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Proponents drop push to give downstate utilities dibs on new transmission lines
By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com With billions of dollars of construction projects on the line, Ameren Illinois and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers have been vying to secure first rights on new electricity transmission line construction in downstate Illinois. But after Gov. JB Pritzker issued an amendatory veto to a bill that…
Pritzker proposes creation of new standalone early childhood agency
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Vowing to make Illinois the top state in the nation for child care accessibility, Gov. JB Pritzker unveiled a plan Tuesday to consolidate all the state’s early childhood programs and funding into one new state agency. “Early Childhood program governance has to be unified in its…
Pritzker calls Illinois’ support for Israel ‘unequivocal’ after weekend’s Hamas attacks
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com Gov. JB Pritzker on Tuesday condemned the deadly attacks on Israel over the weekend by the militant group Hamas, telling those gathered outside a synagogue in Chicago’s north suburb of Glencoe that Illinois “unequivocally stands” with the people of Israel. The governor, who himself is Jewish, was one…
Controversial pipeline canceled amid safety concerns, regulatory pushback
By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com Navigator CO2, a Nebraska-based company specializing in carbon capture and sequestration, announced Friday it is canceling plans to build a 1,300-mile carbon dioxide pipeline that would have run through central Illinois. The plan included several hundred miles of pipeline in Illinois which terminated at sequestration sites designed…
Gun laws, scholarship tax credits, nuclear energy – but not new spending – on table for veto session
By JERRY NOWICKI, PETER HANCOCK, HANNAH MEISEL & ANDREW ADAMS news@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – When lawmakers return to the Capitol next week for their annual fall veto session, they have a full agenda, including a handful of vetoes from Gov. JB Pritzker to consider overriding, in addition to deciding whether to revive a private school…
State to pause enrollment in health care program for immigrant seniors as spending again outpaces estimates
By JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois jnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com Gov. JB Pritzker’s administration will pause enrollment in a state-funded health care program for certain immigrants aged 65 and older beginning Nov. 6 – the fulfillment of a previously announced plan to cap spending on the program. It’s an expected move that the administration announced in June to…
Pritzker launches self-funded nationwide abortion rights advocacy organization
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com Gov. JB Pritzker is self-funding the launch of a new political advocacy group aimed at fighting for abortion rights across the U.S. – an extension of sizable donations he’s been making in Democratic politics for several years. The billionaire governor, whose rising national profile had garnered feverish speculation…
Assault weapon registration period remains open as Illinois State Police seeks further input
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – People who own certain guns and other items now prohibited under the state’s assault weapons ban still need to register them with the Illinois State Police. But ISP says it plans to hold additional public hearings about that process and may refine the rules before they become permanent…
State officials recommend gas price increase for 4.1 million consumers
By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com Utility customers throughout Illinois will likely see higher natural gas bills beginning in January after staff at the state’s utility regulatory agency recommended rate increases for four gas companies. Those recommendations – made by administrative judges at the Illinois Commerce Commission – next go to the appointed five-member…
Advocates push for guns to be taken from domestic abusers when order of protection served
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO – As lawmakers prepare to return to Springfield later this month for their annual two-week fall veto session, advocates are pushing for a measure that would require law enforcement to take guns away from people hit with domestic violence orders of protection. In May, Democrats in the…