Philanthropic support, like the $500 million Press Forward nationwide initiative, is important. Legislation can make a difference too, and Illinois has two ambitious proposals, introduced by state Sen. Steve Stadelman of Rockford, that are worth strong consideration from lawmakers: Senate Bill 3591, the Journalism Preservation Act, would require social media and tech giants like Google and Facebook to compensate local news organizations for content they share and profit from. Senate Bill 3592 would create the Strengthening Community Media Act with hiring incentives, including a tax credit for news outlets to hire more reporters and for small businesses that advertise with

The plaintiffs filed a petition for declaratory relief and for a writ of injunction against Gov. JB Pritzker in December 2021 in regards to his use of the Illinois Emergency Agency Act, including a proclamation in September 2021 mandating school personnel to either receive a COVID-19 vaccine or undergo weekly testing in response to the “more aggressive and more transmissible” Delta variant.

“There are just not a lot of buildings with the parking, the ADA compliance, lighting and all the regulations we have to follow,” said Gretchen DeJaynes, Illinois Association of County Clerks former legislative chair and McDonough County Clerk.

“This would really help a lot of small businesses that would be able to stay open longer while it’s still sunlight outside,” state Rep. Bob Morgan said. “It would create a whole bunch of new revenue for a variety of small businesses throughout the state.”

The downstream effects of the state’s culture of corruption are making it harder for Illinoisans to better their lives. And even after decades of anti-poverty spending, the poverty rate in Chicago remains at 17% – higher than it was when President Lyndon Johnson launched the War on Poverty in 1964.

A WalletHub study found low-income Illinoisans pay 14% of their annual salary to sales, property and incomes taxes – more than anywhere else in the nation. Middle-income earners will spend 12.6% of their income on state and local taxes this year. The largest proportion will go toward covering sales and excise taxes on the purchase of goods.

David Greising, of the Better Government Association: “Pritzker does have a plan, and that makes him the first Illinois governor in 30 years to propose a way out of this seemingly insurmountable pension problem…There likely will be time to debate the alternative options. Chances are, Pritzker’s idea won’t be taken up during the current legislative session. But let’s embrace a breakthrough while we can — before the messy work of lawmaking gets underway and compromises and accommodations come into play.”

Less than 24 hours after she ordered Donald Trump removed from Illinois’ primary ballot , Cook County Circuit Court Judge Tracie Porter clarified the duration of a stay she placed on her removal order on Wednesday when she ruled President Trump “disqualified” and that any votes for him would be void if the order went into effect.

House bill 5617, which prohibits all Illinois public schools from having a mascot with a Native American name, could require more than 50 schools in the state to change their mascots, name and logo. Nokomis superintendent Scott Doerr said, “If at this time we had to make a change, especially in a short amount of time that this bill might go into effect, we’re talking about maybe $100,000 for signage change, uniforms and gym floors and all the mats and things that we have.”

California-based research company WestEd said “the research team was constrained by the data that the Illinois State Board of Education shared with us.” The data did not contain demographic information about individual students, including race/ethnicity, English learner status or level of economic disadvantage.

The complaint, filed by the Equal Protection Project, alleges that Western Illinois is violating the Civil Rights Act, Title IX, and the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

“Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker will set another state record if his $52.7 billion budget for 2025 is passed. He described it as ‘tight’ as well as ‘focused and disciplined.’ But it relies on $898 million in new taxes. It is nearly $13 billion more than the state budget when he took office. So, yes, it’s focused and disciplined – as much as sailors on leave.”

In Nevada, Pritzker’s group has given $1 million to Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom; that’s more than half of the $1.8 million

The Milwaukee transit system says it’s only using about half of its 11 electric buses on a daily basis because of maintenance issues.