By Ben SzalinskiCapitol News Illinoisbszalinski@capitolnewsillinois.com Illinois lawmakers approved new funding for public transportation agencies without large statewide tax increases previously proposed. Instead, the measure would be fueled by revenue sources that currently feed the state’s Road Fund and an increased sales tax targeted to the Chicago area. The bill frustrated
By Ben SzalinskiCapitol News Illinoisbszalinski@capitolnewsillinois.com Illinois joined 24 other states and the District of Columbia in suing the Donald Trump administration over plans to stop funding the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Saturday as the federal government shutdown continues. About 1.9 million people in Illinois, and about 42 million people
By Ben SzalinskiCapitol News Illinoisbszalinski@capitolnewsillinois.com Illinois lawmakers will return to Springfield next week hoping to resolve a major unchecked box from the spring: Keep the trains in Chicago running. As the spring legislative session concluded, lawmakers were anticipating a $771 million shortfall for Chicagoland transit agencies beginning next calendar year.
By Ben SzalinskiCapitol News Illinoisbszalinski@capitolnewsillinois.com Governor JB Pritzker said political leaders — starting with president Donald Trump — need to do more to condemn political violence. “He actively fans the flames of division, as he did on Friday, regularly advocates violence for political retribution, and in more than one case,
By Ben SzalinskiCapitol News Illinoisbszalinski@capitolnewsillinois.com Governor JB Pritzker said Tuesday, Sept. 2 he expects Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to employ the same aggressive strategies they used in Los Angeles earlier this summer after president Donald Trump said he will deploy the National Guard to Chicago. The information, Pritzker said,
By Ben SzalinskiCapitol News Illinoisbszalinski@capitolnewsillinois.com President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday aimed at pushing Illinois to reverse its law that eliminated cash bail. The order calls on the U.S. attorney general to come up with a list of states and other jurisdictions that “substantially” eliminated cash bail and
By Peter Hancock & Ben SzalinskiCapitol News Illinoisnews@capitolnewsillinois.com Illinois Democrats brought some of their biggest names to Springfield Tuesday, Aug. 12 to call attention to the massive cuts that will take effect in the coming years for programs that benefit low-income communities. At one event, U.S. senator Dick Durbin and
By Ben Szalinski, Andrew Adams, & Jerry NowickiCapitol News Illinoisnews@capitolnewsillinois.com Governor JB Pritzker, Friday, Aug. 1, signed into law 124 of the 436 bills sent to him by lawmakers in the spring legislative session. The measures signed last week expand what must be covered by state-regulated insurance plans, require libraries
By Ben SzalinskiCapitol News Illinoisbszalinski@capitolnewsillinois.com A new law signed by governor JB Pritzker Monday will make it easier for police to remove squatters who are illegally staying at a residence. Squatters are people who enter and occupy a place for a long period of time with the intention of staying
By Ben SzalinskiCapitol News Illinoisbszalinski@capitolnewsillinois.com Hundreds of thousands of Illinoisans could lose benefits from a federal food assistance program while the state will be required to cover more costs under changes passed in the latest domestic policy plan. President Donald Trump signed the “One Big, Beautiful Bill Act” into law
By Ben SzalinskiCapitol News Illinoisbszalinski@capitolnewsillinois.com The number of homeless people in Illinois is rising, but the State’s spending on homeless prevention and other housing programs is headed in the other direction. Facing a tight budget year with constrained spending and limited natural revenue growth, the $55.1 billion fiscal year 2026
By Ben SzalinskiCapitol News Illinoisbszalinski@capitolnewsillinois.com Governor JB Pritzker signed a new law Friday to make a series of changes to the Prisoner Review Board after it released a man who would go on to commit murder, leading to intense scrutiny in Springfield. Pritzker signed Senate Bill 19, which contains changes
By Ben SzalinskiCapitol News IllinoisBszalinski@capitolnewsillinois.com Governor JB Pritzker signed Illinois’ fiscal year 2026 budget into law Monday, taking shots at president Donald Trump’s budget management to defend hard choices state lawmakers were forced to make this year. The $55.1 billion spending plan set to take effect July 1 is the
By Ben SzalinskiCapitol News Illinoisbszalinski@capitolnewsillinois.com Public employees hired since 2011 must continue to wait for pension reform after Illinois lawmakers declined to take up the issue during the spring session. Lawmakers and labor unions have both expressed concern that benefits for Tier 2 employees – those who entered the public
By Ben Szalinski & Jerry NowickiCapitol News Illinoisnews@capitolnewsillinois.com Giving almost no time for public review, Illinois Democrats pushed through a $55.2 billion budget for next fiscal year late Saturday, bolstering coffers with new taxes on sports bets, nicotine products and businesses. The $55.2 billion spending plan is supported by $55.3
By Ben SzalinskiCapitol News Illinoisbszalinski@capitolnewsillinois.com The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Monday to hear an appeal on a lawsuit led by Illinois Republican U.S. representative Mike Bost challenging Illinois’ mail-in voting law. Bost and a pair of Illinois primary delegates for president Donald Trump sued the Illinois State Board of Elections
By Ben SzalinskiCapitol News Illinoisbszalinski@capitolnewsillinois.com Governor JB Pritzker’s office is now projecting state revenues to come in about a half-billion dollars below the baseline projections assumed during his February budget address. The latest downward revision comes as lawmakers are entering the final two-week stretch to approve a budget before their
By Ben SzalinskiCapitol News Illinoisbszalinski@capitolnewsillinois.com The General Assembly’s independent forecasting commission has improved revenue projections for the upcoming fiscal year despite growing economic volatility. That’s good news for state lawmakers who are in the final weeks of crafting the fiscal year 2026 budget set to take effect July 1. But
By Ben SzalinskiCapitol News Illinoisbszalinski@capitolnewsillionis.com Standing on his backyard deck Thursday, April 24, the same place where he declared his 1996 candidacy for U.S. Senate, Illinois’ senior senator Dick Durbin reflected on his decision to retire after four decades in Congress. “I’ve done this my way, making decisions based on
By Ben SzalinskiCapitol News Illinoisbszalinski@capitolnewsillinois.com When governor JB Pritzker tells audiences how he became interested in politics, it often starts with stories about his mother. As a child growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, Pritzker often shares, he’d attend marches, rallies and protests with his mother in support
