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‘Blatantly unlawful’ federal spending freeze sends state scrambling; Illinois among several states filing lawsuit to block freeze

On January 28, 2025January 28, 2025 By admin

By Ben Szalinski & Peter HancockCapitol News Illinoisbszalinski@capitolnewsillinois.comphancock@capitolnewsillinois.com State agencies, nonprofit organizations and a host of other entities that rely on federal funding were thrown into chaos Tuesday following the release of a White House memo that froze – at least temporarily – the distribution of all federal grants, loans

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Karina’s Bill to remove guns from domestic violence situations

On January 14, 2025January 15, 2025 By admin

By Ben SzalinskiCapitol News Illinoisbszalinski@capitolnewsillinois.com It’s been 18 months since Karina Gonzalez and her 15-year-old daughter Daniela were shot and killed on Fourth of July weekend at their Chicago home, allegedly by her husband. Gonzalez had filed for an order of protection from her husband just two weeks before her

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Voting open for new Illinois flag

On January 14, 2025January 14, 2025 By admin

By Jerry NowickiCapitol News Illinoisjnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com Illinoisans can now vote on whether they want a new state flag. The Illinois Secretary of State’s office officially opened the voting portal on Friday, and votes will be accepted through Feb. 14. Voters can choose from 10 designs for a new flag, the current

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Rep. Davis condemns impractical replacement of Illinois coal plants

On January 7, 2025January 7, 2025 By admin

With the winter heating season kicking off, Illinois State representative Jed Davis condemned the staggering impracticality of replacing the state’s coal-fired power plants with “clean” energy by 2045, calling the current law “an alarming disregard for Illinois’ energy costs and land-use realities.” Using solar farms as an example of “clean”

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Bill aims to reduce Illinois requirements for name changes

On December 30, 2024December 30, 2024 By admin

By Atmika IyerMedill Illinois News Bureaufor Capitol News Illinoisatmikaiyer2025@u.northwestern.edu Illinois lawmakers in early January could consider easing requirements for residents to change their names, a move proponents say will reduce risks for victims of domestic abuse, transgender residents, and others. The measure must clear the full Senate in the first

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Bill to phase out subminimum wage for disabled workers

On November 26, 2024November 26, 2024 By admin

By Ben SzalinskiCapitol News Illinoisbszalinski@capitolnewsillinois.com A long-awaited bill to stop Illinois organizations from paying subminimum wage to workers with disabilities will soon head to governor JB Pritzker’s desk after being approved by the Senate Thursday. The Senate took a bipartisan 43-11 vote to pass the legislation that supporters dub the

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Pritzker’s budget office projects $3.2B deficit

On November 5, 2024November 5, 2024 By admin

By Jerry NowickiCapitol News Illinoisjnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com The first extensive public look at next year’s State finances contains a warning to lawmakers from the governor’s office: “The ability to fund new programs will be severely limited” next fiscal year. That comes from the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget, which projected a

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Good things come to an end for Illinois coach Bielema

On November 5, 2024November 5, 2024 By admin

By Woodrow Carroll Going into last Saturday’s Minnesota at Illinois’ football game, Illinois head coach, Brett Bielema, had a 10-0 lifetime record against the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Seven of those victories were from when Bielema was the Wisconsin coach and the final three were a product of Bielema’s last three

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Three big college victories: NIU, Northwestern, Illinois

On October 15, 2024October 15, 2024 By admin

By Woodrow Carroll It was a rare weekend for the state of Illinois’ major college football programs when Northwestern, Northern Illinois, and Illinois each recorded victories last Friday and Saturday. And for a bonus the Chicago Bears won. What is going on? The Northwestern Wildcats (3-3 and 1-2) got things

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NIU on bye, Illinois 3-0, Northwestern vs. Wash.

On September 17, 2024September 17, 2024 By admin

By Woodrow Carroll After suffering a shocking upset at the hands of Northern Illinois University, there was a feeling that Notre Dame would be fired up when they played Purdue last Saturday at Purdue. It was true! Notre Dame (2-1) won, 66-7, and were up 42-0 at halftime. Historical note!

