The Blight Mitigation Act would allow a homeowner living within a quarter mile of an abandoned residential real property to petition in court for ownership if the home has been abandoned for at least a year. The bill aims to promote community revitalization with people in the community taking precedence.

House Bill 1360 would amend the Illinois Insurance Code, requiring insurance to cover diagnostic testing or medications to slow Alzheimer’s disease or dementia, starting January 1, 2027.

Jim Dey: “‘Whether, for purposes of prosecutorial immunity, a prosecutor’s decision to prosecute a criminal defendant solely for malicious reasons is an act outside of the scope of the prosecutor’s duties … we answer the certified question in the negative,’ wrote Fourth District Justice Thomas Harris for a unanimous three-judge panel. In other words, prosecutors can abuse their authority while retaining immunity from civil litigation.”

Great lines from former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, and maybe it’s a sign that an inkling of sanity is returning to the Democratic Party. There are whispers that Mr. Emanuel may run for Senate or even president. But then I thought back to Mr. Emanuel’s dealings with the Chicago public-school system.

According to Bloomington Public Schools District 87 documents, staff were directed to participate in “Privilege Walks,” where teachers start on a line and take a step forward for each “privilege” they identify with, like being white, a male, having married parents, etc.

Jim Kaitschuk, the Illinois Sheriff Association’s executive director, said, “And I think from a law enforcement perspective, you know, certainly we want to make sure that people can find viable housing. [We] understand that completely, but at the same time, if we’re going to err on this, we’re going to err on the side of caution that an increased distance or an enhanced distance of 500 feet today, that it should remain that.”

“It reduces choice for small business owners. We have a one size fits all mandate applied across the board. Maybe it makes sense [for a business] to use plastic bags or maybe it makes sense to use paper bags,” said Noah Finely, of the National Federation of Independent Business. “It is reducing the small business owners ability to best serve their customers. This is going to increase costs for consumers who are already struggling with high cost of living and inflation.”

Senior Managing Director Baruch Feigenbaum said Illinois fell seven spots from last year’s Annual Highway Report ranking to 36th in the country. “Traffic congestion is obviously a problem in Chicago ranking 46th, bridges are a problem, ranked 38th, the fatality rate is certainly not leading the nation in any of the fatality categories, so Illinois’ biggest problem is that it doesn’t do anything well,” said Feigenbaum.

“The fact is, the entire college athlete system is designed to suppress the compensation and labor rights of players,” Garcia said. He supports the idea of college athletes getting paid like school employees

Illinois House Bill 2827 – the “Homeschool Act” – goes much farther than simply gathering the number of students across the state engaging in homeschooling. Instead, it forces both homeschool families and private schools to divulge personal information to the state. As of March 14, more than 29,000 people had filed “witness slips” in opposition to the bill.

House Bill 3145, introduced by state Rep. Will Guzzardi, would add requirements for selling tickets online. Among the limits, ticket resale prices may not exceed the original price plus fees. For ticket platforms such as StubHub and SeatGeek, fees on resale are capped at 10 percent of the total price.

“It’s hard to believe Illinois would ever be strapped for infrastructure cash. The state is going to spend $40 billion on roads, bridges and other infrastructure projects during a six-year span. Another broken promise would be easier to believe. Illinoisans were once promised ‘Toll free in ’73,’ meaning toll roads would eventually cost drivers nothing, but that never happened.”

Mentions of diversity and equity have vanished from the Pritzker Family Foundation’s website amid Trump’s attack on DEI.

The bill comes after a pair of rulings dating back to September 2024, in which the Illinois Supreme Court ruled that the smell of burnt cannabis did not give officers probable cause to search a vehicle. In December, the court ruled that the smell of raw cannabis was probable cause for a vehicle search. Now, the senate committee works to ensure that odor from cannabis fails to warrant a vehicular search.

“I hate to lose a tax when you know we are losing (money),” Comptroller Sheri Ray said. “Nobody wants to raise property taxes. We’re a strong retail-based city, and I feel like that’s part of our base.”

Democrats were confronted with two painful options: allowing passage of a bill they believe gives President Donald Trump vast discretion on spending decisions or voting no and letting a funding lapse ensue. In all, 10 Democrats, including Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., joined Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer to advance the Republican funding proposal to a final vote and avoid a shutdown at all costs.