General Assembly
An Illinois lawmaker heading a child welfare committee said the state must strengthen its laws and policies to protect homeschooled children facing inadequate education, abuse and neglect. Rep. Terra Costa Howard, the chair of the Adoption and Child Welfare Committee in the Illinois House, called for action following a Capitol News Illinois and ProPublica investigation,…
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A little-noticed bill passed both the Illinois House and Senate that will generate $300 to $400 million a year for local governments, including $95-127 million for the Regional Transportation Authority. The bill (SB3362) will help capture sales tax revenue from more out of state retailers and in-state retailers who ship to Illinoisans in out of…
Read Full Article 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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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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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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SPRINGFIELD – Illinois currently has no federally recognized tribal land within its borders, but that could change in the coming months. A bill pending in the General Assembly this year would give back roughly 1,500 acres of park land in DeKalb County to the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation. That tribe once occupied much of the Great Lakes…
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Gov. JB Pritzker will give his sixth state budget address this week, laying out his plan for a fiscal year that government forecasters in November predicted is on pace for a near-$900 million deficit unless corrective action is taken. Those same fiscal forecasters in the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget, however, predicted that the…
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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — As federal prosecutors were preparing to rest their case Thursday in the corruption trial of former Republican state Sen. Sam McCann, the one-time gubernatorial candidate had a change of heart. His attorney announced McCann would reverse his position of innocence he’s held since being indicted three years ago and plead guilty on…
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SPRINGFIELD – Former Republican State Sen. Sam McCann, a onetime third-party candidate for governor, was taken into custody Friday ahead of his federal corruption trial on charges he misused campaign funds. The arrest caps a bizarre week that was supposed to have seen his corruption trial begin and end – until a last-minute hospitalization forced…
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SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois State Police are facing pushback from gun rights advocates over proposed rules requiring owners of certain firearms to register them before the end of the year. ISP is in the process of adopting new rules to implement part of the state’s new assault weapons ban – officially named the Protect Illinois…
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CHICAGO – As lawmakers prepare to return to Springfield later this month for their annual two-week fall veto session, advocates are pushing for a measure that would require law enforcement to take guns away from people hit with domestic violence orders of protection. In May, Democrats in the Illinois House passed a bill including that provision, but…
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As we recorded Club Muddy on Thursday evening, Kyle Moore was on the cusp of making a major announcement. The Dodgers fan artfully dodged, but then made it official Friday morning. Brittany, Bobby and Ashley talked about the riverfront saga before we grilled Kyle about running for office and his encounter with President Trump when…
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PALOMA — Republican State Representative Randy Frese will not seek another term for the 99th Illinois House District seat. “It has been both an honor and a privilege to represent the fine people of West Central Illinois for the past eight and a half years,” Frese said in a press release issued Wednesday. “The job…
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SPRINGFIELD – Lawmakers didn’t finish their spring legislative session by Friday’s scheduled adjournment as negotiations over the state budget remain in flux. The May 19 end to the General Assembly’s spring session had been on the calendar for months, but it’s not a deadline; lawmakers still have until the end of May before a constitutional…
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SPRINGFIELD – A coalition of advocacy and labor groups is pushing for a state law to give Illinois workers 26 weeks of paid leave if they need to recover from an illness, domestic or sexual violence, or take care of a sick family member or new child. The same groups just celebrated a legislative victory…
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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — State Senator Jil Tracy (R-Quincy) said Democrat leaders have “sidestepped full legislative accountability” by forcing through votes on a controversial gun control bill during the General Assembly’s lame-duck session on Jan. 9. The 102nd General Assembly is scheduled to adjourn on Tuesday with the 103rd General Assembly convening the following day, Jan. 11. Tracy…
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SPRINGFIELD – Victims and survivors of multiple mass shootings urged state lawmakers on Monday to pass a ban on assault weapons, arguing that communities throughout Illinois have felt the pain of deadly mass shootings. “I was shot multiple times on the Fourth of July in Highland Park,” Lauren Bennett said during a legislative committee meeting…
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SPRINGFIELD — State tax revenues grew by $5.5 billion in the fiscal year that concluded on June 30, exceeding $50 billion for the first time in Illinois’ history, according to a new report from a state budgeting agency. The 12 percent base revenue growth in Fiscal Year 2022 gave lawmakers near-unprecedented flexibility in the current budget year.…
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SPRINGFIELD, Ill — Landlords around Illinois have concerns about a bill that could soon be headed to the governor that they say gives more choices for residents in public housing but provides less autonomy for landlords. The measure amends the Homelessness Prevention Act and gives protections against discrimination based on source of income. It passed both chambers…
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(The Center Square) – A new measure aims to streamline Illinois Department of Transportation projects. The Illinois House has approved the Innovations for Transportation Infrastructure Act, which authorizes IDOT to use the design-build method to allow for a single entity to both design and start construction on a project. Currently, IDOT uses the design-bid-build project delivery…
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SPRINGFIELD – Public schools in Illinois may soon be serving a lot more vegan and vegetarian meals, thanks to a bill that cleared the General Assembly Tuesday. House Bill 4089 requires school districts to provide a plant-based lunch option that complies with federal nutritional requirements to any student who submits a prior request to the district…
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Each year in February, Illinois’ governor must propose to lawmakers a spending plan for the upcoming fiscal year. The General Assembly will then spend the next several months negotiating which proposals to include and which to scrap before sending the budget back to the governor for consideration. On Wednesday, Gov. JB Pritzker delivered his fourth…
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SPRINGFIELD – A continuing sharp spike in COVID-19 cases being driven by the omicron variant has pushed the state’s hospital capacity to its limits and is prompting the state to bring in additional health care workers from other states and countries. Gov. JB Pritzker said Wednesday that more than 2,000 additional health care workers have…
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