Food stamp surge in Illinois - Chicago Sun-Times

No numbers for Winnebago-Boone but it could be very high.

In Cook County, 467,754 households received SNAP benefits in December, a 13.6 percent increase over the year. In DuPage County, the number of households enrolled in the SNAP program jumped 23.8 percent to 25,520 in December from a year earlier. The number rose 15.4 percent in Kane County to 25,975, while the biggest percentage increase was in McHenry County, which spiked 30.3 percent to 7,265 families

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Thousands hired in Illinois ahead of new pension system - Springfield, IL - The State Journal-Register

 

A GateHouse News Service analysis of pension data has identified nearly 19,000 public workers at all levels of Illinois government hired in that span, from bus drivers to university presidents.

The employees’ 2010 hire date gives them a toehold in the richer — and more expensive, to the taxpayer — pension plan.

Illinois Constitution prohibits “diminished or impaired” pension benefits for current members, but a growing group of government watchdogs has called for cuts to pensions for state employees who are already on the payrolls. Martin believes any reform is meaningless unless it changes benefits for the half-million public employees now working across the state.

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Bed tax for nursing homes may rise in state | Daily Chronicle

That is $2,400 a year which a paying patient has to pay.

All licensed nursing homes already pay $1.50 per bed per day, Claffey said. The new tax would add $6.07 on top of that, but only to occupied beds, he said. Patients who are on Medicare also would not be charged, he said.

State Sen. Brad Burzynski, R-Rochelle, and state Rep. Robert Pritchard, R-Hinckley, both voted against the tax.

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