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State Week: Illinois to spend more on helping asylum seekers

State Week 23 logo (capitol dome)
Brian Mackey
/
NPR Illinois

With winter near, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said this week the state will spend an additional $160 million on measures intended to assist the growing migrant population. More than 20,000 individuals have arrived in the city over the past year, most of them traveling by bus at the direction of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.

Illinois officials said nearly $500 million in state money has already been spent. The latest infusion, pulled from the state Department of Human Services budget, will assist in processing new arrivals, provide case management and develop a base tent camp as winter nears.

Our panel discusses the migrant situation. We also hear about efforts to finalize how Chicago School Board elections will be done. And could the Invest in Kids Act see new life in the spring session?

Host Sean Crawford is joined by Professor Emeritus Charlie Wheeler and Chicago Tribune government reporter Dan Petrella.

The former director of the Public Affairs Reporting (PAR) graduate program is Professor Charles N. Wheeler III, a veteran newsman who came to the University of Illinois at Springfield following a 24-year career at the Chicago Sun-Times.