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July 27, 2015 • $1.00
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Medical pot bill signed into law
UNEMPLOYMENT RATES HIGHEST FOR WORKERS AGES 18 TO 29
Measure protects police, jails when denying drug to inmates By CHELSEA McDOUGALL cmcdougall@shawmedia.com
Photos by Matthew Apgar – mapgar@shawmedia.com
Desiree Gomez, 19, of Woodstock puts on makeup in the bathroom of her home Wednesday as she gets ready to go to her barista job in Woodstock. Until recently, Gomez was working two jobs to pay her car loan, phone bill, and car and health insurance.
Job hunt tough for millennials By CHELSEA McDOUGALL cmcdougall@shawmedia.com Congratulations, Class of 2015 college graduates. We have a gift for you, all estimated 2.8 million of you: The lowest unemployment rate since 2008. But before you toss your mortarboard cap in celebration, there’s a catch. (Graduation advice: There’s always a catch). Those between ages 18 and 29 remain the most unemployed age group out there. Generation Opportunity, a conservative nonprofit that advocates for young people, found in its monthly “Millennial Jobs Report” that age group remains unemployed at a rate of about 13.6 percent, while the current national unemployment rate hoovers around 5 percent. “Young people do have some reason to be optimistic about their futures as they continue to see economic conditions improve for our generation this year,” said Luke Kenworthy, director of policy engagement for the organization. “[The
Gomez ties her shoes on the couch of her home Wednesday as she gets ready to go to her barista job in Woodstock. most recent] jobs report shows a 13.6 percent youth unemployment rate, down 0.6 percent from where we started at the beginning of 2015.” Not only is this generation less likely to be employed, it’s also carrying the largest student loan burdens of any generation. The National Center for Education Statistics estimates 2.8 million students will graduate and enter the workforce this
year. Meanwhile, according to Pew Research Center data, the average balance of student loan debt is $35,657. However, the same Pew report from 2014 found it more costly to not attend college. According to Pew’s analysis of Census Bureau data, college graduates “will earn about $17,500 more than employed young people who hold only a high school diploma.” The Great Recession was
particularly hard on this generation. According to the same Pew report, 6 percent of millennials – identified in this report as those ranging in age from 18 to 33 – live in poverty, compared with 3.5 percent of baby boomers. Locally, this rings true. “We have found that most of the people who apply [for jobs] are struggling because they’re filling out applications and just not getting calls for an interview,” said Barbara Billimack, the lead youth career adviser at McHenry County Workforce Network. “I think there are a lot of different factors playing into that struggle.” Those factors, Billimack said, include pickier than ever employers: “They have so many applicants that the pool is bigger,” and younger applicants may not have the skills some employers are looking for. “Applicants in general are missing the soft skills – they have the book knowledge, but they are sometimes missing the writing, the communication
See MILLENNIALS, page A4
“I really wanted to take the most amount of pressure off my parents. I know bills add up, and I wanted to take that responsibility on my own.”
WOODSTOCK – A bill introduced by a McHenry County state representative that closed a medical marijuana loophole received the governor’s signature last week. The bill, introduced by state Rep. Barb Wheeler, R-Crystal Lake, protects local jails, prisons and police officers from facing civil penalties for denying medical marijuana to arrestees or inmates who have a prescription for pot. “What happens when we arrest somebody and they have a medical marijuana prescription?” Wheeler asked. “Of course, [jailers and law enforce- “If someone ment officials] have to give needs their them a prescription, but they can’t give them a fed- medical erally illegal drug inside cannabis, I’m the jail.” “We should give immu- not a doctor, nity to any law enforcement agency that refuses but let them to give a federally illegal have it. But drug,” said Wheeler, who supported Compassionate for me to Use of Medical Cannabis Pilot Program Act when it have to give passed in 2013. it to them is Although Wheeler supported medical marijua- inappropriate.” na, she grew concerned about the “unintended Jim Page c o n s e q u e n c e s ” a s t h e Bull Valley police chief act expanded to include post-traumatic stress disorder, migraines, irritable bowel syndrome and other common ailments. Wheeler predicted the number of medical marijuana cardholders would increase significantly. The Illinois Department of Public Health reports about 22,600 citizens have started the application process. IDPH has issued almost 2,600 approval letters to register qualifying patients, the agency said. Wheeler drafted the bill with help from Bull Valley Police Chief Jim Page, who said there was a glaring “hole in the law.” “If I have a prisoner in custody and they said, ‘I need my medical cannabis’ … they’re allowed to smoke a joint in my station?” Page said. “The county would be required to buy weed, and not only would [inmates] be allowed to smoke up, they’d have a hookah room in the jail.” Hyperbole aside, Page said Wheeler’s bill was common-sense legislation as medical marijuana is initiated statewide.
Desiree Gomez, 19-year-old Woodstock resident
See POT, page A4
Ill. lawmaker pay firestorm lit again By JOHN O’CONNOR The Associated Press SPRINGFIELD – Illinois government by the numbers: 27 days into a new fiscal year, the state has no budget, a deficit of up to $4 billion and Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner insisting that Democrats in the Legislature embrace his five pro-business and anti-corruption initiatives. And in the face of those recalcitrant lawmakers, Rauner
has brought some new figures into the equation: A 2 percent automatic cost-of-living increase, set to take effect this month to boost the $68,000 base legislative salary by nearly $1,400. “They’ve taken a pay hike for themselves without any budget and without any real reforms,” Rauner said last week. It’s also the first pay hike in seven years for salaries that have not kept pace with inflation.
The time lapse, the way this year’s pay hike played out and the defense Democrats have assumed this year after having rejected a pay bump in 2014 all represent a new chapter in what’s been a sordid compensation history for the General Assembly’s 177 members – a number that used to be higher until taxpayers voted to reduce it because of a pay hike. The plot twists have Democrats cornered. House Speaker Michael Madigan won’t
answer questions about it. After years of well-intended, politically popular votes to reject raises, Chicago Senate President John Cullerton now says it would violate the Illinois Constitution not to take the pay. The charter prohibits “changes in salary” during a legislator’s term. The Democratic-controlled Legislature has been locked in a weeks-long battle with
See PAY, page A4
AP photo
Gov. Bruce Rauner speaks to members of the press outside his office Tuesday at the State Capitol in Springfield.
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