Illinois governor JB Pritzker announced the 2025 recipients of the Order of Lincoln, the State’s highest honor for professional achievement and public service. Recipients are Bonnie Blair, Sandra Cisneros, Jeanne Gang, Janice K. Jackson, Carol Marin, and Julieanna L. Richardson. This year’s Lincon Laureates will be honored at the upcoming
By Ben Szalinski, Peter Hancock, & Jerry NowickiCapitol News Illinoisnews@capitolnewsillinois.com An improved revenue forecast is helping ease pressure on state finances as governor JB Pritzker calls for tightened spending to balance the budget without tax increases on everyday Illinoisans. During his annual state of the state and budget address on
By Peter HancockCapitol News Illinoisphancock@capitolnewsillinois.com Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul announced this week he has joined yet another multistate lawsuit against the Donald Trump Administration, this time over its decision to slash funding for university research grants through the National Institutes of Health. It was at least the fourth such
By Jade AubreyCapitol News Illinoisjaubrey@capitolnewsillinois.com Illinois lawmakers kicked off their spring legislative session roughly three weeks ago, but lawmakers in the House have already filed more than 1,800 bills that could be acted on before the General Assembly adjourns in May. The vast majority of the ideas won’t make it
By Ben SzalinskiCapitol News Illinoisbszalinski@capitolnewsillinois.com Democrats continue to hold a supermajority in the Illinois House thanks to illegally gerrymandered House districts, House Republicans allege in a new lawsuit filed with the Illinois Supreme Court Tuesday. The lawsuit alleges the current House map fails to meet state constitutional requirements that districts
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
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
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
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”
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
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
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
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
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
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!
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
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
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
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,
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
