John O'Connor

AP Political Writer
More from John O'Connor
This undated photo shows the former State Line Generating Plant in Hammond, Ind. In 2018, New York City-based Star America Infrastructure Partners announced a 105,000 square-foot data center on the Lake Michigan site of the shuttered power plant. Illinois Rep. Tom Demmer, R-Dixon, helped negotiate a GOP demand that state budget include a package of tax incentives to lure to Illinois large data centers which house information technology equipment and store, manage, and disseminate digital data for companies. Illinois would join 30 other states in offering such inducements.
IL Hopes to Land Data Centers
Illinois sat up and noticed when Apple announced in 2017 that it would build a $1.4 billion data center west of Des Moines, Iowa.
Jun 24th, 2019
State Sen. Michael Hastings, D-Tinley Park, right, gets a fist bump from Sen. Toi Hutchinson, D-Chicago Heights, after delivering his remarks on Senate Bill 1, a bill to raise the state's minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025, during debate on the Senate floor at the Illinois State Capitol, Thursday, Feb. 7, 2019, in Springfield, Ill.
IL Senate Backs $15 Minimum Wage
The last statewide bump came in 2010 and brought the hourly rate to $8.25.
Feb 8th, 2019
In this May 16, 2006 file photo, employees and contractors work inside Quad Cities Generating Station at the Exelon Nuclear plant in Cordova, Ill. Exelon Corp. says it will shut two Illinois nuclear plants after the Illinois Legislature declined to act on its request for financial support. The Chicago-based power provider said Thursday June 2, 2016 that it will close the Clinton Power Station in Clinton on June 1, 2017, and the Quad Cities Generating Station in Cordova on June 1, 2018.
Exelon Nuclear Plants Lost $800M
The two plants have lost a combined $800 million since 2009, countering consumer groups' complaints of 'bailout.'
Jun 3rd, 2016