized to receive vaccinations as part of Phase 1B of the rollout, which puts them alongside more at-risk groups. Capitol News Illinois 's Jerry Nowicki joins the panel.

As Illinois marks one year since its first COVID-19 case, vaccine distribution remains on a slower pace than expected, while state and local officials try to determine just how much of an impact the pandemic has had on revenues. NPR Illinois reporter Mary Hansen joins the panel this week.

As the statewide COVID-19 positivity rate continues to drop, mitigation measures are being relaxed and plans are being made to increase the distribution of the vaccine. Mark Maxwell, Capitol Bureau Chief for WCIA TV, joins the panel.

This week, Illinois lawmakers wrapped up the work of the 101st General Assembly. And there is a new House Speaker - Chris Welch - after Michael Madigan lost the support of his caucus after nearly four decades in power. Rich Miller of Capitol Fax joins the panel.

Amidst the turmoil in Washington DC, the Illinois Legislature meets this week for a lame duck session, with questions about who will be House Speaker and which direction the Illinois Republican Party will go. Chris Mooney, Professor of State Politics in the Political Science Department at the University of Illinois at Chicago, joins the panel.

The panel marks the end of 2020 and looks ahead to 2021, joined by Amanda Vinicky of Chicago's WTTW.

This week, Washington D.C. worked on a new COVID-19 pandemic stimulus package, while the first batch of vaccines continue to be distributed to health care workers. Meanwhile, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is facing criticism for her handling of a new scandal involving the Chicago Police Department. Greg Hinz of Crain’s Chicago Business joins the panel.

This week, Governor J.B. Pritzker announced $700 million in cuts to the current fiscal year's state budget; a special investigating committee looking into House Speaker Michael Madigan's involvement in the ComEd bribery scandal wrapped up with no action; and Pritzker continues to weather criticism of his administration's handling of the deadly COVID-19 outbreak at the LaSalle Veterans' Home. Tony Arnold of WBEZ and Rick Pearson of the Chicago Tribune join the panel this week.

This week, Governor JB Pritzker ordered Illinois National Guard medical personnel to the state's four veterans' homes following a deadly outbreak in the LaSalle facility amid criticism from Republican lawmakers. Also, Michael Madigan continued to resist calls for him to step down as Speaker of the House. Capitol News Illinois ' Jerry Nowicki joins the panel.

This week, investigations began into the deadly COVID-19 outbreak at the La Salle Veterans' Home investigation, while Michael Madigan continued to lose support for his role as House Speaker in his own caucus amid the ComEd bribery scandal. Rachel Hinton of the Chicago Sun-Times joins the panel.

Hospital beds across the state continue to fill with COVID-19 patients, and an investigation has been announced to look into the deadly breakout in the LaSalle Veterans' Home. Michael Madigan says he has no intention of stepping down as House Speaker, although he may not have the votes needed to keep that position the next time the Legislature meets. WBEZ's Dave McKinney joins the panel this week.

This week, a Michael Madigan confidant and three others were indicted in an alleged bribery scheme that prosecutors say also involved the powerful House Speaker, known as Public Official A in federal documents. Madigan again denied he's done anything wrong and he's not been charged. But more House Democrats have publicly pulled their support for him, making it seem less likely he can win another term in the leadership post in January. There have also been calls for him to resign as the state's

This week, Governor J.B. Pritzker admonished Illinoisans who continue to flout COVID-19 mitigation measures and warned that he soon may have no choice but to order another stay-at-home directive. Meanwhile, the Pritzker administration is left with a huge budget problem to deal with, especially with the failure of the governor's proposed graduated income tax amendment. Dan Vock, reporter and author of the States of Crisis newsletter, joins the panel.

The election saw disappointing results for Democrats at the state level, especially the failure of Governor J.B. Pritzker's proposed change to a graduated income tax. And House Speaker Michael Madigan is under increasing pressure to step down as head of the state Democratic party. The State Journal-Register 's Bernie Schoenburg joins the panel.

This week saw a continued rapid rise in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations around the state, and ten out of the eleven regions in the Restore Illinois Plan will be under stronger mitigation measures by the end of the weekend. There has been a record volume of early voting and voting by mail in the state ahead of Tuesday's election, and many eyes are watching Democratic Illinois Supreme Court Justice Tom Kilbride’s bid to retain his seat. Ray Long of the Chicago Tribune joins the panel.