SPRINGFIELD — Public schools in Illinois will have a lot of new money to work with in the upcoming fiscal year, along with a host of new laws to implement. Read more

Durkin’s infrastructure claim disputed Read more

State officials don’t yet know when it will be released. Read more

A group of Republican lawmakers called out party leaders for backing a measure to double the state’s gas tax and hike vehicle registration fees to pay for statewide road projects. Read more

Food insecurity persists in Illinois Read more

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SPRINGFIELD — Gov. J.B. Pritzker is counting on a host of new revenue streams to fund the budget he proposed to the General Assembly. Those include higher taxes on cigarettes and other tobacco products, higher taxes on video gambling machines, a new plastic shopping bag tax and a new assessm… Read more

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — About 200 Illinois National Guard members have been deployed along the Illinois and Mississippi rivers to assist with flood and levee monitoring. Read more

SPRINGFIELD — A constitutional amendment that would allow the General Assembly to set higher tax rates on greater amounts of income passed its last legislative hurdle Monday and will head to the voters for final approval about 18 months from now. Read more

Capitol News Illinois staff Read more

SPRINGFIELD — A Democratic state lawmaker called Senate President John Cullerton’s proposal to raise Illinois’ usage tax on tobacco products “too unreasonable” at a time when the General Assembly is considering a slew of other tax hikes. Read more

SPRINGFIELD — House Democrats advanced a $2.44 billion plan to pay for state transportation infrastructure improvements Thursday that hinges on a hike in the motor fuel tax, vehicle registrations and fees. Read more

SPRINGFIELD — House Republicans on Thursday accused Gov. J.B. Pritzker of revoking his own state board appointments as political retribution for votes he did not agree with. Read more

SPRINGFIELD — A 532-page proposal to legalize adult-use cannabis in Illinois by Jan. 1, 2020, was filed in the state Senate Monday, but the state’s powerful House speaker said its passage is “not guaranteed today.” Read more

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SPRINGFIELD — Stakeholders that have been advocating for a gambling expansion for almost a decade are back at the table with renewed optimism this legislative session. Read more

CHICAGO — The Illinois State Police have seen a slow but steady decline in the number of troopers, leaving many to wonder if there are enough officers to patrol roads and oversee the concealed-carry gun program. Read more

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Should Illinois’ state workers be required to actually live in Illinois? Read more

The Associated Press Read more

SHELBYVILLE — Eastern Illinois University has launched a pilot program to encourage students training to be teachers to consider looking for employment in rural communities rather than urban centers. Read more

CINCINNATI (AP) — Authorities were trying Thursday to confirm the identity of a teenager who told police he fled from kidnappers and is an Illinois boy missing since 2011. Read more

It wasn’t just opening day for baseball Thursday, it also was opening day for a bill to legalize sports betting in Illinois. Read more

SPRINGFIELD — Illinois’ new evidence-based school funding model is effectively driving added funding to the state’s neediest school districts, but the state must double its annual added investment in the formula if districts are to reach funding adequacy in a timely manner, according to a re… Read more

SPRINGFIELD — The issue of abortion needs to be treated as less of a “political football” so individuals on both sides of the debate can have “fundamental and ideological discussions,” state Sen. Elgie Sims Jr., said Wednesday. Read more

SPRINGFIELD — A former state worker in Illinois who won a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case last year striking down mandatory union fees for public employees is now asking a federal appeals court to order the union to refund nearly $3,000 in fees he was forced to pay over the course of his career. Read more

SPRINGFIELD — Illinois officials have been put on the clock to fix a longstanding problem with their slow distribution of food assistance or they’ll lose millions of dollars in federal funding, putting a hole in the state’s budget. Read more

SPRINGFIELD — The Illinois economy has added 59,100 jobs throughout the past 12 months, and the overall unemployment rate dropped only a tenth of a point, to 4.3 percent, the Illinois Department of Employment Security said Thursday. Read more

SPRINGFIELD — Legislators, advocates and hundreds of Illinoisans crowded the rotunda of the Capitol on Wednesday to condemn a package of reproductive health measures that would revise abortion law. Read more

CHICAGO — There’s a lot at stake in next year’s U.S. Census, including congressional seats and billions of dollars in federal funding, according to experts in Illinois who are pushing to educate the public about the importance of the count. Read more

SPRINGFIELD – A bill levying a 7-cent tax on plastic and paper shopping bags advanced out of the state Senate’s revenue committee Wednesday with its sponsor promising to bring an amended proposal back to the committee in the coming weeks. Read more

Illinois drivers would only need one license plate under terms of a bill moving forward in Springfield. Read more