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A year after end of cash bail, no change in failure to appear rate, analysis shows

On September 14, 2024September 14, 2024 By admin

By Peter HancockCapitol News Illinoisphancock@capitolnewsillinois.com One year after Illinois became the first state in the nation to eliminate the use of cash bail, the impact on the state’s criminal justice system appears to have been far less dramatic than people on either side of the debate had predicted. That, at

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Illinois Supreme Court hears cases pertaining to detention under SAFE-T Act

On September 10, 2024September 11, 2024 By admin

By Peter HancockCapitol News Illinoisphancock@capitolnewsillinois.com The Illinois Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday in a pair of cases that test the authority of local courts to hold criminal suspects behind bars while they await trial. The cases come almost one year to the day after the court allowed a new law

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Northern Illinois defeats Notre Dame, Illinois undefeated

On September 10, 2024September 9, 2024 By admin

By Woodrow Carroll Due to a bye week, the Northern Illinois football program will have an extra week to savor their 16-14 monster upset of Notre Dame last Saturday in South Bend. The next game for Northern Illinois will be at home Saturday, Sept. 21 against Buffalo, a Mid-American Conference

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New entrants to marijuana market still struggle against entrenched businesses

On September 2, 2024September 2, 2024 By admin

By Dilpreet RajuCapitol News Illinoisdraju@capitolnewsillinois.com Medical marijuana patients can now purchase cannabis grown by small businesses as part of their allotment, Illinois’ top cannabis regulator said, but smaller, newly licensed cannabis growers are still seeking greater access to the state’s medical marijuana customers. Illinois legalized medicinal marijuana beginning in 2014,

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Joliet Statesville Correctional ordered closed

On August 13, 2024August 14, 2024 By admin

By Hannah MeiselCapitol News Illinoishmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com A federal judge is ordering governor JB Pritzker’s administration to move the vast majority of those incarcerated at Stateville Correctional Center near Joliet out of the aging prison by the end of September, citing health and safety concerns posed by the facility. The Illinois Department

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New State chief aging officer: Future help

On August 13, 2024August 14, 2024 By admin

By Hannah Meisel & Andrew AdamsCapitol News Illinoisnews@capitolnewsillinois.com Governor JB Pritzker Tuesday kicked off a decade-long process to address the needs of aging Illinoisans, by signing an executive order to hire a chief planning officer within the State’s Department on Aging. With the U.S. Census Bureau estimating that approximately one

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Pritzker signs Worker Freedom of Speech Act

On August 6, 2024August 6, 2024 By admin

By Hannah MeiselCapitol News IllinoisHmeisel@Capitolnewsillinois.com Illinois governor JB Pritzker Wednesday, July 31 signed legislation aimed at curtailing the practice of “captive audience” meetings, a strategy businesses sometimes use to dissuade workers from forming a union. The law, dubbed the “Worker Freedom of Speech Act,” was a top priority this Spring

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Next Move Illinois seeks feedback

On July 30, 2024July 30, 2024 By admin

The Illinois Department of Transportation announced recently the launch of Next Move Illinois, a new statewide public transportation plan to create a strategic vision, recommend policy, make performance updates and identify specific initiatives. The last public transportation plan for Illinois was completed in 2018. “Next Move Illinois is dedicated to

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Governor Pritzker: ‘All in’ for Joe Biden

On July 9, 2024July 10, 2024 By admin

By Jerry NowickiCapitol News Illinoisjnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com Governor JB Pritzker said Tuesday, July 9 he is “all in” for president Joe Biden after visiting the White House last week with other Democratic Party governors. He went to Washington, D.C., to meet with the president and members of the Democratic Governors Association Wednesday,

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State ends fiscal year with nearly $5B cash on hand

On July 9, 2024July 10, 2024 By admin

By Jerry NowickiCapitol News Illinoisjnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com Illinois entered a new fiscal year Monday, July 1, with a bit of a financial cushion when the prior year’s revenues exceeded final projections by approximately $123 million. The state ended fiscal year 2024 with approximately $4.7 billion cash on hand, or approximately nine percent