“I got a great way what we can do with this budget. First, let’s start with cutting off illegals getting free everything, free housing, free schooling, free food. Yeah, let’s start with that. That’ll save us a lot of money,” one woman said to Mayor Brandon Johnson at a December City Council meeting.

“I’m prepared for this law to be challenged, but I think we still have an obligation to try to do something,” Senate President Don Harmon told a committee hearing in Springfield Thursday. The statehouse has little formal role in immigration policy.

Under the proposal, contained in an amendment to Senate Bill 25, ratepayers will subsidize energy storage projects like large battery installations.

Observers have chided Illinois Democrats for introducing the legislation in such slapdash and rapid fashion, apparently seeking to use their supermajority status in Springfield to ram such a sweeping proposal through with minimal debate in the closing hours of a legislative session. The rapid spin-up of the 1,000-page proposal has left even those well-schooled in state and federal constitutional law doubtful of their ability to digest and interpret the proposal, as yet.

Among the signatories are Gov. JB Pritzker, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, state Rep. Hoan Huynh, Ald. Jessie Fuentes, and Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss. Among the six charged are congressional candidate Kat Abughazaleh; Catherine Sharp, who is running for a Cook County Board seat and serves as chief of staff to Ald. Andre Vasquez; and Brian Straw, an Oak Park trustee.

The governor hinted he may call a special session to address the transit plan if the measure does not pass by the end of veto session.

The plan could create a Class 3 distiller license and self-distribution exemption. It also clarifies that using third-party platforms to deliver liquor is not illegal reselling, transferring, or exchanging of alcoholic drinks. Senate Bill 618 would allow craft beer license holders to offer rewards and loyalty programs like mug clubs for customers as well.

House Bill 1836 takes crimes that currently can be sealed by petition to allow them to be sealed automatically. “The only problem is that in statute, there are protections to make sure that before someone’s criminal record is sealed, they are rehabilitated,” state Sen. Steve McClure said. “And this bill also eliminates those protections.”

“It would all but ensure a stealth property tax being imposed on the localities across the state and it would open the door to credit rating downgrades at a time when the state has been rebuilding its credit from near junk status,” Joe Ferguson, president of the Chicago-based Civic Federation, told the House committee Wednesday.

About 45 percent of the mass layoffs announced statewide impacted workers in suburban Cook County, with an additional 39 percent hitting the collar counties. The remaining cuts hit Champaign, Winnebago, Macon and Stephenson County.

More than two years after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Tyler v. Hennepin County that governments cannot keep more than what’s owed in back property taxes, Illinois remains the only state that hasn’t changed its laws to comply. Now, lawsuits are piling up, and could cost taxpayers millions.

During Gov. JB Pritzker’s news conference, he aired a news report about a Cicero mother and father being detained during a traffic stop while shopping on the morning of their 10-year-old’s birthday. “Hard working and law abiding but undocumented parents snatched away,” Pritzker said. “I want to ask everyone, who is the worst of the worst?”

Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs has announced a $50 million commitment to fund zero-interest and low-interest loans for unpaid federal workers affected by the ongoing government shutdown.

The executive order gives $20 million in funding to support seven food banks that supply over 2,600 food pantries across Illinois. $10 million is coming from the Budget Reserve for Immediate Disbursements and Governmental Emergencies (BRIDGE) Fund and the other $10 million is from the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS).

“The fact that Governor Pritzker is asking for that is shameful and I think unfortunate that he doesn’t recognize how important the work is that we do to make sure that we are bringing criminals to justice and bringing them off our streets,” Noem said.

The number of full-time equivalent teachers working in Illinois reached a new high of 137,899, an increase of 687 from the previous year. But total student enrollment decreased slightly to just under 1.85 million.

The data also shows enrollment continues to decline and absenteeism remains high in Illinois’ public schools.

Edwin Pacheco-Meza, 34, was allegedly driving a car under the influence when he caused a crash that left Coles County Board Member Michael Clayton and his wife, Gail Clayton, dead. DHS reported that ammunition, an extended magazine, drugs and an open container of alcohol were found inside Pacheco-Meza’s car.

“Some taxpayers may find it hard to sympathize with billionaires, but this is an astonishing proposal to try to rush through in less than two days, and one with significant consequences for investment in new and innovative businesses.”

Illinois House Democrats introduced a $1.5 billion transit funding plan with a wealth tax on hypothetical income that doesn’t exist anywhere in the world. Even Gov. JB Pritzker doesn’t support the proposal. “As it is, it’s not going forward” Pritzker said referring to the bill.

The bill would also allow an elected official to use an office or work address for their driver’s license and to redact their home address from their nominating papers once the period for filing objections is over.

Northwest Municipal Conference Executive Director Mark Fowler said in the first year alone, the measure would cost local taxpayers tens of millions of dollars extra. “In some communities, local taxpayers could face the equivalent of a 10 percent property tax increase to fund the pension benefit increases proposed in Senate Bill 1937.”

Defending Chicago in a recent Fox News interview, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said it was “not in the top 30” of “big cities” with the highest rates of murder. But in 2024, Chicago had the 15th highest murder rate among U.S. cities with at least 250,000 residents, according to FBI data. It ranked higher if limiting to cities with even larger populations.

The request comes four days after ICE agents fired tear gas in the Old Irving Park neighborhood as families and children walked to a Halloween parade. “Illinois families deserve to spend Halloween weekend without fear,” Pritzker wrote in the letter sent Wednesday. “No child should be forced to inhale tear gas or other chemical agents while trick or treating in their own neighborhood.”