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
Governor JB Pritzker signed legislation into law August 20 introduced and passed by assistant House minority leader representative Keith Wheeler, R-Oswego, which allows expectant mothers in their third trimester to obtain a free placard for their vehicle valid for 90 days permitting them to park in handicap designated spots throughout
I had lunch the other day with two friends from way back. When we sat down at a public golf course in Prophetstown in northwest Illinois, I realized each of us has been president of a respected statewide organization over many decades. There might be a column here, I thought.
By Peter Hancock A new law in Illinois will make it easier for part-time school and college employees to receive paid family and medical leave. Governor JB Pritzker signed a bill Tuesday lowering the threshold for those workers so that most will be eligible for the benefit after one year
To borrow a popular sports metaphor, 2022 is likely a rebuilding year for an Illinois Republican Party that is on the ropes (can’t get away from sports lingo). To be honest, chances of the GOP winning statewide offices next year are slim, but not impossible. And unless overturned by the
By Jerry Nowicki Within five miles of the scene of a 2019 workplace mass shooting that left six victims dead and five law enforcement officers injured, governor JB Pritzker signed a wide-ranging bill reforming the State’s gun laws Monday at the Aurora Police Department. Advocates for the new law, including
By Jerry Nowicki Illinois will have new COVID-19 guidance on face coverings after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated its guidance Tuesday to reflect that even individuals vaccinated against COVID-19 should wear masks while indoors in areas of the country where the virus is surging. CDC
By Jerry Nowicki Democratic Party governor JB Pritzker announced Monday he will seek a second term, joined once again by Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton as a running mate. In a three-minute kickoff video ending with the tagline “strong leadership in tough times,” the governor emphasized his response to the COVID-19
State representative Barbara Hernandez, D-Aurora, is informing residents of news from the Secretary of State’s Office that driver’s licenses and state ID card expiration dates have been extended. “Many driver’s facilities have experienced high volumes of individuals visiting since facilities have reopened during the pandemic, so the Secretary of State’s
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
By Peter Hancock The Illinois economy showed strong signs of recovery during the first quarter of this year when businesses continued to reopen from the pandemic and direct government payments flowed to businesses and individual consumers. Data released last week from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) showed the
By Roger Eddy The Spring session of the Illinois General Assembly is history. At the beginning of the session, there was renewed hope that critical aspects of Illinois government might change. After all, for the first time in decades, the House had a new speaker. After nearly 40 years as
State representative Stephanie Kifowit, D-Oswego, issued the following statement upon the General Assembly’s adjournment of the Spring legislative session this week: “Earlier this year, we underwent a refreshing, long-sought-after change to House leadership as my colleagues and I came together to elect a new speaker of the House, Emanuel “Chris”
The Illinois House of Representatives voted last week to pass legislation co-sponsored by assistant minority leader, representative Keith Wheeler, R-Oswego, to impose a 10-year term limit on legislative leaders. The legislation is House Bill 642 and applies to the positions of speaker of the House, president of the Senate, and
I was a State agency director on three occasions back in the day, yet I don’t think I could navigate the maze of dozens of separate, and scattered, State and local social service agencies that have sprung up over the decades to address problems. It’s time for a major reset,
By Sarah Mansur Two Republican lawmakers Monday unveiled legislation to strengthen internal policies at State-run veterans homes in the case of a disease outbreak, such as the COVID-19 outbreak at the LaSalle Veterans’ Home that resulted in 36 resident deaths since the pandemic began last year. The bill, sponsored by
Illinois lawmakers are required to draw new legislative and congressional district maps this year, but that process may be thrown into chaos because of delays in producing the census numbers needed to draw equal districts. The U.S. Census Bureau announced Friday that due to the COVID-19 pandemic and other delays,
By Jerry Nowicki The State’s COVID-19 seven-day average case positivity rate dropped to 5.7% Tuesday, the lowest it has been since October 23, 2020. The positivity rate peaked at 13.2% on a rolling average as of November 13, 2020 and the entire State entered strict Tier 3 mitigations November 20.
By Sarah Mansur Editor’s note: This story is part of an ongoing “Lame Duck Look Back” series in which Capitol News Illinois is following up on the major bills that passed both chambers of the General Assembly in the January 8-13 lame duck session. The Illinois General Assembly last week
