By Peter HancockCapitol News Illinoisphancock@capitolnewsillinois.com Illinois continues to suffer from a shortage of teachers and other education professionals, although recent efforts by the State to ease the strain have made an impact. That’s according to the latest annual survey of school officials from the Illinois Association of Regional Superintendents of...
By Peter Hancock A Republican proposal that would give citizens the ability to propose ethics-related constitutional amendments on the ballot received a bipartisan boost Tuesday, March 5 when former Democratic governor, Pat Quinn, endorsed it. “I think it’s very, very important that this year, 2024, that the people of Illinois...
By Peter Hancock In a long-expected move, national gun rights organizations are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Illinois’ ban on assault weapons and large capacity magazines. In separate petitions filed Monday, Feb. 12 the Colorado-based National Association for Gun Rights and the Nevada-based Firearms Policy Coalition asked the...
By Peter Hancock As the cost of higher education continues to rise in Illinois and elsewhere, a growing number of students are working to earn as many college credits as possible while they are still in high school. But even as the popularity continues to grow for “dual credit” offerings...
By Peter HancockCapitol News Illinoisphancock@capitolnewsillinois.com The U.S. Supreme Court issued two orders recently in turning down requests to block enforcement of Illinois’ assault weapons ban while challenges to the law are still being heard in lower courts. Lastweek Justice Amy Coney Barrett turned down a request from Republican Party State...
By Peter Hancock Elementary and secondary students in Illinois showed consistent improvements in their reading and math scores while the State’s high school graduation rate reached a 13-year high for the most recently concluded school year. Those are some of the conclusions from the most recent annual statewide school report...
By Peter Hancock Six months before the next presidential primary elections in Illinois, county clerks and other local election authorities are asking for the public’s help in stopping misinformation campaigns before they get started. Officials from 25 counties scheduled a series of news conferences Tuesday, Sept. 26 in Tazewell, McLean...
By Peter Hancock The State has paused a new policy requiring certain noncitizens enrolled in a Medicaid-like health insurance plan to pay copayments for certain services, instructing health care providers to refund any such payments they have already collected. Omar Shaker, the interim chief of administrative rules at the Department...
By Peter Hancock Governor JB Pritzker has spent much of his time in recent weeks promoting the State’s electric vehicle EV) industry and touting the impact of his signature Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, or CEJA, including during a weeklong trade mission to the United Kingdom. Pritzker was in Joliet...
By Peter Hancock Governor JB Pritzker and the State’s largest public employee union announced Tuesday, July 25 that they have agreed on a new contract that will provide a nearly 18% pay raise over four years, including a four percent raise this year. The contract expands parental leave to 12...
By Peter Hancock Governor JB Pritzker signed legislation Tuesday, June 27 that will dramatically alter the health insurance market in Illinois. The measures establish a state-based exchange for policies sold under the Affordable Care Act and give the Illinois Department of Insurance the authority to modify or reject proposed rate...
By Peter Hancock Immigrants in Illinois with or without permission from U.S. immigration authorities will soon be able to obtain standard driver’s licenses that can be used for identification. Governor JB Pritzker Friday, June 30 signed House Bill 3882, which will phase out the “Temporary Visitor Driver’s License,” or TVDL,...
By Peter Hancock Some Illinois lawmakers are calling for a review of one of the tests prospective teachers must pass in order to be licensed in Illinois. The test is known as the Teacher Performance Assessment, or “edTPA,” and it is intended to determine whether a prospective teacher has the...
By Peter Hancock Moody’s Investors Service announced Tuesday, March 14 that it has upgraded Illinois’ bond rating to A3, up from Baa1, marking the eighth credit upgrade the State has received in less than two years. Moody’s is now the second major rating agency to put Illinois in the ‘A’...
By Peter Hancock A temporary restraining order that partially blocks Illinois’ new assault weapons ban from being enforced will remain in place after a divided State appellate court panel’s ruling Tuesday, Jan. 31. The restraining order was issued Jan. 20 by Effingham County Circuit Judge Joshua Morrison, but it applies...
By Peter Hancock On the first full day of his second term, governor JB Pritzker Tuesday, Jan. 10 signed a bill banning the sale, distribution, and manufacture, of high-power assault weapons, .50 caliber rifles and ammunition, and large-capacity magazines, while still allowing those who already own such weapons to keep...
By Peter Hancock Illinois House Republican Leader Jim Durkin will left the Illinois Statehouse Tuesday, Jan. 10 for the last time as a State legislator. After a bruising 2022 election cycle in which House Republicans lost five seats, Durkin did not seek another term as leader of the caucus. But...
By Peter Hancock Some of the State’s leading law enforcement officials Tuesday, Dec. 20 urged lawmakers to pass a statewide ban on high-power, high-capacity, weapons, which they say are growing in prevalence in Illinois. “What the public asks members of the law enforcement community to do each and every day...
By Peter Hancock Victims and survivors of multiple mass shootings urged State lawmakers Monday, Dec. 12 to pass a ban on assault weapons, arguing that communities throughout Illinois have felt the pain of deadly mass shootings. “I was shot multiple times on the Fourth of July in Highland Park,” Lauren...
By Peter Hancock Illinois voters have approved a State constitutional amendment guaranteeing workers the right to organize and engage in collective bargaining. Estimates compiled by multiple media outlets projected Tuesday, Nov. 15 that the ballot measure had support on an estimated 53% of the total ballots cast in the election,...
