Get the latest news from around Illinois.
The Center Square: Candidates file lawsuit challenging Illinois' hastily changed election law
Candidates hopeful to run for the Illinois General Assembly filed a lawsuit alleging violation of constitutional voting rights resulting from recent changes in the rules for slating candidates to fill vacancies.
Leslie Collazo is a plaintiff in the lawsuit filed Friday in Sangamon County Circuit Court. The defendants include officials from the Illinois State Board of Elections and Attorney General Kwame Raoul.
The State Journal-Register: Pritzker encountering legislative resistance to $52.7 billion budget proposal. Now what?
Less than two weeks until its scheduled adjournment, state lawmakers and Gov. JB Pritzker appear to be at-odds in budget negotiations.
The Democratic governor is requesting legislative approval of a $52.7 billion budget for the upcoming fiscal year, accompanied with approximately $800 million in tax increases. Those increases, namely extending an expiring cap on losses that corporations can claim on taxes to gain $526 million and increasing the tax on sportsbooks’ revenues from 15% to 35% to collect another $200 million, are meeting resistance in Springfield.
The Chicago Tribune: ‘We’re on the friends and family plan now’: New details emerge in alleged AT&T scheme to bribe House speaker
Less than two weeks after AT&T Illinois’ bill to end mandated landline service became law in 2017, the utility’s then-president, Paul La Schiazza, allegedly received a request from a relative of House Speaker Michael Madigan to sponsor a nonprofit event.
The unidentified relative said the idea came “at the suggestion of our good friend, Mike McClain,” a former lobbyist and Madigan’s longtime confidant, according to a new prosecution filing. La Schiazza forwarded the request to a colleague in the legislative affairs department on July 12, 2017, writing “this will be endless,” according to the filing.
The Daily Herald: Unlikely allies? Suburban mayor, GOP legislator backs Bears’ lakefront plan
The governor of Illinois and top leaders in both chambers of the state legislature have thrown cold water on the Bears’ request for public subsidies to develop a new Chicago lakefront stadium.
But the plan has a key supporter who wields influence in the Northwest suburbs, city of Chicago and hallways of the state Capitol in Springfield: Brad Stephens.
WTTW: Chicago City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin Fined $10K for Firing Whistleblowers
The Chicago Board of Ethics fined City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin $10,000 on Monday for violating the government ethics ordinance by firing whistleblowers and improperly using city resources.
In keeping with the rules governing the inspector general and Chicago Board of Ethics, Conyears-Ervin was not named by the board. However, sources confirmed to WTTW News that Conyears-Ervin was the subject of the board’s action.
WAND: Millions of Illinoisans remain enrolled in Medicaid post COVID-19 pandemic
73% of Illinois Medicaid customers will remain eligible for coverage thanks to quick action by the Pritzker administration last year. The governor told reporters in Chicago Monday he was committed to keeping people on Medicaid after COVID-19 pandemic protections for renewal ended.
Over the past year, roughly 3.8 million Illinoisans went through Medicaid care re-determination for the first time since March of 2020. Pritzker said Illinois needed all hands on deck to help those in need.
The Center Square: Candidates file lawsuit challenging Illinois' hastily changed election law
Candidates hopeful to run for the Illinois General Assembly filed a lawsuit alleging violation of constitutional voting rights resulting from recent changes in the rules for slating candidates to fill vacancies.
Leslie Collazo is a plaintiff in the lawsuit filed Friday in Sangamon County Circuit Court. The defendants include officials from the Illinois State Board of Elections and Attorney General Kwame Raoul.
Chicago Sun-Times: Chicagoans give CPS a ‘C,’ say students are not learning enough, according to survey
Despite years of trying to convince Chicagoans that public school students here are making remarkable academic progress, most residents give the schools a grade of C and say students are not learning enough.
That’s according to a poll released Tuesday from Public Agenda, a nonpartisan research organization. WBEZ and the Sun-Times collaborated with Public Agenda and the Joyce Foundation, which funded the project.
CIProud: Woodford County Board to vote on non-sanctuary status again
Woodford County’s Public Safety Committee unanimously passed a resolution that would declare the county a non-sanctuary county, which now requires final approval from the County Board.
Non-sanctuary status means a county will not provide taxpayer funded services for migrants if they were to enter the county. About 12 counties across Illinois have declared that status.