By Jenna SchweikertCapitol News Illinoisjschweikert@capitolnewsillinois.com New work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) are in effect as of February 1, threatening benefits for hundreds of thousands of Illinoisians. Adults aged 18 to 64 without dependents under age 14 will be required to work, participate in SNAP Employment and
By Ben SzalinskiCapitol News Illinoisbszalinski@capitolnewsillinois.com Governor JB Pritzker is continuing to push a plan he introduced two years ago to reform Illinois pensions. The governor announced on Monday he is reviving a plan he introduced during his 2024 budget address that calls for fully funding pensions by 2048 and changing
By Brenden MooreCapitol News Illinoisbmoore@capitolnewsillinois.com Illinois’ once-sleepy Democratic primary for retiring senator Dick Durbin’s seat heated up January 27 as the three leading contenders used their first live debate to cast themselves as the strongest bulwark against president Donald Trump and his administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement tactics. The hourlong debate,
By Olivia ArditoMedill Illinois News Bureaunews@capitolnewsillinois.com Flu cases are increasing rapidly in Illinois as the state sees its worst flu season in more than 15 years. At least 100 people have died from the flu this season in Illinois, with 77 of those deaths occurring this month alone, according to
By Peter HancockCapitol News Illinoisphancock@capitolnewsillinois.com A multibillion-dollar budget crisis will hit the Illinois’ Medicaid program in the next few years unless State lawmakers and governor JB Pritzker act to prevent it, budget analysts both inside and outside State government warn. The crisis comes from changes in federal Medicaid policy that
By Brenden MooreCapitol News Illinoisbmoore@capitolnewsillinois.com Illinois and Chicago sued the Donald Trump administration January 12, seeking to severely limit immigration agents’ authority in the state after accusing the feds of unleashing an “organized bombardment” to coerce state and local officials to change their immigration policies. State and city leaders want
By Peter HancockCapitol News Illinoisphancock@capitolnewsillinois.com The Illinois Department of Human Services disclosed recently that it mistakenly uploaded private health-related information about hundreds of thousands of Illinoisans to a publicly accessible website and left it there for more than three years before it discovered the mistake. But the agency would not
By Maggie DoughertyCapitol News Illinoismdougherty@capitolnewsillinois.com Editor’s note: A correction was made to the current return on equity approved by the ICC in 2023 was supposed to be 9.38%, not 5.5%. Peoples Gas on Monday filed a $202.3 million rate hike request with the Illinois Commerce Commission, sparking public outcry and
By Peter HancockCapitol News Illinoisphancock@capitolnewsillinois.com Illinois residents who buy health insurance on the State-run marketplace now have a little more time to sign up for coverage for the upcoming year. Officials at Get Covered Illinois, the new state-run marketplace for insurance sold under the Affordable Care Act, announced Tuesday they
By Maggie DoughertyCapitol News Illinoismdougherty@capitolnewsillinois.com Illinois lawmakers vowed to keep fighting for protections against artificial intelligence after President Donald Trump signed an executive order December 11 to shield tech companies from state laws. Trump’s order targets state regulations, including several in Illinois, that he said are inconsistent with national policy
By Brenden MooreCapitol News Illinoisbmoore@capitolnewsillinois.com Christening it as part of a “nation-leading” response to aggressive federal immigration raids, governor JB Pritzker signed legislation December 9 allowing Illinois residents to sue immigration agents who arrest them in or near courthouses or if they believe their constitutional rights were violated. The new
By Ben SzalinskiCapitol News Illinoisbszalinski@capitolnewsillinois.com Recent cuts by president Donald Trump’s administration could reduce the size of Illinois’ economy by nearly $10 billion each year, according to a new report released Monday by the Illinois Economic Policy Institute. The report offers a detailed looked at the effects of cuts enacted
By Peter HancockCapitol News Illinoisphancock@capitolnewsillinois.com If advocates, stakeholders, and members of the public were granted all their requests for public school funding next year, lawmakers would have to increase the State’s K-12 education budget by nearly three-quarters of a billion dollars. That’s the approximate total of all the requests that
By Brenden MooreCapitol News Illinoisbmoore@capitolnewsillinois.com Illinois driver’s licenses and identification cards will officially enter the digital realm this week. Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias announced Tuesday that people will now have the option to add their Illinois-issued licenses and IDs to the digital wallets on their cellphones. The long-awaited technological
By Ben SzalinskiCapitol News Illinoisbszalinski@capitolnewsillinois.com Most state agencies were required to submit spending cut plans to Gov. JB Pritzker by Oct. 23, but the governor’s office has declined to release details about those plans. A spokesperson for Pritzker said the governor’s budget office is still reviewing the proposed cuts. “Gov.
By Brenden MooreCapitol News Illinois bmoore@capitolnewsillinois.com Saying that he could not justify “playing with other people’s lives” as millions of Americans went without their paychecks and benefits, Sen. Dick Durbin on Thursday defended his vote to reopen the government earlier this week after a record-long federal government shutdown that stretched more
By Ben SzalinskiCapitol News Illinoisbszalinski@capitolnewsillinois.com U.S. senator Dick Durbin is once again at odds with other prominent Illinois Democrats over a vote that set in motion a plan to end the record-long federal government shutdown. Durbin, who is not seeking reelection in 2026, was one of eight members in the
By Ben SzalinskiCapitol News Illinoisbszalinski@capitolnewsillinois.com Illinois lawmakers are sending a bill to governor JB Pritzker that makes a pair of changes to Illinois’ tax code in response to new federal tax provisions that could reduce state revenue. The Governor’s Office of Management and Budget projected last month that Illinois is
By Maggie DoughertyCapitol News Illinoismdougherty@capitolnewsillinois.com Illinois mother of four and food delivery driver Aubrey Lewandowski says she immediately started rationing the food she had left after getting a text alerting her that her Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits may not come through next month. Lewandowski will be forced
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
