Daywatch: Legislators consider action after State Farm rate hike
Gov. JB Pritzker wasted no time in calling on state legislators to do something about rising insurance rates after State Farm announced it was hiking homeowners insurance by 27.2% beginning this month, citing rising costs due to extreme weather events and pricier repairs.
'Enact a legislative solution during the veto session that prevents insurance companies from taking advantage of consumers through severe and unnecessary rate hikes, such as those proposed by State Farm,' Pritzker said in a social media post.
The governor's angry words were met with a quick rebuttal from the Bloomington, Illinois-based insurer and state business interests, but other officials were just as quick to join in the politically popular call to hold down costs.
'I do agree with the governor that what State Farm did is wrong and they need to fix it,' House Speaker Emanuel 'Chris' Welch, a Democrat from Hillside, told the Tribune. 'If they don't, as a leader in this state, as a leader of one of our chambers, we're going to take a look at it because we have to protect our consumers.'
Right now in Illinois, there's no effective mechanism to prevent companies like State Farm from imposing rates for home and auto insurance that are deemed to be excessive, according to those familiar with Illinois insurance law.
Lawmakers are considering ways to address increased homeowners insurance costs including legislation championed by the Pritzker administration that would require a rate review process, compelling insurance companies to open their books so that state officials can assess whether the rate increases are too burdensome.
Read the full story from the Tribune's Jeremy Gorner and Lizzie Kane.
Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day, including: how a plan to upzone Broadway is dividing Edgewater, why the Bulls signed the shortest player in the NBA to a two-way contract and the history (and mystery) of ice cream sundaes.
Today's eNewspaper edition | Subscribe to more newsletters | Asking Eric | Horoscopes | Puzzles & Games | Today in History
Thirteen-year-old Xally Morales stared blankly at a letter she received from the Department of Homeland Security last month. She could not read the dozens of lines in English addressed to her.
'They say I have to leave the country immediately,' the young teen whispered in Spanish, barely meeting anyone's eyes at a Chicago law firm on a recent Friday afternoon.
Swastikas were spray-painted on several buildings in Little Village over the weekend, and one building was tagged a second time with a pro-immigration enforcement statement, community members said.
In the empty sky above a grocery store parking lot, Ald. Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth can see the future.
There are more trees, more people walking. Gone is the gray asphalt that sits before her on Edgewater's 6000 block of North Broadway. She imagines a tall building rising in its place, bustling with commercial space at the bottom.
As the deadline approaches for Congress to renew the U.S. Farm Bill, agricultural experts and farmers are calling on legislators to prioritize protecting topsoil in the Midwest and throughout the country, especially as the federal government is withdrawing from conservation initiatives.
Natasha McClendon had $20 in her bank account and a bag of chicken in her fridge. It wasn't going to be enough to feed her three daughters, her husband and herself, which meant it was time to take her monthly visit to the St. Sabina parish food pantry.
In the last several months, the McClendons have watched their government food assistance shrink. In December, Natasha McClendon took to shopping once a month at her church's food pantry to keep her family fed, supplementing what she could afford from Food4Less and Jewel-Osco. But there are still days she worries her kids are hungry.
With a mix of curiosity and a little apprehension, the man stepped inside Our Lady of Mount Carmel in East Lakeview to celebrate Mass on a recent Sunday.
It was the first time David Charles of Des Plaines had entered a church in roughly 20 years.
The Bulls might have entered the NBA Summer League focused on rookie Noa Essengue and second-year forward Matas Buzelis, but Yuki Kawamura quickly stole the show. He averaged 10.2 points, 6.2 assists and 2.2 steals over five games of action in Las Vegas.
Coach Ben Johnson and general manager Ryan Poles have spent the last six months rebuilding the Chicago Bears offense to Johnson's specifications. They overhauled the line and brought in several new weapons for second-year quarterback Caleb Williams.
Now it's time to see what this looks like on the field.
The origin story behind the ice cream sundae comes swirled with mystery, history, as well as chocolate and even a cherry on top.
This summer in Chicago, three of the city's most prominent art spaces are presenting major exhibitions with LGBTQ themes.
The MCA's 'City in a Garden: Queer Art and Activism in Chicago,' is a messy, exuberant gathering of painting, sculpture, photography, film and ephemera stretching from the 1980s to the present day, writes Lori Waxman.
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The Hill
37 minutes ago
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Johnson calls Massie, Khanna Epstein files effort ‘reckless'
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Sunday called an effort from Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) on files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein 'reckless' as controversy over the disgraced financier roils Washington. 'House Republicans insist upon the release of all credible evidence and information related to Epstein in any way,' Johnson told NBC News's Kristen Welker on 'Meet the Press.' 'But we are also insisting upon the protection of innocent victims. And our concern is that the Massie and Khanna discharge petition is reckless in the way that it is drafted and presented. It does not adequately include those protections,' he added. Earlier this month, Massie said he would try to use a long-shot procedural gambit to force a vote on requiring the Justice Department to release files related to Epstein. 'We all deserve to know what's in the Epstein files, who's implicated, and how deep this corruption goes. Americans were promised justice and transparency,' Massie said in a post on the social platform X in mid-July. 'We're introducing a discharge petition to force a vote in the US House of Representatives on releasing the COMPLETE files,' he added. A discharge petition needs 218 signatures to go past House leadership and force a vote on a measure. Massie and Khanna's bill has 11 Republican co-sponsors, including Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) and Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), all known as staunch members of the GOP's hard-right flank. Khanna and Massie also made a Sunday appearance on 'Meet the Press' in a joint interview, with Massie saying the Epstein controversy 'is going to hurt Republicans in the midterms, the voters will be apathetic if we don't hold the rich and powerful accountable.' 'I think when we get back, we can get the signatures required to force this to the floor. Speaker Mike Johnson should do the right thing and just bring it to the floor and not require us to force it,' Massie said of his and Khanna's effort.
