By Hannah Meisel As Illinois faces shortages of health care practitioners and mental health professionals, the State agency in charge of licensing for those and more than 100 other industries has struggled to keep up. The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation has failed to meet its goals to
By Jerry Nowicki Illinois received another credit upgrade Tuesday, the same day a legislative committee once again scrutinized governor JB Pritzker’s administration for its handling of unemployment claims during the COVID-19 pandemic. The upgrade came from Fitch Ratings, the last remaining holdout of the nation’s three major credit reporting agencies
By Peter Hancock Elementary and secondary students in Illinois showed consistent improvements in their reading and math scores while the State’s high school graduation rate reached a 13-year high for the most recently concluded school year. Those are some of the conclusions from the most recent annual statewide school report
By Peter Hancock Vowing to make Illinois the top state in the Nation for child-care accessibility, governor JB Pritzker unveiled a plan Tuesday, Oct. 24 to consolidate all the State’s early-childhood programs and funding into one new State agency. “Early Childhood program governance has to be unified in its focus
By Hannah Meisel As Chicago prepares for an increase in the already steady stream of migrants arriving from the southern U.S. border this week, governor JB Pritzker is once again publicly pressuring president Joe Biden to play a larger role in coordinating relocation efforts. “There is much more that can
By Peter Hancock Six months before the next presidential primary elections in Illinois, county clerks and other local election authorities are asking for the public’s help in stopping misinformation campaigns before they get started. Officials from 25 counties scheduled a series of news conferences Tuesday, Sept. 26 in Tazewell, McLean
Displays offer insight into role of judicial branch By Peter HancockCapitol News Illinoisphancock@capitolnewsillinois.com In 1946, the Illinois Supreme Court heard a case that would eventually become a landmark in American legal history. The public school district in Champaign, like many other districts in Illinois at the time, allowed a group
Health care industry argues it is exempt from biometric privacy liability By Andrew AdamsCapitol News Illinoisaadams@capitolnewsillinois.com In Springfield on Thursday, the medical industry went to court. The Illinois Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a pair of class action suits brought by two suburban nurses, Lucille Mosby and Yana Mazya,
Homeland Security will expedite work authorizations among other actions By Peter HancockCapitol News Illinoisphancock@capitolnewsillinois.com The Department of Homeland Security will speed up the processing of work authorizations for asylum seekers and extend Temporary Protected Status to Venezuelan migrants, actions that could help thousands of migrants who have arrived in Illinois
By Beth Hundsdorfer & Hannah Meisel In courtrooms around the state early this week, judges conducted the first hearings under a new system that determines whether a defendant will be jailed while awaiting trial based on dangerousness and risk of fleeing prosecution, rather than their ability to post bail. The
By Peter Hancock The State has paused a new policy requiring certain noncitizens enrolled in a Medicaid-like health insurance plan to pay copayments for certain services, instructing health care providers to refund any such payments they have already collected. Omar Shaker, the interim chief of administrative rules at the Department
Tim Mapes was charged with lying to grand jury investigating Madigan and his inner circle. By Hannah Meisel A federal jury has convicted the once-top aide to former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, finding Tim Mapes guilty on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice for lying to a grand
By Jerry Nowicki Six interagency law enforcement task forces received grant funding this Spring to combat car thefts through an initiative of Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias’ office. Giannoulias was in Belleville Tuesday to promote the initiative and highlight a $2.5 million grant to the Metro East Auto Theft Task
Anti-abortion groups claim victory – for now By Hannah MeiselCapitol News Illinoishmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com A new law allowing Illinoisans to sue so-called crisis pregnancy centers under the State’s Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act is on hold after a federal judge late Thursday granted a preliminary injunction against it. After a
Top concerns include affordability, business practices, climate effects By Andrew AdamsCapitol News Illinoisaadams@capitolnewsillinois.com Members of the public railed against potential increases to the price of natural gas and electricity at two recent public hearings before a state regulatory body that has the authority to limit those rate hikes. The Illinois
By Peter Hancock Governor JB Pritzker has spent much of his time in recent weeks promoting the State’s electric vehicle EV) industry and touting the impact of his signature Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, or CEJA, including during a weeklong trade mission to the United Kingdom. Pritzker was in Joliet
By Peter Hancock Governor JB Pritzker and the State’s largest public employee union announced Tuesday, July 25 that they have agreed on a new contract that will provide a nearly 18% pay raise over four years, including a four percent raise this year. The contract expands parental leave to 12
By Andrew Adams Ahead of next Summer’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago, top Democratic officials on Tuesday signed a “labor peace agreement,” reinforcing Democrats’ longstanding ties to organized labor and limiting potential disruptions at the highly watched event. The deal means that the Democratic National Committee will use union labor
By Jerry Nowicki A landmark criminal justice reform that eliminates cash bail in Illinois is constitutional, the State’s Supreme Court ruled Tuesday, July 18 to pave the way for the change to take effect September 18. The 5-2 decision, handed down on partisan lines, means that individuals’ wealth no longer
By Andrew Adams For hoteliers, business is booming in Illinois. Monday, July 10, governor JB Pritzker, the State’s legislative leadership, and representatives of the hospitality industry, announced that hotels in Illinois incurred record revenues in fiscal year 2023, which ended June 30. Across the State, hotels brought in $307.8 million,
