Critics of the law said it effectively sets up a “Catch-22” for Illinois employers, under which employers could be forced to choose to follow federal or state law, and then face devastating government-ordered financial penalties, no matter which option they chose. Should employers choose to follow federal law, the state could penalize them. But if they opt to abide by state law, they face the risk of penalties from the federal government.

Adient will create 75 full-time jobs at its new facility near Rivian’s manufacturing plant. The state’s Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity is supporting the investment through its Reimagining Energy and Vehicles program, which promotes clean energy and advanced manufacturing.

Truth In Accounting founder Sheila Weinberg said Illinois continues to be among the states with tardy financial reporting. “It’s June, past June 30th, 2024, and their June 2023 financial report still has not been issued. So they’re more than a year after their fiscal year end,” Weinberg said.

Senate Bill 1563 clarifies that a court-ordered eviction is not required for police to remove squatters from a person’s home. The bill stipulates that police can enforce criminal trespassing charges against a squatter. It was reported last week squatters moved in next door to state Rep. Marcus Evans’ Avalon Park home on Chicago’s South Side.

Timothy J. Cavanagh, president of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association: “Opposition from Illinois corporate associations to this legislation is puzzling, since it actually levels the playing field for Illinois companies by holding those from out of state to the same standard as applies to those that are based here.”

U.S. District Judge Manish Shah delivered the sentence in a Chicago courtroom Monday, saying that former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore was “all in” on a “creative arrangement” to bribe Madigan and cover it up.

Eighteen-year-old Mackenzi Felmlee died in her foster home May 11, 2024, from a blood clot that hit her lungs, doctors said. Her neck, shoulders, legs and face were bruised, and her dehydrated body weighed just 90 pounds. But the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services has refused to release a timeline or reports detailing their actions in the case — despite a law that requires DCFS to make findings and recommendations available when a child dies or is seriously injured in its care.

Illinois state leaders just tripled the state excise tax on nicotine analog products, including vapes, nicotine pouches and e-cigarettes, from 15 percent to 45 percent of the wholesale price as part of their record $55.2 billion spending plan that started July 1. Over the past 15 years, lawmakers have raised or created more than 70 taxes and fees to support ever-growing spending.

The statewide Realtors group plans to spend about half a million dollars warning suburban residents that Springfield might increase real estate transfer taxes statewide as a source of funding for the Chicago Transit Authority.

As business groups in Illinois and beyond await Gov. JB Pritzker’s decision on whether to veto new legislation which could open Illinois’ courts to a flood of out-of-state lawsuits, Illinois’ powerful trial lawyers have also mounted a marketing blitz of their own downplaying the warnings about harm to the state and its economy in a bid to persuade Illinois’ billionaire progressive governor to sign the measure into law.

Illinois has rapidly become a top legal sports betting market, eclipsing this mark in five years. The state has now seen seven months above $1.4 billion in handle, and monthly tax revenue regularly exceeds $15 million.

“Absolutely shameful: The GOP’s rescission bill rips $9 billion from foreign aid, NPR, and PBS. Millions worldwide: Afghan kids, Haitian families, Pakistani women…will lose food, medicine, hope. This isn’t fiscal responsibility, it’s cruelty and moral failure,” Rep. Jonathan Jackson posted.