House Bill 1189 will clarify that workers should receive the highest prevailing wage in local public works projects that include federal funding, whether that is the federal or state wage. Hoffman’s office said the measure intends to eliminate “potential confusion” when rates differ. The other bill is House Bill 1090, which specifically aims at prevailing wage rules on telecommunications projects.

“Many of these contractors are fulfilling 100 percent of their work,” said Sen. Willie Preston. “Yet, they’re having 10 percent of their contracts withheld for months and sometimes years. Imagine doing all the work, finishing the job, and not getting paid fully.”

The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency recently announced another round of funding for an electric vehicle rebate program, while the landscape continues to change after a new administration moved into the White House. The General Assembly appropriated up to $14 million to the Illinois EPA for the EV rebate program for the current fiscal year.

“We’re witnessing profound changes, many of which are exacerbating existing inequities, from algorithmic discrimination that disproportionately affects marginalized communities to the displacement of workers as automation takes over jobs. Real people are being hurt,” state Rep. Abdelnasser Rashid said.

Organizations that provide tutoring, recreation and other after-school programs are calling on Gov. JB Pritzker and the Illinois State Board of Education to release $50 million that was included in this year’s budget to fund those programs. A spokesperson for ISBE noted that while the money was included in the omnibus appropriations bill that lawmakers passed in May, it was not tied to any existing statutory program that outlines a method for distributing the funds.

Illinois is highly dependent on oil and gas from Canada, meaning consumers could be in line for higher energy and gas prices. About 72 percent of Illinois’ imports, or $47.4 billion, from Canada in 2023 was oil and gas, according to the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.

“We’re facing a housing crisis, in my district and across the state,” said state Rep. Will Guzzardi. “More and more people can’t afford to pay rising rents or keep up with mortgage and tax payments, and buying a first home feels out of reach for too many.”

Organized by Lake County leaders of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, the crowd chanted “no justice, no peace” numerous times, as well as “end the deportation now,” “enough is enough,” “peace to the people” and “all power to the people.”

“The reason why the left is apoplectic is because they’re pulling back the layers of the onion and they know that the emperor has no clothes and they have no leg to stand on. They are not interested in transparency or accountability because it exposes the ridiculous programs that they’ve been funding,” state Rep. Chris Miller said.

A lawsuit brought by all 22 states with Democratic attorneys general plus the District of Columbia detailed a litany of programs funded by Uncle Sam. Washington state said it received $121 million last year for allergy and infectious-disease research. Illinois claimed federal Medicaid funds made up 60% of its 2023 spending on “critical health services.”Government, social assistance and healthcare account for nearly all new jobs added in such Democrat-run states as California, New York, Minnesota and Illinois.

Ralph Martire, of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, challenged the state’s rankings on elementary and secondary education spending, which lists Illinois at No. 4 nationally and No. 6 on a per capita basis. “Illinois includes the legacy cost on pension debt and virtually no other state includes that,” Martire said. “It makes it look like we’re spending all this money on education, but a large chunk of it isn’t going into a classroom.”

Six Democratic governors, including Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker Maura Healey, pressed Schumer to put up more of a fight against Trump’s agenda. That produced an exasperated response from Senate Democrats, who spoke on the floor late into the night Wednesday to highlight the impact the funding freeze ordered by Trump’s budget office would have on communities around the country. “I would say

It could prove to be a legacy-defining moment for a politically ambitious governor who has made strong fiscal stewardship a cornerstone of his identity, even as the state’s operating budget has grown by nearly a third during his tenure, to $53.1 billion. (Adjusting for recent high inflation, the increase is a more modest 8 percent.)