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Under the program, eligible fees, fines, and costs due to traffic violations would be waived in Cook County for people experiencing financial hardship. The program was established in 2021 with a sunset of 2024. It was extended through this year, but state lawmakers voted to make the program permanent during this past legislative session.
“We all wish we could do more, but this is a responsible, balanced budget that continues our work to improve the lives of the great people of the great state of Illinois,” Senate President Don Harmon said in a statement.
More than 400 bills approved by the General Assembly during spring session remain on the governor’s desk.
“For eligible seniors and community college transfer students, you will receive offers from the schools that you are admitted to without raising a finger. That’s huge,” Sen. Christopher Belt said. “It takes away the anxiety, it takes away the angst of that whole process.”
Chicago’s ability to weather looming financial storms took a hit when the Chicago Board of Education refused to cover a 2024 pension payment that’s become a political hot-potato. According to the newly released audit, the city ended 2024 with a $161 million deficit in its general fund, driven by the loss of the $175 million payment city officials anticipated would be reimbursed by Chicago Public Schools.
Industries that saw job growth in the majority of the twelve metro areas included: Private Education and Health Services (ten areas); Mining and Construction and Financial Activities (seven areas each).
Any decision from the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals would have far-reaching impact for Illinois businesses, with at least hundreds of BIPA class actions still pending in Cook County Circuit Court and other state and federal courts, with potentially many millions or even billions of dollars at stake.
Under federal law, every employer in the U.S. is allowed to use the E-Verify system, operated by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, to screen job applicants and workers to determine their eligibility to work. However, under the language added to the Illinois workplace privacy law by SB0508, employers in Illinois would be forbidden from imposing “work authorization verification … requirements greater than those required by federal law.”
During his February State of the State Address, Gov. JB Pritzker highlighted college admissions support as a priority for this year’s legislative session. Among the bills, HB 3096 mandates that every high school in Illinois designate a staff member as a point-of-contact for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), and HB 3097 requires high schools to provide time during school hours for FAFSA completion assistance.
This year’s arrest total is lower than the 53 arrests made last year but higher than the totals seen from 2016 through 2023. Of the 39 arrested, 13 individuals, including two juveniles, were charged with felonies.
Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton won’t be joining JB Pritzker for a potential third term. She is seeking the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Dick Durbin, who announced he’s not running again.
In 2023, tourists spent over $47 billion across Illinois, generating over $6.5 billion in state and local taxes, according to the 2024 Tourism Office report. The report estimated that tourism in that year generated over $80 billion in total economic impact for the state.
Illinois’ efforts to save Illinoisans from themselves does not include the item responsible for the greatest number of firework injuries and the youngest victims: sparklers.
Gov. JB Pritzker has added 29 cents per gallon since 2019 – costing the average driver $143 more per year.
A lawsuit is alleging Gotion, a battery company with ties to China building a subsidized factory in Illinois, called non-Chinese staff “foreigners,” using unauthorized Chinese workers on B-1 visas, and flying in a Chinese lawyer who’s unlicensed in the US to advise on bringing in more illegal hires.
In addition, Mayor Brandon Johnson’s finance team, led by Chief Financial Officer Jill Jaworski and Budget Director Annette Guzman, has yet to account for a $175 million pension payment the city made for Chicago Public Schools employees who are not teachers in the city’s 2024 spending plan. The Chicago Board of Education refused to reimburse the city for that payment, despite the mayor’s repeated requests.
“Like the black midges that hover around your forehead in the heat this time of year, another unwelcome summertime pest is the string of new state taxes unleashed upon us each year. Following shortly after is an even scarier date on the calendar: property tax day (though that date keeps changing for those of us in Cook County.) … This cycle will continue until the state prioritizes being an affordable place to live and work over short-term political convenience.”
“The Trump Administration has claimed that five words in this Clause — ‘no longer effectuates . . . agency priorities’ — provide federal agencies with virtually unfettered authority to withhold federal funding any time they no longer wish to support the programs for which Congress has appropriated funding,” the lawsuit alleges. The suit is one of more than a dozen Raoul has joined as part of a coalition of Democratic attorneys general.
“Not one single penny came into my neighborhood — not that I ever wanted ‘Black pain’ money. It was the biggest scam I have ever seen in my life.”
Illinois lost over 56,000 people last year to net domestic migration.
City officials point to high per-line costs — up to $35,000 apiece — as a barrier.
Ethics questions aside, multiple lawmakers said that Brandon Johnson’s government affairs team had a bigger problem: Their efforts this session were ineffective. “This is the most, I would say, emaciated I’ve seen a lobbying team for a mayor of the city of Chicago in Springfield,” said state Rep. Curtis Tarver, a Chicago Democrat and an assistant majority leader in the Illinois House. “They’ve not had a comprehensive agenda. It’s hodgepodge.”
CPS says the cuts include: 67 employees from the school district’s central and network offices; seven employees with the Chicago Teacher’s Union; and 87 SEIU Local 73 members, nearly all of whom are crossing guards. No employees assigned to schools were laid off.
The ages of the victims range from 18 to 55.
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin said the federal bill would siphon resources away from public education. He questioned the quality of teachers in private schools and the kind of curriculum offered there. Durbin also criticized homeschooling and suggested that many parents who homeschool their children might not really be educating them.
It’s unclear what the altercation was about and whether the individuals, ages 56 and 64, knew each other.
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