Illinois employers announced more than 1,100 layoffs in May as part of planned “mass layoffs,” the most in any month so far this year, according to the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act Report from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.

Employers are required to file with the state for the WARN Report each month, giving 60 days notice of mass layoffs at single employment sites.

A new law will make it easier for Illinoisans to expunge or seal a felony drug conviction, even if they test positive for cannabis during the process.

House Bill 4392, which has been signed into law, removes a previous requirement for a person seeking the expungement or sealing of convictions to test negative for cannabis. It applies to convictions for violation of the Illinois Controlled Substances Act, the Methamphetamine Control and Community Protection Act, or the Cannabis Control Act. It also works for felony records of a qualified probation for a felony drug offense.

A Sangamon County Circuit Court judge on Thursday denied a petition that sought to block an amendment that would codify union powers in the Illinois state constitution from appearing on the November ballot.

The case was brought by parents and teachers from Chicago Public Schools and claims that Amendment 1 would unconstitutionally enshrine union powers in the Illinois Constitution, making it impossible for lawmakers to curb union powers and giving union contracts more weight than state law. They say thatviolates federal law governing labor relations.

The Illinois Primary election is less than four weeks away, and the hotly contested Republican race for governor is on the ballot.

Seats in the U.S. House and Senate, and Illinois General Assembly, are also in contention.