Category: State News

By DILPREET RAJU Capitol News Illinois draju@capitolnewsillinois.com State legislators resumed a series of hearings this week to scrutinize pharmacy benefit managers – a highly concentrated industry that critics say drives up the cost and limits availability of prescription drugs. PBMs, which have also faced scrutiny from the federal government, act as third-party “middlemen” who negotiate […]

By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO – A California-based quantum computing company wants to build one of the largest quantum computers in the world on Chicago’s southeast side and the state is chipping in hundreds of millions of dollars to help make it happen.  PsiQuantum will be the first tenant of the “Illinois […]

by GRACE HAUCK ILLINOIS ANSWERS PROJECT Warning: The following article includes mentions of self-harm. This is the second in a series of stories. Read the first story here. CHARLESTON, Ill. – Brice Fritz was naked, strapped down to a chair in a jail cell when a staff member monitoring her via video delivered 80,000 volts […]

By BETH HUNDSDORFER Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com Before former Sangamon County Sheriff’s deputy Sean Grayson was accused of shooting Sonya Massey after she called police to investigate a prowler, he had a rocky, one-year tenure with the Logan County Sheriff’s Department. Personnel records show that Grayson’s time there was fraught, though he was not fired […]

By DILPREET RAJU & JENNIFER FULLER Capitol News Illinois draju@capitolnewsillinois.com Gov. JB Pritzker signed a law Monday that expands insurance coverage during and after pregnancy with the goal of lowering infant and maternal mortality rates, especially for Black Illinoisans. The law requires insurers that provide state-regulated health care plans to cover pregnancy and postpartum services […]

By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – As the flow of billions of dollars in federal pandemic-related aid is about to end, many students in Illinois are still struggling to catch up academically from the learning loss that occurred when schools were forced to close. A new study from the University of Illinois […]

By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO – Calls of “Justice for Sonya” rang through the sanctuary of a church on Chicago’s West Side on Tuesday at a rally hosted in response to the death of Sonya Massey on July 6.  Massey, a Black woman, was killed in her home by Sangamon County Sheriff’s […]

By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com ROSEMONT – Gov. JB Pritzker on Wednesday signed legislation aimed at curtailing the practice of “captive audience” meetings – a strategy businesses sometimes use to dissuade workers from forming a union. The law, dubbed the “Worker Freedom of Speech Act,” was a top priority this spring for organized […]

By BETH HUNDSDORFER  Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com  The day before she was shot by a Sangamon County Sheriff’s deputy, Sonya Massey’s mother called 911 and said her daughter was in the front yard of her mother’s house, talking loudly, acting erratically with her car keys in her hand. Afraid that she would drive recklessly and […]