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 Jerry Nowicki & Hannah MeiselCapitol News Illinoisnews@capitolnewsillinois.com Illinois cannot yet file suit against the federal government for an apparent plan to send federal troops to Chicago, Illinois attorney general Kwame Raoul said, but if boots hit the ground, president Donald Trump “should expect a legal challenge here.” It would
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 Hannah Meisel& Jerry NowickiCapitol News Illinoisnews@capitolnewsillinois.com Jim Edgar, Illinois’ 38th governor who served from 1991 to 1999, died Sunday after disclosing an aggressive cancer diagnosis earlier this year. He was 79. Though he’d been out of power for 26 years — more time than the two decades he spent
By Anna Claire Vollersstateline.orgavollers@stateline.org After the Donald Trump administration slashed billions in state and local public health funding from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention earlier this year, the eventual impact on states split sharply along political lines. Democratic-led states that sued to block the cuts, including Illinois,
By Peter HancockCapitol News Illinoisphancock@capitolnewsillinois.com The Illinois State Board of Elections said this week it will not hand over to the Donald Trump administration a copy of the state’s complete, unredacted voter registration database, citing state laws that require the agency to protect voters’ sensitive personal information. In a letter
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 Peter HancockCapitol News Illinoisphancock@capitolnewsillinois.com Two veteran federal officials from Illinois are relaunching an effort to amend the Illinois Constitution and end partisan gerrymandering in state legislative districts. Bill Daley, a Democrat from Chicago who served as secretary of commerce under President Bill Clinton, and Ray LaHood, a former Republican
By Peter HancockCapitol News Illinoisphancock@capitolnewsillinois.com Federal officials are continuing to press their demand for Illinois’ unredacted voter registration database, which includes sensitive personal information, and are now giving state officials until Monday, Sept. 1, to comply. In an email Thursday, Aug. 21, Michael E. Gates, an attorney in the Civil
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 Andrew AdamsCapitol News Illinoisaadams@capitolnewsillinois.com A group of former Barack Obama administration officials and election lawyers announced Tuesday they are attempting to reform the way the state draws district maps for the state legislature. They want to do this by passing a state constitutional amendment via a ballot initiative during
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 Andrew AdamsCapitol News Illinoisaadams@capitolnewsillinois.com The Chicago Cubs will host their fourth Major League Baseball All-Star Game in 2027. The announcement, made Friday by MLB and Cubs officials, was attended by a cadre of elected officials, including Chicago’s mayor and several Chicago alderpeople, governor JB Pritzker, several state lawmakers and
By Peter HancockCapitol News Illinoisphancock@capitolnewsillinois.com Gun owners in Illinois will soon be required to take additional measures to keep their weapons out of the hands of children under a new law signed Monday by governor JB Pritzker. In addition, law enforcement officers in the state must now start tracing the
By Peter HancockCapitol News Illinoisphancock@capitolnewsillinois.com Governor JB Pritzker is asking state lawmakers for more authority to regulate the homeowners insurance market in Illinois. His comments came after the Bloomington-based State Farm Fire and Casualty Company notified the Illinois Department of Insurance that it was raising premiums for residential property casualty
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 Peter HancockCapitol News Illinoisphancock@capitolnewsillinois.com Hospital officials in Illinois say they will have to make some difficult decisions in the next few years that could involve laying off staff, cutting back services, and even closing some facilities entirely. That’s the expected result of federal funding cuts built into the recently
By Andrew AdamsCapitol News Illinoisaadams@capitolnewsillinois.com President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans earlier this month curtailed federal tax incentives for the solar energy industry and for individuals and companies that purchase solar panels. The move sent shockwaves through the industry nationwide, pulling key incentives for major projects and residential rooftop solar
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
