By Jerry Nowicki The Illinois Supreme Court is being asked to consider the laws of the state of California and the U.S. Constitution in ruling on one man’s eligibility to be issued a Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) card by the Illinois State Police (ISP). The high court heard oral arguments
By Jerry Nowicki The State’s moratorium on enforcement of residential evictions will expire October 3, according to governor JB Pritzker’s latest COVID-19 executive order issued Friday. Pritzker had extended the order each month with minor to substantial revisions since March 2020. The extensions have come in 30-day windows, coinciding with
By Jerry Nowicki Governor JB Pritzker was joined by environmental and social justice activists, union representatives, and lawmakers from both parties Wednesday, Sept. 15 when he signed into law a sweeping energy regulation overhaul that aims to greatly reduce carbon emissions from the energy sector by 2045, while diversifying the
By Peter Hancock The Illinois House Thursday, Sept. 9 voted to accept changes to an ethics bill that governor JB Pritzker had requested, paving the way for it to become law once the governor signs it Thursday’s vote came a little more than a week after an earlier attempt fell
By Jerry Nowicki The Illinois Senate put the final legislative stamp on an energy regulation overhaul bill Monday to send it to governor JB Pritzker, who said he will sign it. It’s the culmination of years of negotiation, and it marks a policy win on one of Pritzker’s biggest outstanding
By Jerry Nowicki The House sponsor of a long-debated ethics bill that failed in the House recently said she will bring it up for another vote if lawmakers come back to the Capitol within a 15-day constitutional window in which such an action would be allowed. The House leadership decided
By Jerry Nowicki The Illinois House was scheduled to return to Springfield Thursday, Sept. 9 to try again at passing an elusive energy regulation overhaul, days after the governor’s office announced support for a new proposal. It’s the latest push for a legislative accomplishment that has eluded governor JB Pritzker
By Jerry Nowicki The statewide mask mandate indoors is back, and educators and health care professionals will be required to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, governor JB Pritzker announced last week amid an ongoing surge in the pandemic that first arrived in Illinois in March 2020. Beginning Monday this week, indviduals
By Jerry Nowicki As federal unemployment benefits created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic are set to expire next week, Illinois continues to see high unemployment rates, although things have improved from one year ago. Select Illinois Department of Employment Security offices, meanwhile, have opened for appointment-only in-person services for
By Peter Hancock Voting rights advocates and minority community members urged Illinois lawmakers Thursday, Aug. 26 to take more time in redrawing legislative district maps so the general public can have more time to study whatever new maps will be proposed. “We’re joining other advocates today in asking for more
By Peter Hancock A capacity crowd packed into the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE)) room Wednesday, Aug. 18 and many more stood outside the building in Springfield to protest the State’s new indoor mask mandate in all public and nonpublic schools. “I’m so tired of hearing how resilient our
By Jerry Nowicki Hospitalizations for COVID-19 jumped by more than 13% from Sunday to Monday night while intensive care bed usage jumped 15% as the Delta Variant of the Virus continued to cause a surge nationwide. According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, 1,107 individuals with COVID-19-like illness were
By Peter Hancock Illinois residents will soon have greater access to mental health services under measures Gov. JB Pritzker signed into law Friday. Starting January 1, most insurance companies doing business in Illinois will be required to provide their beneficiaries with timely and proximate access to treatment for mental, emotional,
By Jerry Nowicki Lawyers for Illinois’ Democratic Party legislative leaders last week filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit from Republicans and a Mexican American advocacy group regarding newly drawn legislative maps, calling the challenge “purely speculative” until full U.S. Census data is released. The motion, filed Friday, was an
By Peter Hancock Republican Party lawmakers in Illinois are renewing their call for ethics reform following the resignation Wednesday of the General Assembly’s top watchdog, Legislative inspector general Carol Pope. “Inspector Pope has proven to be a dedicated public servant representing the people of Illinois and their desire for a
By Jerry Nowicki The State’s higher education agencies released updated COVID-19 guidance Monday encouraging all public and private higher education institutions in Illinois to issue mandatory vaccine policies. “Vaccination against COVID-19 is now widely available, and all persons over the age of 12 are eligible,” the guidance document reads. “Vaccination
By Jerry Nowicki The wide availability of COVID-19 vaccines has changed the State’s approach for mitigating the virus’ spread statewide and in schools. For school districts, that means suggested rather than required guidance, with an emphasis on local control in imposing mitigations. For the governor’s office, that means there are
By Peter Hancock Public high schools in Illinois soon will be required to teach students how to gain access and evaluate various kinds of news and social media they see online and elsewhere as part of their regular curriculum. That was among the 53 bills that governor JB Pritzker signed
By Peter Hancock Illinois residents who have health coverage through Medicaid now have access to a broad range of services, including mental health counseling, substance abuse treatment, smoking cessation and dental services. Governor JB Pritzker Tuesday signed Senate Bill 2294, which passed unanimously out of both chambers during the Spring
By Peter Hancock Illinois received its first credit rating upgrade in 23 years Tuesday when Moody’s Investors Services raised the State’s rating one notch, and cited “material improvement in the State’s finances.” Although the upgrade still leaves Illinois bonds rated just two notches above so-called “junk” status, governor JB Pritzker
