Category: State News

By HANNAH MEISEL  Capitol News Illinois  hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com  CHICAGO – In fall 2018, longtime former State Rep. Lou Lang, D-Skokie, received a phone call from Mike McClain, who had spent decades lobbying for electric utility Commonwealth Edison after 10 years in the General Assembly.  McClain was delivering a message from House Speaker Michael Madigan, who was […]

By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO – A measure allowing the construction of new commercial nuclear power plants has bipartisan, bicameral support in the state legislature as the body considers its next steps in meeting carbon-free energy goals while maintaining grid reliability. Its advocates say the measure would open the door for the […]

By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Illinois lawmakers are debating whether the state should join a growing list of jurisdictions in the United States that allow voters to pick more than one candidate for an office, ranking them in order of preference rather than choosing just one. Ranked choice voting, or as […]

By JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois jnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – With two months to go before the legislature adjourns and current-year revenues continuing to smash expectations, Gov. JB Pritzker said he and legislative leaders are considering tax cuts. His comments came one week after the legislature’s nonpartisan Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability, or COGFA, increased […]

By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO – Officials with the state’s largest transit agencies met with lawmakers on Tuesday to sound the alarm for what Regional Transportation Authority Executive Director Leanne Redden called a “looming operational crisis.” “By 2026, the region will face an annual budget deficit of nearly $730 million per year,” […]

By HANNAH MEISEL  Capitol News Illinois  hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com  CHICAGO – Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan isn’t set to go on trial for racketeering and corruption charges until next summer, but his decades of power in Illinois government and politics loomed large Wednesday as opening arguments got underway in a related case.  Madigan’s name was uttered […]

By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO – Officials with the state’s largest transit agencies met with lawmakers on Tuesday to sound the alarm for what Regional Transportation Authority Executive Director Leanne Redden called a “looming operational crisis.” “By 2026, the region will face an annual budget deficit of nearly $730 million per year,” […]

By JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois jnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – With two months to go before the legislature adjourns and current-year revenues continuing to smash expectations, Gov. JB Pritzker said he and legislative leaders are considering tax cuts. His comments came one week after the legislature’s nonpartisan Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability, or COGFA, increased […]

By NIKA SCHOONOVER Capitol News Illinois nschoonover@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – On his latest marketing tour to sell his state budget plan, Gov. JB Pritzker visited a community college in Normal Tuesday to highlight his proposed investments in higher education. “With an additional $100 million directed to the (Monetary Award Program) grant program, a student can pair […]

By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Moody’s Investors Service announced Tuesday that it has upgraded Illinois’ bond rating to A3, up from Baa1, marking the eighth credit upgrade the state has received in less than two years. Moody’s is now the second major rating agency to put Illinois in the ‘A’ category […]