(SPRINGFIELD) The Illinois unemployment rate for June is at 4.5%, down from 5.7% a year ago, plus the St. Louis metro area’s rate hit an all-time record low, at 3.5% for last month. In fact, the Illinois Department of Employment Security reports all 12 metro areas throughout the Illinois saw joblessness numbers decline for June 2025 compared to June in 2024.
(SPRINGFIELD) Many statewide lawmakers are continuing to push for fast tracking nuclear energy projects in Illinois. A new bill soon to be filed would require all applicable state agencies to take final action, on permits for small modular reactors, 150 days after being deemed complete. This is expected to help out immensely in returning nuclear power to Illinois. However, lawmakers do not return to Springfield until this fall, in October.
(CHICAGO) A bill has been filed in Washington, D.C. to rename a Bloomington clinic after a Civil War Medal of Honor recipient. The “Andrew Jackson Smith” Medal of Honor DVA Clinic would have the namesake of the last African American Civil War soldier to received the Medal of Honor. The descendants of Smith received the medal from former President Clinton in 2001, 137 years after the Battle of Honey Hill in Jasper County, South Carolina.
(SPRINGFIELD) State Representative Adam Niemerg and other downstate lawmakers are praising the Department of Energy (DOE) for its most latest decision to terminate the conditional commitment for the Grain Belt Express Phase 1 Project. The high-voltage direct current transmission line, intended to connect wind and solar energy capacity across Kansas and Missouri, was granted a taxpayer-funded loan guarantee of up to $4.9 billion by the previous lame duck administration in November 2024. But after a thorough review, the DOE has determined that the project does not meet the necessary conditions for federal support, reflecting a commitment to responsible stewardship of taxpayer resources.