Illinois Politics
SPRINGFIELD – Former President Donald Trump’s name will appear on the March 19 Republican primary election ballot in Illinois, barring any extraordinary action by state or federal courts to remove him. The Illinois State Board of Elections voted unanimously Tuesday to deny an objection based on the “insurrectionist clause” of the 14th Amendment, which prohibits former…
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A bipartisan task force of legislators and journalism industry leaders has filed a report to the General Assembly detailing the decline of local journalism in Illinois and exploring ways the legislature can help revive it. The Local Journalism Task Force, created in January 2022, found that about one-third of Illinois counties have either no source…
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SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois State Board of Elections will be asked to decide Tuesday whether former President Donald Trump is barred under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution from having his name appear on Illinois’ March 19 Republican primary ballot. It’s a question being asked in several states preparing to hold primary elections in the…
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As the popularity of Delta-8 cannabis products grows, some are calling for more oversight in Illinois. Delta-8 THC is legal in Illinois and 21 other states, but unlike marijuana, which is regulated, taxed and can only be sold in licensed dispensaries, Delta-8 can be sold in convenience stores and online. While cannabis is still illegal…
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The increasing trend of “swatting,” faking dangerous crimes that cause police to respond with force to the victim’s home, has become a popular tactic in Illinois. Criminologist Currie Myers said these crimes are acts of domestic terrorism that put the lives of both victims and law enforcement in harm’s way. “Swatting is extremely dangerous. Somebody…
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A proposed bill that would ban certain food additives in Illinois is already receiving pushback. The Illinois Food Safety Act calls for prohibiting the use of certain additives to food, including brominated vegetable oil, Red Dye No. 3 and titanium dioxide. The bill’s sponsors said the additives have been linked to serious health problems, including hyperactivity, reproductive…
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Staffing agencies – a fast-growing industry that employs nearly a million Illinoisans – are not exempt from the state’s antitrust law, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled late last week. The decision comes 3 ½ years after Attorney General Kwame Raoul sued a trio of staffing agencies, alleging they used their mutual client to coordinate no-poach…
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The state of Illinois says “government has no authority” to impose criminal penalties for those not registering banned firearms. Illinois State Police have updated the gun ban registration numbers to include those who registered after the Jan. 1 deadline. On top of the 29,357 individuals who registered before the deadline, 5,867 have registered since. The total of…
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SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Supreme Court on Friday unanimously upheld a 2019 law that consolidated nearly 650 municipal police and firefighter pension funds, rejecting arguments from pension fund members that their voting power was diluted unconstitutionally. The law, which Gov. JB Pritzker signed soon after it passed with overwhelming bipartisan majorities in the General Assembly, combined 649…
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The U.S. Department of Labor is currently holding more than $5 million in wages owed to more than 7,000 Illinois workers, and the department has launched a new website in an effort to return it. When an employee is underpaid for the work they do, the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division can launch an investigation.…
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A new bill in the Illinois General Assembly would create a board of health care experts that would have the authority to set price limits on prescription medications. House Bill 4472 was introduced Wednesday by Rep. Nabeela Syed, D-Palatine, and Sen. David Koehler, D-Peoria. Using a variety of information related to the medication’s market, including the…
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As small town newspapers go by the wayside in Illinois, a new task force is studying ways to incentivize a revival of local journalism, including through the use of tax credits. The Local Journalism Task Force conducted a study on communities underserved by local journalism. It was formed by legislation that was signed into law…
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Illinois Statehouse Republicans wanting to end the state’s migrant sanctuary policies are getting rebuffed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker. Republicans held two separate news conferences this week to discuss the ongoing migrant crisis where Illinois has received about 35,000 non-citizen arrivals since August 2022. Republicans are calling for more transparency on how taxpayer dollars are being…
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SPRINGFIELD – New permanent rules will soon go into effect spelling out how people who own assault weapons and related items that are now heavily regulated in Illinois can register them with the Illinois State Police. The legislature’s Joint Committee on Administrative Rules voted along party lines Tuesday to let the rules go into effect,…
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URBANA – As the 2024 election season draws near, voters in Illinois will once again choose whether they want to cast their ballots in person or by mail. But one lawmaker is proposing a bill in the Illinois House that could make that decision a lot easier, making voting by mail the default option for…
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Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias launched an online appointment system in September for Illinois drivers needing to come to a driver’s services facility, ostensibly to reduce wait times. The “Skip-The-Line” program introduced upgrades to the secretary of state’s website as well as a shift in policy, requiring appointments to be made for more than 40 of the…
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The Illinois Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday as to whether the smell of cannabis alone is grounds for police officers to search a vehicle, marking a test of the state’s 2020 recreational marijuana legalization law. The court heard two consolidated cases of individuals who were in vehicles that were searched after an officer used the…
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CHICAGO – The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) announced today that adult use cannabis sales set a new annual record in 2023, exceeding $1.6 billion. Records were also set in sales to in-state residents and the number of items sold, with that total increasing more than 15 percent compared to 2022. Sales taxes…
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Amid five straight years of record overdose deaths in Illinois, a new state program aims to alleviate a shortage of professionals who work to prevent substance use disorders. Illinois’ behavioral health counselor workforce “is aging while new entrants are declining,” according to a 2019 report to the General Assembly; 56 percent of certified substance use…
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SPRINGFIELD – Illinois is now among the growing list of states in which former President Donald Trump will have to fight to have his name appear on the 2024 election ballots. A group of five voters filed a joint objection to Trump’s candidacy Thursday, arguing Trump should be disqualified under the 14th Amendment to the U.S.…
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CHICAGO — Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan won’t be spending his 82nd birthday in a federal courtroom this spring after a judge on Wednesday granted his request to delay his bribery and racketeering trial originally set to begin April 1. Madigan claimed the small victory while appearing in court for the first time since he was…
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CHICAGO – Federal prosecutors said Tuesday that former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s corruption trial shouldn’t be delayed while the U.S. Supreme Court considers another case focused on the federal bribery statute. Prosecutors wrote that most of the charges Madigan faces at his trial – set to start in April – don’t involve the federal…
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SPRINGFIELD – As the cost of higher education continues to rise in Illinois and elsewhere, a growing number of students are working to earn as many college credits as possible while they are still in high school. But even as the popularity continues to grow for “dual credit” offerings – courses in which a student…
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More than 300 new laws will take effect Jan. 1, ranging from a ban on book bans to the regulation of “deepfake porn” and prohibitions on videoconferencing while driving. Thanks to a law signed in 2019, workers at the lowest end of the pay scale will see a pay raise with the new year as…
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For at least two hours of the ride home, Charles Collins feared someone was following his father’s car, looking to take him back to prison for the rest of his life. At an interstate rest stop between Western Illinois Correctional Center and Chicago, Collins said the reality of his freedom settled in and he let…
Read Full Article November 13, 2024
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