Capitol Cast: Illinois

As part of our ongoing project, Perspectives on Progress, Illinois state Rep. Curtis Tarver talks about what he is seeing as daily demonstrations in response to the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man killed by a white police officer in Minneapolis, continue, as well as what changes he thinks must occur. Music Credit: Inspired by Kevin MacLeod Link: incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3918-inspired License: creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

As part of our ongoing project, Perspectives on Progress, state Rep. Chris Welch talks about his reaction to the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man killed by a white police officer in Minneapolis, as well as his perspectives about the nationwide protests that event sparked and where he thinks the state of Illinois should go from here. Music Credit: Inspired by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3918-inspired License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Capitol News Illinois launched its new "Perspectives on Progress" podcast series Monday, June 8 in an effort to broadcast conversations about race in America and Illinois. To begin the series, the Statehouse news bureau reached out to the 31 members of the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus to hear their perspectives and share their experiences with racism and their thoughts on what actions, legislatively or otherwise, are needed to move forward. Our first guest is Rep. La Shawn Ford, D-Chicago. MUSIC CREDIT: Inspired by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3918-inspired License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

A week after the Illinois General Assembly wrapped up a historic special session, the state has entered Phase 3 of the reopening plan. Reporters Peter Hancock, Jerry Nowicki, Rebecca Anzel and Ben Orner analyze the status of the pandemic and how the General Assembly responded to it.

Four interns with the University of Illinois Springfield's Public Affairs Reporting program talk about their experience covering the Illinois Statehouse during a pandemic. Guests are Kade Heather, Tim Eggert, Neil Earley and Ben Orner.

Michael Belsky, executive director of the Center for Municipal Finance at the University of Chicago, discusses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on state and local government revenues and what they should be doing to brace for it.

The COVID-19 pandemic is wreaking havoc on the Illinois economy. Economist Kenneth Kriz of the University of Illinois - Springfield talks about how it could impact state revenues and services, while Frank Manzo of the Illinois Economic Policy Institute talks about one way the state might be able to blunt some of the impact.

The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on the Illinois economy, forcing Gov. JB Pritzker and state lawmakers to completely rethink the budget plan for the next fiscal year. Sens. Andy Manar (D) and Dan McConchie (R), the chair and minority spokesman of a Senate budget committee, share their views.

University of Chicago economics professor Dan Black talks about the economic impact that the COVID-19 pandemic could haveafter more than 114,000 Illinoisans filed first-time unemployment claims.

The Illinois primary elections took place in the midst of the global coronavirus pandemic. Matt Dietrich, spokesman for the Illinois State Board of Elections, discusses how it went.