This plan ensures utility companies and contractors can access service lines on private property at no cost to property owners. It also expands who can authorize and perform the replacement.

Mayor Craig Johnson also pointed to the financial upside, with data centers generating major revenue in 2025, including $45 million in property taxes, $11.1 million in building permit fees, $4.5 million in electric tax revenue, and $1 million in sales tax revenue.

NetChoice Director of Policy Patrick Hedger said Illinois could face costly legal challenges after NetChoice secured permanent injunctions against digital ID mandates in Arkansas, Louisiana and Ohio. Hedger said HB 5511 is unconstitutional because it regulates activity outside of Illinois.

Mary Wagoner, of the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago: “These buyout programs are not going to solve Chicago’s problems on their own, but the city must do what it can to chip away at its pension costs. … Implementing a buyout program in Chicago would be a signal to residents, rating agencies and investors that the city is taking its pension challenges seriously by availing itself of proven tools to address pension debt.”

The time off can be used in addition to the twelve weeks of unpaid, federally mandated leave through the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

The four state Senate Republican budgeters, including Sen. Donald DeWitte, R-West Dundee, warned that a 3,178 page version of the budget previously introduced isn’t close to resembling what is likely to be the final product.

“The US Department of Justice created what they’re calling the anti-weaponization fund – or as I call it the Jan. 6th and Insurrection Fund,” state Rep. Bob Morgan said. “Anybody who is enriching themselves by participating in part of an insurrection should definitely be taxed for that potential payout.”

The commissioners are allowed by law to hold jobs outside of their state roles (each commissioner is paid a salary of about $150,000), but they are required to disclose the side pay if it exceeds $7,500 in a calendar year. Nina Harris, the commission’s chairperson, did not disclose she was paid more than $7,500 in 2024 by the Springfield Urban League.

House Bill 0131 and Senate Bill 2512, which contain the proposed budget for fiscal 2027, would appropriate about $11.6 billion to contributions for the five systems. These payments are required by a 1995 state law known as the “Edgar Ramp.” But while that would satisfy the legal requirement, it would not — by a long shot — meet the fiscally responsible requirements determined by the state’s actuaries.

In the wake of federal changes to the SNAP program to promote work and ensure the right people get benefits, Illinois lawmakers propose developing an alternative definition of “low-income” to count more students. The Illinois State Board of Education requested the initiative.

“In reality, the bills do nothing to address the factors contributing to higher premiums, such as higher repair costs, more severe weather, and legal system abuse,” the lobbying groups said in a statement. “Instead, the bills implement a fundamental shift in Illinois’ regulatory environment and move the state towards a more rigid rate-approval system similar to struggling insurance markets like California. This shift will make it harder for insurers to respond in real-time to market conditions and adjust rates up or down based on actual claims experience.”

Following in the footsteps of New York and California, Illinois state lawmakers passed a bill Wednesday that seeks to increase transparency and accountability among the largest and most capable artificial intelligence models. The Illinois attorney general would have exclusive authority to enforce civil penalties up to $3 million per violation.

A sweeping Illinois bill to water down audit requirements is on pause, but its backers have secured the support of the Democratic nominee for state comptroller and hope to push the legislation through next session.

“I get the concept, and we’re open to it,” Burr Ridge Mayor Gary Grasso said in an interview about efforts to encourage more housing options in towns like his. “What we’re not open to, absolutely not open to, is the state telling us how to zone and take away the due process rights of our residents.”