Afternoon news update: April 16, 2015

The fallout continues from the patch job on this year’s budget. You’ll remember the fund sweeps and budget cuts approved before the lawmakers’ spring break. Robert Wolfe has been living it; he’s the chief financial officer for the state school board. “We calculated the impact of the public act and the reductions for every entity in the state,” Wolfe told board members. “We applied additional prorations to general state aid. We went from 89 percent proration to 87, which is a result of the reduction to general state aid appropriations.” The deal does set aside $97 million to dole out to the worst-funded districts between now and the end of the fiscal year, June 30.
A DeKalb man is jailed on various charges after hitting a southbound semi on I-39 around ten o’clock Wednesday night. 23-year old Brandon Jansen was driving the wrong way in the southbound lanes when he hit the truck. Jansen, the truck driver, and a passenger in the truck were treated for non-life threatening injuries. Jansen is charged with driving under the influence and other moving violations.
The Illinois Liquor Control Commission, along with the Illinois Secretary of State Police conducted underage compliance checks recently. Of the 16 checks performed only three failed. Sam’s Pizza in Rockton, Sambrosa Tex-Mex Restaurant in Roscoe, and Sarandy’s Food and Liquor, also in Roscoe, were cited for serving alcohol to minors.
The Illinois Department of Employment Security says the state's unemployment rate held steady in March at 6 percent. The state unemployment rate had fallen in 11 of the previous 12 months. Last year Illinois had a 7.9 percent jobless rate. The biggest job gains in March were in the trade, transportation and utilities sector. The national unemployment rate for March was 5.5 percent.
Gov. Bruce Rauner paints Illinois businesses as victims while plugging his so-called “turnaround agenda.” Speaking to the Illinois Chamber of Commerce in Springfield, Rauner asked for the help of business owners in getting legislators to support his ideas for pension reform, local “right-to-work” zones, and other proposals. He says he needs their assistance, even if they’re not used to being involved in politics. “It’s scary, it’s hard. A lot of business owners, I say it’s like you’re suffering from the Stockholm syndrome,” Rauner said. “You know, you’ve been held hostage for a long time, and you’re like ‘oh please, just don’t hurt me.’” To start, Rauner encouraged business owners to persuade their local governments to publicly back some of his proposals. Several cities around the state have already passed resolutions endorsing Rauner’s policies.

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