By Brenden Moore & Peter HancockCapitol News Illinoisnews@capitolnewsillinois.com July 25 is now officially Emmett Till Day in Illinois. Illinois governor JB Pritzker signed legislation codifying the designation ahead of what would have been Till’s 85th birthday. It was one of 78 bills the governor signed last week. Till, a 14-year-old
By Peter HancockCapitol News Illinoisphancock@capitolnewsillinois.com Students in all Illinois public schools will soon have to abide by rules barring them from using cellphones or other personal electronic communication devices during school hours unless they have been given specific permission to use them. Although many districts already have similar policies in
By Ben SzalinskiCapitol News Illinoisbszalinski@capitolnewsillinois.com Governor JB Pritzker signed 31 new laws on Friday as he continues evaluating measures passed in the spring session, including bills banning certain ingredients from cosmetics and correcting the State’s property tax laws. Access to birth control Senate Bill 3341 allows minors to receive birth
By Jenna Schweikert, Brenden Moore, Ben Szalinski, and Nikoel HytrekCapitol News Illinoisnews@capitolnewsillinois.com The Illinois House approved legislation April 8 that would prohibit the federal government from operating a new immigration detention center within 1,500 feet of any home, school, day care center, park, forest preserve, cemetery or place of worship.
As prices of everyday essentials continue to rise across the country, State Rep. Matt Hanson, D-Montgomery, is working to provide some immediate relief to Illinois customers by passing a new measure to ensure discounts offered by businesses are honored or easily accessible. “Right now, every penny counts,” said Hanson. “There
By Jenna Schweikert, Nikoel Hytrek, Brenden Moore, & Ben SzalinskiCapitol News Illinoisnews@capitolnewsillinois.com The Illinois House passed 264 bills out of committee this week ahead of Friday’s deadline, kicking the legislative session into high gear with two months to go before adjournment. While the committee passage of bills marks early progress,
Congressman Bill Foster (D-IL) issued the following statement on the DHS Funding Vote: “As I have said throughout this DHS shutdown, I will vote no on any funding for ICE that does not include serious reforms. “After Operation Midway Blitz and the killing of two Americans in Minneapolis, it is
February 2 U.S. congressmen Bill Foster (D-IL) and Pete Sessions (R-TX) announced the introduction of bipartisan legislation to strengthen America’s digital identity infrastructure and protect individuals, businesses, and government programs from rapidly rising identity fraud and theft. The Stop Identity Fraud and Identity Theft Act establishes a government-wide approach to
By Ben Szalinski, Brenden Moore, & Peter HancockCapitol News Illinoisnews@capitolnewsillinois.com Illinois’ statewide 1% grocery tax will go away January 1, though many people will continue to pay it at the local level. Data compiled by the Illinois Municipal League shows that 656 municipalities — a little more than half of
By Andrew AdamsCapitol News Illinoisnews@capitolnewsillinois.com Governor JB Pritzker signed 266 laws on Friday, moving closer to finalizing his part in approving — or rejecting — over 430 laws sent to him by lawmakers this spring. The new laws include measures to make public defenders more independent, tighten safety regulations at
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 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
State representative Jed Davis (R-Yorkville) has filed two bills to improve teacher recruitment in Illinois. “As the son of a teacher who spent over 30 years in the classroom, I know firsthand the value of promoting and supporting educators,” said Rep. Davis. “It’s why I filed these bills – to
By Ben SzalinskiCapitol News Illinoisbszalinski@capitolnewsillinois.com An Illinois Senate committee advanced a bill Tuesday, Feb. 18 that would strictly limit police’s ability to search a vehicle after smelling cannabis. The Senate Criminal Law Committee voted 7-3 to advance Senate Bill 42, which would eliminate the requirement that cannabis be transported in
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 Time to study up, Illinois. When the clock hits midnight on New Year’s Day, 293 new state laws will take effect. Those include some of the defining bills of the 2024 legislative session and others that will change how people get IDs, evaluate job postings
By Peter Hancock and Hannah MeiselCapitol News Illinois The Illinois Supreme Court last week vacated a lower court ruling and reinstated a statute that authorizes the state to revoke a person’s Firearm Owners Identification card once they’ve been charged with a felony, even if they haven’t yet been convicted. The
By Beth HundsdorferCapitol News Illinoisbhundsdorfer@capitolnewsillinois.com An Illinois law intended to help people with mental illness avoid confrontations with police had been on the books for three years when Sonya Massey was shot by a Sangamon County Sheriff’s deputy.The Community Emergency Services and Supports Act, or CESSA, requires mental and behavioral
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
By Dilpreet Raju, Cole Longcor, & Alex AbbedutoCapitol News Illinoisnews@capitolnewsillinois.com Illinois lawmakers missed a self-imposed Friday deadline for passing a budget, but they had approved more than 250 bills last week as of Friday afternoon. Amid the flurry of legislation was a measure prohibiting State universities from admitting students based
