Get the latest news from around Illinois.
The Center Square: Public-sector unions spend more on Illinois politics than other states
A new Commonwealth Foundation report reveals the four largest government unions spent $27.9 million on Illinois politics from 2021-2022. That’s more money than any other state.
Report co-author Dave Osborne said governments are increasingly led by politicians who care more about union executives than union members or taxpayers.
Chicago Tribune: Migrants arriving by busload in Rosemont and Cicero are sent away, but welcomed in Oak Park, as suburbs respond differently to crisis
Busloads of migrants were brought in the past week to Rosemont and Cicero, officials said, but were turned away.
Several buses from El Paso, Texas, arrived in the past week at the Metra stations in Cicero and in Rosemont near O’Hare International Airport’s remote parking.
Chicago Sun-Times: Four years later, City Council finally poised to extend lobbyist requirements to nonprofits
Chicago is finally getting around to broadening the definition of registered lobbyists to include nonprofits, but only after softening the blow to avoid tying their hands with costly red tape.
Four years ago, then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot convinced the City Council to approve the latest in a seemingly endless string of ethics reforms in response to the corruption scandal at the center of the ongoing trial of former Ald. Edward M. Burke (14th).
CBS Chicago: Chicago puts plans for Morgan Park migrant tent camp on back burner
Nearly one week after Gov. JB Pritzker halted Chicago’s plans to build a tent camp for migrants in Brighton Park, the city is putting its backup plan for a tent camp in Morgan Park on the back burner for now.
Last Tuesday, Pritzker announced the state would no longer be moving forward with plans to help the city build a winterized tent camp at 38th and California, saying there were too many environmental concerns at the proposed site to proceed.
WCIA: New professional licensing system coming to Illinois
A new professional licensing system is coming to Illinois, thanks to a recent state law signed by Governor J.B. Pritzker.
IDPFR will get a new licensing system because of the law, after many advocates called the old system outdated to the point it interfered with several industries. More than a million workers in the state require a license or registration.
Capitol News: Secretary of State helps launch first-of-its-kind state ID program for inmates exiting Cook County Jail
Certain detainees leaving Cook County jail will now be given a state ID card upon release in a new pilot program announced Monday by Sheriff Tom Dart and Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias.
Inmates released from Illinois prisons have been receiving state IDs at no charge since late 2020 when state leaders launched a pilot program, which was subsequently expanded statewide and codified into state law earlier this year. But doing the same with detainees in county jails has proved much more difficult. Prison inmates have more stable and predictable release dates, but jail detainees may stay for as long as years while awaiting trial, or as short as just a few hours.