By Peter Hancock 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
Valerie Goss, the head of the faculty union at Chicago State University, and Illinois Federation of Teachers President Daniel Montgomery embrace at an April 3, 2023 rally on the campus of Chicago State University.
By Peter Hancok, Andrew Adams, & Jerry NowickiCapitol News Illinoisnews@capitolnewsillinois.com More than 300 new laws will take effect January 1, 2024 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
By Jerry NowickiCapitol News Illinoisjnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com With Illinois lawmakers scheduled to return to legislative session in less than a month, a recent government fiscal forecast provides an overview of the budgeting landscape that awaits them. The bottom line from the five-year forecast from the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget: The
By Peter HancockCapitol News Illinoisphancock@capitolnewsillinois.com The U.S. Supreme Court issued two orders recently in turning down requests to block enforcement of Illinois’ assault weapons ban while challenges to the law are still being heard in lower courts. Lastweek Justice Amy Coney Barrett turned down a request from Republican Party State
By Andrew AdamsCapitol News Illinoisaadams@capitolnewsillinois.com The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) is advising Illinoisans to take precautions to avoid spreading respiratory illnesses because cases around the State and Country are on the rise. IDPH issued a health alert last week to hospitals, long-term care facilities and local health departments
By Jerry Nowicki & Andrew Adams Governor JB Pritzker on Friday signed into law a measure that will allow for the limited development of new nuclear power generation technology in the state. The measure, House Bill 2473, does not allow new large-scale power generation facilities like the six plants that
Advocacy groups say ‘Healthy Illinois 2028’ is missing key areas of focus By Dilpreet RajuCapitol News Illinoisdraju@capitolnewsillinois.com A new state health report pinpoints racism as a public health crisis while also noting Illinois needs to improve in the areas of maternal and infant health, mental health and substance use disorders.
Pritzker says goal is to send free books to all children, ages 0-5 By Peter HancockCapitol News Illinoisphancock@capitolnewsillinois.com Illinois families with infants and toddlers now have access to free children’s books that can be sent directly to their home, regardless of their income. Governor JB Pritzker on Tuesday, Dec. 5
By Peter Hancock A group of temporary staffing agencies and their trade associations are asking a federal court to block enforcement of a new State law that governs how day laborers and temp workers are managed and paid. The lawsuit, filed earlier this month in Chicago, challenges several changes enacted
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
