With at least 165 wineries and over 100 miles of wine trails, the wine industry in Illinois is thriving and the growth has been exponential in the last 30 years. Illinois is now the 12th-largest wine producing state in the country, which is remarkable considering there were only 12 wineries in the entire state in 1997. Award winning wines in Illinois are made from Native American, French Hybrid and Vinifera grapes, as well as a local fruit. Rose wine is the official wine of Illinois. 

UNEMPLOYMENT FRAUD 

Audit finds Illinois paid out $5.2 billion in fraudulent or excessive unemployment “overpayments” during COVID-19. An audit report released this week by the Illinois Auditor General revealed that the State of Illinois paid out more than $5.2 billion in fraudulent or excessive unemployment claims during the COVID-19 pandemic, including $46 million in payments to incarcerated or deceased persons.

This summer the Illinois House Republican Caucus welcomed more than 40 high school and college students from around the state to participate in Leader Tony McCombie’s paid internship program. 

Interns were assigned to legislative district offices and other divisions within the Office of the House Minority Leader where they gained valuable insight into the day-to day operations of legislative offices as well as the responsibilities of legislators and their support staff.

House Republicans Ryan Spain (R-Peoria) and Jennifer Sanalitro (R-Hanover Park) have led the charge to address diaper shortages for families in need in their respective communities by hosting Diaper Drives. Spain has hosted a Holiday Diaper Drive for six consecutive years in the Peoria area, while Sanalitro just hosted her first Diaper Drive from April 14-May 12, with six drop-off locations in the Carol Stream, Bloomingdale and Itasca areas.

Home delivery of alcohol in Illinois is here to stay, as the cocktails-to-go law has been extended for five years through August 1, 2028. Illinois restaurants and bars first began selling cocktails to-go in June 2020, three months after Gov. Pritzker used his emergency powers to order all food and drink establishments to close. The mixed drinks to-go policy was necessary to keep struggling businesses afloat, advocates said.

Shark Week is being celebrated July 23 -30, and it involves a week of shark-based programming on the Discovery Channel. A study conducted and published in the Marine and Fishery Sciences confirms two known sightings of sharks in Illinois, the first in 1937 and the second in 1995. Researchers and experts have also confirmed that stories of bull shark sightings in the Great Lakes as hearsay or hoaxes.

CRIMINAL LAW 

Illinois Supreme Court Upholds Elimination of Cash Bail. The Illinois Supreme Court has announced its opinion on the Pretrial Fairness portion of the SAFE-T Act, and by a 5-2 decision, they have ruled it as constitutional. This strikes down a lower court ruling in December 2022 which found that the portions of the SAFE-T Act that abolished cash bail were unconstitutional. Thus, the elimination of cash bail is now set to go into effect on September 18, 2023 in Illinois. Illinois becomes the first state in the U.S. to totally eliminate cash bail, and it comes at a time when crime in the state remains at the top of the nation.