State News

SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois State Police (ISP) is reporting five crashes involving ISP squad cars occurred over the extended holiday weekend, January 12-15, 2024, three of which were Move Over Law, otherwise known as “Scott’s Law,” related.   On January 12, 2024 at approximately 8:16 p.m., a trooper from ISP Troop 3 was handling a crash…

By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois [email protected] Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias launched an online appointment system in September for Illinois drivers needing to come to a driver’s services facility, ostensibly to reduce wait times. The “Skip-The-Line” program introduced upgrades to the secretary of state’s website as well as a shift in policy, requiring appointments…

By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – Illinois is now among the growing list of states in which former President Donald Trump will have to fight to have his name appear on the 2024 election ballots. A group of five voters filed a joint objection to Trump’s candidacy Thursday, arguing that Trump should…

More than 300 statutes will become law in the new year By PETER HANCOK, ANDREW ADAMS & JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois [email protected] More than 300 new laws will take effect Jan. 1, ranging from a ban on book bans to the regulation of “deepfake porn” and prohibitions on videoconferencing while driving. Thanks to a…

By BETH HUNDSDORFER Capitol News Illinois [email protected] For at least two hours of the ride home, Charles Collins feared someone was following his father’s car, looking to take him back to prison for the rest of his life. At an interstate rest stop between Western Illinois Correctional Center and Chicago, Collins said the reality of…

By JERRY NOWICKI CAPITOL NEWS ILLINOIS [email protected] With Illinois lawmakers scheduled to return to legislative session in less than a month, a recent government fiscal forecast provides an overview of the budgeting landscape that awaits them. The bottom line from the five-year forecast from the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget: The current fiscal year…

By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois [email protected] As Illinois faces shortages of health care practitioners and mental health professionals, the state agency in charge of licensing for those and more than 100 other industries has struggled to keep up. The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation has failed to meet its goals to speed…

By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – Gun rights advocacy groups say they intend to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review the state’s assault weapons ban after a federal appeals court on Friday refused to block enforcement of the law. In a statement Saturday, the Illinois State Rifle Association said it was…

By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois [email protected] As Chicago prepares for an increase in the already steady stream of migrants arriving from the southern U.S. border this week, Gov. JB Pritzker is once again publicly pressuring President Joe Biden to play a larger role in coordinating relocation efforts. “There is much more that can and…

By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois [email protected] Illinois on Monday will become the first state to fully abolish cash bail through an act of the legislature — a major criminal justice overhaul spurred by the advocacy of a progressive faction of the Democratic Party that’s grown increasingly powerful in recent years. The reform goes into…