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“’People aren’t showing up at my door with proposed cuts,’ the governor said, after a bit of hesitation because he apparently didn’t expect that question. ‘“But then again, I think they understand that any increases that they’re going to propose, whatever it is that I’m signing, we’re going to have to make this budget balance.'”
Chicago Flips Red vice president Danielle Carter-Walters testified against the city’s handling of the migrant crisis on Wednesday when she told Congress the “Democratic Party is so far from reality.”
The bill not only was a setback for advocates but also underscored a political divide between progressives and moderates within the Democratic Party, which has a supermajority in the House.
Governor JB Pritzker’s proposed 2026 budget sees a drastic decrease in funding for welcome centers, from $139 million in 2025 to $40 million in 2026.
After the bill failed to pass last year, the plan to stop all carbon sequestration near the Mahomet aquifer passed unanimously out of the Illinois Senate Thursday.
This proposal calls for instruction about the history of Arab Americans in Illinois and the Midwest as well as the contributions of Arab Americans from the 19th century onward, in social studies classes starting with the 2026-2027 school year.
“Let’s call this what this is: another partisan dog and pony show,” spokesperson Alex Gough said. “The governor is evaluating whether he should take time from his busy schedule serving the people of Illinois to educate the House GOP on these matters.”
“Anyone who votes for this bill will go down in the history with the likes of confederate politicians, Jim Crow advocates and white supremacists as bigots,” U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez said.
The Illinois Senate also passed legislation that would extend press protections to public media outlets, including NPR and PBS affiliates, that are operated by Illinois colleges and universities.
The city won’t pay Yellow Banana all $13.5 million until the company is fully compliant, which now must happen by Sep. 27. Only one of the six stores has been certified as complete, so the city has paid Yellow Banana $1.45 million, the planning department says.
The increase in spending has not translated into better outcomes for students. Since 2012, spending has increased by 97 percent, but student proficiency in reading has declined by 63 percent and by 78 percent in math for grades 3-8.
When longtime GOP mayors like Aurora’s Richard Irvin and Orland Park’s Keith Pekau lost their reelection bids, it became clear that the party did not build upon their success in the November election when the suburban counties, including Cook, showed GOP gains.
“The National Labor Relations Board helps to ensure that workers in Illinois and across the country are afforded the rights they are entitled to under federal law,” Raoul said. “Removing the board’s ability to function creates a regulatory vacuum that would undermine workers’ rights and prevent the NLRB from ensuring stable labor relations.”
Said Senate Appropriations Chair Sen. Ryan Mishler, “When you don’t have any money to spend, you look for efficiencies, transparencies, a little bit of oversight. We felt like we fully fund government services and the pensions, but there’s some oversight and some transparency in here as well.”
Charlie Kirk received a standing ovation as he took the stage for his “American Comeback Tour,” the packed crowd a sea of red, with attendees decked out in Make America Great Again gear and American Comeback shirts. The tour is designed to give leftist students a chance to challenge Kirk’s conservative beliefs directly, and encourage an open conversation on the reality of U.S. politics.
Senate President Don Harmon signaled that legislation to make changes in election laws could be forthcoming, including during this spring legislative session, but did not provide any details or say whether any legislation would address the “money bomb” loophole.
David Greising, of the Better Government Association: “In other words, merely understanding the scale of Illinois’ pension problem is complicated enough. Devising the tools to fix it could require a degree in public finance, not to mention a talent for political finesse.”
“This company is a virtual monopoly, and it’s very difficult when you’re dealing with a monopoly sometimes to try to get the service that you need and require. We’ve been pushing them all the way along to provide better service. That’s been a challenge,” Preckwinkle said. The combined initial $75 million price tag for the three contracts – with the Cook County Clerk of the Circuit Court, the Illinois Supreme Court, and Cook County – has climbed to more than $185 million.
Ted joined Jeff Daly to talk about why the strong economic growth of its neighbors means there’s still hope for Illinois, why lawmakers should demand efficiencies from Chicago’s transit agencies instead of raising taxes, why it’s good news that Texas is going to enact universal school choice, the attack on homeschooling by Illinois lawmakers, and more.
Federal jurors considering the bribery case against Illinois Sen. Emil Jones III have already seen him on video socializing with fellow Sen. Martin Sandoval and red-light camera executive Omar Maani at fancy steakhouses in the city and the suburbs. But Friday, prosecutors showed jurors evidence of Jones’ more private side, revealing late-night text messages the senator, who was 41 at the time, sent to a former intern who was 23. The intern worked for Jones in 2014 and 2018.
Across its vast network of public and private colleges and universities, Illinois hosts one of the largest international student populations in the nation, ranking fifth, with more than 55,000 international students, according to a 2024 Open Doors report.
In addition to calling the Democratic governors before Congress, the committee is requesting “All documents and communications among or between any official, employee, contractor, or agent of the State of [Illinois, Minnesota, New York] and any official, employee, contractor, or agent of the federal government related to the State of [Illinois, Minnesota, New York] sanctuary status.”
Sanctuary cities such bar officials from holding suspects beyond their release dates solely because they are suspected of being in the U.S. illegally. Aside from Chicago, Evanston, Oak Park, Skokie, and Urbana are also sanctuary cities, depending on how you define the term.
The Illinois Way Forward Act called for local entities across the state to end existing contracts to detain those in immigration custody, and it prohibited law enforcement and other local entities from entering into similar contracts in the future. Many of those arrested in the Chicago area have ended up at the Clay County Justice Center in Indiana and the Dodge County Jail in Wisconsin, according to immigration advocates.
“There’s no winning with this bunch, which appears content to oversee a judicial version of Joseph Heller’s Catch-22.”
“Republican voters must embrace voting by mail — not because we love the system, but because we can’t change the rules unless we win elections. And we won’t win enough elections unless we play by the current rules and compete in every part of the process.”
Early Walker heads the nonprofit I’m Telling Don’t Shoot and said parents need to know where their kids are. He doesn’t see much of a benefit of earlier citywide curfews for teens. “I don’t think that, in my opinion, CPD has the manpower — and honestly and truly, it’s not their job,” he said.
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