Quick Hits: Illinois News In Brief For Sept. 23

From The Center Square:

Early voting in Illinois starts Thursday

Early voting begins Thursday. That’s also the day local election authorities will begin sending out mail-in ballots to those who made such a request.

The deadline to request a mail in ballot is Oct. 29. Many authorities have in-person voting at the elections offices up to election day.

Some may also have weekend hours for early voting in-person.

Some ballot applications, reminders sent to out-state-addresses

Some former Illinoisans may have received a reminder to their new out-of-state address to request a mail in ballot from Illinois.

Elections officials say if someone had previously requested a vote-by-mail ballot at an out-of-state address or if the local election authority for some other reason had an out-of-state address on file, the authority was required by law to send the reminder.

The state elections board couldn’t immediately say how many of the 5.4 million mailings went to out-of-state addresses.

CannaBiz says license limits are needed for diversity

While the Reason Foundation suggests Illinois lift caps on cannabis businesses to foster greater equity and fairness in licensing, the state’s cannabis businesses association, CannaBiz, says state lawmakers purposefully put limits on licenses.

Pam Althoff said the limits are meant to ensure the state’s cannabis industry reflects the diversity of the state.

Special Investigating Committee sets next hearing date

The next hearing of the House Special Investigating Committee into Speaker Michael Madigan’s involvement in the ComEd bribery scandal is next week.

The bipartisan committee hasn’t met since earlier this month when the group of six unanimously agreed to send the U.S. Attorney investigating the criminal matter the panel was also going to investigate.

The hearing will be streamed. Witness slips can be filled out at ILGA.gov.

IRS sends letters to 310,000 Illinois to encourage them to get stimulus payment

The IRS is sending out nearly 310,000 letters to people in Illinois encouraging them to see if they’re eligible for a stimulus payment.

The letters are going to people who aren’t typically required to file federal income tax returns but may qualify for the payments.

Those who think they’re eligible can register at IRS.gov before Oct. 15.

Horse seized by police was bleeding, had sores

The horse Chicago resident Adam Hollingsworth is accused of riding on a Chicago freeway Monday is being cared for and further evaluated at an animal rescue facility.

Illinois State Police say troopers observed several injuries on the horse such as bleeding from the hoof and sores from the saddle.

The focus of the work of The Center Square Illinois is state- and local-level government and economic reporting that approaches stories with a taxpayer sensibility. For more stories from The Center Square, visit TheCenterSquare.com.