Illinois Politics
Heather and Stephen Casner sat across from the loan officer in the fall of 2022, a stack of papers between them. The building they were trying to buy — a 21-room, one-story motel in rural Anna, Illinois — was overflowing with trash and would need a complete overhaul before they could reopen it as a…
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SPRINGFIELD — Sen. Jil Tracy (R-Quincy) and Rep. Kyle Moore (R-Quincy) took their oaths of office Wednesday as the 104th General Assembly is underway. Tracy has served in the Senate since Jan. 11, 2015, and previously served as a member of the Illinois House from July 2006 to 2014. “Illinois faces significant challenges, but I remain…
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QUINCY — Adams County Board Chairman Bret Austin has made committee assignments and named chairmen of each of the board’s four main committees. Taking Austin’s place as Finance Committee chair will be Travis Cooley (R-District 4). Cooley, who is a senior Vice President of Liberty Bank, previously served as the committee’s second chair behind Austin.…
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QUINCY – The Republican leaders of the counties that make up the Illinois 99th House District selected State Representative-elect Kyle Moore to take his seat early upon the retirement of Randy Frese. Moore said he’s ready to hit the ground running next week as the Illinois General Assembly meets in its “lame duck” session next…
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SPRINGFIELD – Illinois lawmakers could soon make it easier for children in foster care to live with their relatives or other people close to them. Child welfare experts have long touted the benefits of foster children staying with kin. Advocates say those arrangements offer children more stability, decrease the trauma they experience, improve their mental…
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SPRINGFIELD — Illinois lawmakers in early January could consider easing requirements for residents to change their names, a move proponents say will reduce risks for victims of domestic abuse, transgender residents and others. The measure must clear the full Senate in the first week of January to reach Gov. JB Pritzker’s desk, otherwise it must…
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SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Department of Transportation has outlined its progress made across the state in 2024. Made possible by Gov. JB Pritzker’s Rebuild Illinois capital program, projects transformed highways, transit, railroads, airports, waterways and active transportation everywhere Illinois residents call home, creating safer and more reliable travel options while boosting economic opportunity for generations to…
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The 99th Representative District Committee announced a vacancy in the Illinois House of Representatives due to the resignation of Randy Frese. The Committee’s appointment will serve the remainder of Frese’s term in the 103rd General Assembly. In accordance with state statute, vacancies created in the General Assembly must be filled within 30 days. Former Quincy Mayor and current…
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The minimum wage in Illinois will increase to $15 an hour on Jan. 1, completing a six-year transition period since the increase was approved in 2019. Beginning New Year’s Day, Illinois workers making minimum wage will see wages rise by $1 and tipped workers will see their paychecks bump to $9 an hour. Youth workers…
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Time to study up, Illinois. When the clock hits midnight on New Year’s Day, 293 new state laws will take effect. Those include some of the defining bills of the 2024 legislative session and others that will change how people get IDs, evaluate job postings and even cancel gym memberships. In addition to the laws…
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We’re less than nine months from when candidates can begin circulating petitions for the 2026 election, so we’re rapidly approaching the time when major figures will need to decide whether to run or not. Because of that, a lot of people are polling. The state’s two big dogs, US Sen. Dick Durbin and Gov. JB…
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When Bill Veeck owned baseball teams and sat in the bleachers or Harry Caray broadcast baseball games from the cheap seats, it was funny. But when Alderman Mike Farha (R-4th Ward) sat in the audience during Monday’s Quincy City Council meeting, it was not funny. When roll was called, he said he was just going…
Read Full Article The Democratic legislative leaders and the governor agreed to squirrel away $260 million in lump-sum appropriations to various state agencies last spring. But now some groups are figuring out that a big pile of state money is just sitting there and they are trying to stake their claims. This came to light last month when…
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SPRINGFIELD – More than five years after Illinois began issuing permits for legal production of industrial hemp, Gov. JB Pritzker said Friday he now favors legislation to bring the industry under tighter regulation. At a news conference in Chicago, Pritzker said in the short time since both the state and federal governments legalized hemp production,…
Read Full Article January 16, 2025
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