Politics
QUINCY — The investiture of Christopher W. Pratt as an at-large circuit judge of the Eighth Judicial Circuit will be at 1 p.m. June 10 at the Adams County Courthouse. Pratt will assume his duties that day. Pratt was born and raised in Adams County. He attended St. Peter School, Quincy Notre Dame and Quincy…
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Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch gave added meaning to the phrase “winning ugly” during last Wednesday’s early morning hours. I’ve never seen anything like it, so let’s take a look. House members were told to be in their seats by noon on Tuesday after the Senate had easily passed the entire budget package on Sunday.…
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A bill banning what unions refer to as employer-sponsored “captive audience” meetings about religion and politics has cleared both chambers of the General Assembly. It was one of 466 measures to do so during the Illinois legislature’s recently concluded spring session, including measures targeting artificial intelligence and allowing for digital driver’s licenses. A Capitol News…
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After a near-derailment and an all-nighter to wrap up the General Assembly’s spring session, supermajority Democrats in the Illinois House gave final legislative approval to the state budget as the sun rose Wednesday morning. Despite holding 78 seats in the chamber, it took Democrats three tries to reach the 60 votes needed to approve more…
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Two days after the General Assembly was scheduled to adjourn its spring session, Democrats in the Illinois Senate advanced a $53.1 billion budget to the House Sunday night, where leaders expect it to pass without changes. The fiscal year 2025 spending plan, which came together over a stretch of late nights and closed-door dealmaking, spends…
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SPRINGFIELD – Democrats in the General Assembly will go at least three more days past their self-imposed adjournment deadline after failing to pass a budget bill Saturday, although the spending and revenue framework were made public for the first time. “The House and Senate are very close to an agreement on a final budget,” House…
Read Full Article I’m not sure I’ve seen a stranger roll call than last week’s House vote on Senate Bill 2978. The data privacy bill is an initiative of Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, and he was on the House floor during the debate. The far-right ginned up social media opposition to the bill by claiming that…
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A measure that would prohibit contests that award cash or prizes for killing certain wildlife is unlikely to clear the Senate after narrowly passing the House last week, according to its Senate sponsor. House Bill 2900 would ban the practice of holding wildlife contests that reward participants with cash, prizes or inducements for killing fur-bearing animals.…
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SPRINGFIELD – Authorities in Illinois would not be allowed to aid another state’s investigation of people coming to Illinois to seek abortions or other reproductive health care under a bill that cleared the General Assembly Thursday. House Bill 5239, which needs only a signature from Gov. JB Pritzker to become law, also gives individuals the…
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This article was produced for ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network in partnership with Capitol News Illinois. ANNA, Ill. — Cameras in the common areas of Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center were supposed to make the troubled southern Illinois facility safer for the approximately 200 people with developmental disabilities who live there. But in mid-February, a camera…
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SPRINGFIELD – Lawmakers passed more than 200 bills this week ahead of their scheduled May 24 adjournment. Many of the measures will soon head to Gov. JB Pritzker, including a bill that changes how damages accrue under Illinois’ first-in-the-nation biometric data privacy law. The Illinois House on Thursday approved Senate Bill 2979 with several Republicans joining supermajority…
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The final day of the 2024 legislative session lasted less than 10 minutes in the Missouri Senate. The lightning-quick adjournment was aimed at avoiding bitter flare ups that plagued the previous day, when a member of the Freedom Caucus tried to amend the Senate Journal to say a “stampeding herd of rhinoceroses” had rumbled through…
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The Illinois General Assembly has advanced a measure that allows students to get the opportunity to take part in relaxation activities, including yoga, 20 minutes a week. Some warn it could lead to lawsuits. Relaxation activities may include, but are not limited to, mindful-based movements, yoga, stretching, meditation, breathing exercises, guided relaxation techniques, quiet time,…
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SPRINGFIELD – A new measure being debated in the Illinois General Assembly would create a tax credit for certain news publishers based on the number of reporters they employ. The proposal from Sen. Steve Stadelman, D-Rockford, is part of a package of policies that he has been working to pass since early this year –…
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As Illinois grapples with a possible $800 million budget deficit, a measure that could have a taxpayer price tag of an additional $68 million for student teacher stipends is on its way to the Senate. State Rep. Barbara Hernandez, D-Aurora, carried House Bill 4652 out of the House Tuesday. “That would allow students to receive $10,000 [a…
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SPRINGFIELD – While Cortez Turner was in a hospital room being treated for a gunshot wound to his leg in 2016, police took his clothes. Now, the Illinois Supreme Court is weighing whether that action violated Turner’s expectation of privacy under the Fourth Amendment. The arguments in the case were among several heard by the…
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SPRINGFIELD — One week after Gov. JB Pritzker signed an elections-related measure that his fellow Democrats quickly muscled through the General Assembly, Republicans sued over the new law, alleging the majority party is blocking ballot access to would-be legislative candidates. The law , passed early this month as the legislature’s spring session ramps up to its scheduled…
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DIETERICH, Ill. – Every day, Berdeena Leturno checks her email for an update on when the state of Illinois will finally pay her $80,000. It’s been over two months since she signed the paperwork to sell her flood-damaged home as part of a buyout program, and over a year and a half since the creek across…
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Missouri’s murky and complicated past with puppy mills has resurfaced once again with the release of the Humane Society’s 2024 Horrible Hundred report. According to the Humane Society, the report is a “list of known, problematic puppy breeding and/or puppy brokering facilities” across the country and it ranks states based on how many of these…
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When the final budget votes were over Friday and the constitutional deadline was met, Missouri House Republicans crowed about holding the line on spending while Democrats accused the GOP of failing the state’s most vulnerable citizens. A budget process that had the least public input in years — with just a pro-forma public hearing in the House and…
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Missouri’s primary is on August 6. Missouri Times Publisher Scott Faughn breaks down where the candidates stand as the spring and summer campaign season begins to heat up. ‘24 Statewide Races Governor: Republican Primary: TOSS UP – Democrat Primary: Toss UPGeneral: LIKELY REPUBLICAN RepublicansLt. Governor Mike KehoeLot of things are going right for Mike Kehoe. He has…
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When Gov. JB Pritzker proposed his budget for the upcoming fiscal year in February, he sought authority from lawmakers to raise more than $1 billion in revenue through various changes to the state tax code. Among other things, he sought to raise $526 million through extending an expiring cap on losses that corporations can claim…
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HANNIBAL, Mo. — Missouri Governor Mike Parson said he wasn’t trying to compare himself to Mark Twain when he made a stop Tuesday in Hannibal to promote his new book “No Turnin’ Back”, but that didn’t mean Hannibal’s most famous son wouldn’t be referenced. Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum Director Megan Rapp introduced the…
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SPRINGFIELD — Governor JB Pritzker has signed a measure that will put three nonbinding referendum questions to voters on the November ballot, along with blocking established parties from putting candidates on the ballot if they did not go through the primary process. Supermajority Democrats in the House quickly pushed Senate Bill 2412 through their own chamber the…
Read Full Article November 14, 2024
FRANKIE SAY: ASHLEY BURNETT
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