Politics
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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Frustrated with legislative inaction on sports wagering, Missouri’s major sports franchises are going directly to voters. On Friday, a coalition that includes six major sports teams and is backed by major donations from two sports betting platforms announced an initiative campaign to put sports gambling on this year’s ballot. In a news release, St. Louis Cardinals President Bill…
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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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A group of Republican lawmakers raised concerns about the death penalty and advocated for legislation that would abolish it in Missouri during a Tuesday press conference at the state Capitol — characterizing it as an issue of restraining government overreach and protecting life. Rep. Chad Perkins, a Republican from Bowling Green, has filed legislation to abolish the…
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A Democratic state representative booted from her party’s caucus because of her association with a man described as a Holocaust denier and another called a conspiracy theorist is running for governor. State Rep. Sarah Unsicker of Shrewsbury went to Washington, D.C., and announced her bid for Missouri’s highest office in front of the U.S. Capitol. “What is happening in Missouri is…
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Nearly every abortion is illegal in Missouri, but that hasn’t slowed the pace of anti-abortion legislation in the Missouri statehouse. As lawmakers return to the Capitol for the 2024 legislation session, Republican lawmakers have already filed numerous bills seeking further restrictions on abortion and abortion providers. Yet even the staunchest anti-abortion activists concede it’s unlikely…
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BOWLING GREEN, Mo. — A local legislator is seeking to end the death penalty in Missouri. House Bill 1780, sponsored by Rep. Chad Perkins of District 40, which represents parts of Ralls, Pike, Monroe and Lincoln counties, abolishes the death penalty and specifies that any person who received the death penalty must instead be sentenced…
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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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MAYWOOD, Mo. — Rachel Bringer Shepherd announced Monday in an email that she will not seek re-election as presiding circuit judge of the 10th Judicial Circuit, which includes Marion, Monroe and Ralls counties in Missouri, in 2024. She has held the position since 2010. “I have been very grateful for the opportunity to serve as a presiding…
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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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A bill to allow home-educated students to participate in Missouri public school activities is back for the upcoming legislative session — and has been coupled with provisions rolling back state oversight of homeschooling families. Sen. Ben Brown, a Washington Republican, pre-filed a 52-page bill that largely resembles the version he sponsored that cleared the Senate…
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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…
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A southern Illinois federal judge officially declined to issue an injunction to delay the Jan. 1 registration requirement under the state’s assault weapons ban. U.S. District Judge Stephen McGlynn issued the 34-page order on Friday. Gun rights advocates requested an emergency injunction to halt the registration of guns and accessories covered in the legislation, known as the…
Read Full Article December 21, 2024
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