Among the changes, the court will now only allow “one-at-a-time” appeals, meaning that parties cannot appeal a new detention decision by a judge if a previous appeal is in the works; the court requires notification within 24 hours if the appeal becomes moot due to a resolution in the case; and the 14-day deadline to file will be eliminated, reasoning that people are rushing into decisions about whether to appeal due to the deadline.

Illinois given an F, and ranked dead last among the states.

The order permits chief circuit judges to enter local orders approving the operational challenges documented by the Supreme Court and to order these hearings to be conducted remotely where necessary.

If Frerichs’ plan becomes law, the nonprofit investment pool would be structured in the same way as the Illinois Public Treasurer’s Investment Pool – also known as the Illinois Funds. The Illinois Funds allows units of government to invest their funds safely while benefiting from the economies of scale available through a pooled investment fund portfolio that exceeds $19 billion. The pool invests in liquid, high-quality short-term investments.

Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office Monday filed an appeal directly to the Supreme Court after a Madison County judge last week ruled that a new state law which says constitutional challenges to state laws and actions can only be filed in Cook or Sangamon counties violated the due process rights of one plaintiff in a lawsuit in that jurisdiction.

The commission found the original plans lacked sufficient evidence that they would benefit low-income and traditionally disadvantaged communities – a requirement of CEJA – and that the plans didn’t demonstrate how the utilities would keep monthly bills affordable. Both ComEd and Ameran Illinois explicitly responded to those criticisms in their revised filings, including more in-depth calculations that suggest most of the benefits of grid modernization and clean energy will go toward historically disadvantaged and low-income communities.

Gallatin County and Alexander County, both in southern Illinois, each lost more than 30 people for every 1,000 residents, by far the fastest rates in the state. Stark County, Edwards County and White County experienced the next fastest declines.

Charles Pelkie, the chief of staff for the Will County Clerk’s Office, said 60 faulty vote-by-mail ballots went out but they sent corrected ballots to the affected precinct.

The legislation, like House Bill 5345, would nearly double the current required hourly wage for tipped employees, eliminating the sub-minimum wage for those workers. The tip credit elimination law will take effect in July in Chicago, which was opposed by the Illinois Restaurant Association.

The Illinois Association of County Clerks and Recorders is a proponent of Senate Bill 2131, which says clerks have to be paid at least 80 percent of what the state’s attorney in that county is paid and that the pay is to mostly come from state taxpayer funds. “[Under the proposed law] 80 percent of the salary would be reimbursed [by the state] and right now the state does that for public defenders, state’s attorneys, the assessor and the sheriff,” said McDonough County Clerk Gretchen DeJaynes.

State Sen. Terri Bryant said the governor can’t be trusted that the site closures would be temporary. “The Governor previously used the line of temporary closures when it came to both the DuQuion and Dixon Springs Structured Impact Programs in order to avoid the closure process laid out under the State Facilities Closure Act,” Bryant said. “To this day, neither site has been reopened despite line items within the budget.”

In truth, despite regular headlines about voter apathy, Illinois primary voter turnout has not budged all that much over a 40-year stretch, though the numbers of Democrats and Republicans heading to the spring polls has fluctuated by more than 20 points depending on the given election year, data shows. “What drives overall turnout is having a race where Dems are motivated,” Illinois Board of Elections spokesman Matt Dietrich said.

House Bill 5152 would give a $500 tax credit to anyone who moves to Illinois to teach, get or provide health care, including abortion and gender-affirming care, from states with more restrictive laws regarding access to lawful health care. “I’m not saying you have to come here and provide abortion care or provide gender-affirming care, because I am just as concerned about the emergency room physician who doesn’t want to have to watch a patient die,” State Rep. Kelly Cassidy said.

The executive order tasks the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services with leading the state’s effort to establish payment models and financial structures that support access to new sickle cell disease treatments and other new high cost drugs and treatment within the Illinois Medicaid program, and creates the Advisory Council on Financing and Access to Sickle Cell Disease Treatment and Other High-Cost Drugs and Treatment.

Chicago, in the blue state of Illinois, appears for the moment to be bucking that trend. Company representatives who spoke with Crain’s say they remain committed to their efforts designed to address opportunity inequities.

“What grocery tax cut opponents aren’t telling you is that local governments in Illinois have seen a dramatic increase in funding from state government, and they can afford to lower your local tax burden. In 2010, the state distributed $3.8 billion to local governments, and in 2023, that number nearly doubled to more than $7 billion. While municipalities claim their funding from the Local Government Distributive Fund was cut, the numbers tell a different story. Funding from that source has doubled, from $985 million in 2010 to $1.9 billion today.”