Giving almost no time for public review, Illinois Democrats pushed through a $55.2 billion budget for next fiscal year late Saturday, bolstering coffers with new taxes on sports bets, nicotine products and businesses. The $55.2 billion spending plan is supported by $55.3 billion of revenue, including just over $1 billion in new taxes and revenue […]
Ben Szalinski
Ben joined CNI in November 2024 as a Statehouse reporter covering the General Assembly from Springfield and other events happening around state government. He previously covered Illinois government for The Daily Line following time in McHenry County with the Northwest Herald. Ben is also a graduate of the University of Illinois Springfield PAR program. He is a lifelong Illinois resident and is originally from Mundelein.
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Lawmakers pitch public transit and funding reform
With two days left in the legislative session, lawmakers in Springfield announced a pair of plans for how to reform Chicagoland transit agencies after two years of debate, one of which would come with a spate of new taxes. The proposals give new power to the agency that oversees the Chicago Transit Authority, Metra commuter […]
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Governor’s office cuts revenue projection by $500M in latest downward estimate
Gov. JB Pritzker’s office is now projecting state revenues to come in about a half-billion dollars below the baseline projections assumed during his February budget address. The latest downward revision comes as lawmakers are entering the final two-week stretch to approve a budget before their May 31 deadline amid increasing economic uncertainty. While Pritzker’s office […]
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Pritzker on Trump’s first 100 days
President Donald Trump marked the 100th day of his second term on April 29. Gov. JB Pritzker spent the week calling on Americans to pressure congressional Republicans to oppose Trump’s agenda and highlighting how Trump’s policies affect Illinois. “I’m deeply concerned about what the next 100 days, and frankly, the next 1,000 days will be […]
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Stratton’s top priority in Senate campaign: Fighting back against Trump
Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton has one priority if she is elected to the U.S. Senate in 2026: fighting back against President Donald Trump’s policies. “What I’m just seeing is that the old playbook in Washington, D.C., isn’t working,” Stratton said April 30 in an interview with Capitol News Illinois. “People aren’t – as I […]
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‘Never asked to be a part of this somber club’: Illinois honors fallen police officers
Nine Illinois police officers who lost their lives in the line of duty in 2024 were honored at a ceremony in Springfield Thursday. The Illinois Peace Officers Memorial takes place every year on the first Thursday of May to honor officers who died on the job in the prior year. Families of the officers are […]
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Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton announces U.S. Senate campaign
Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton is the first Democrat to step into what is expected to be a crowded race to fill Sen. Dick Durbin’s Senate seat. Stratton launched her campaign Thursday morning in a video just one day after Durbin announced he will not seek reelection for a seat he has held since 1997. “As Donald […]
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Sen. Dick Durbin to retire after more than four decades in Congress
Longtime Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Democrat in the U.S. Senate, announced he will retire after his term ends in January 2027. “I truly love the job of being United State Senator, but in my heart, I know it’s time to pass the torch,” Durbin said in a social media video. Durbin’s retirement […]
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Pritzker balances messaging as some Dems encourage party to avoid LGBTQ issues
When Gov. JB Pritzker tells audiences how he became interested in politics, it often starts with stories about his mother. As a child growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, Pritzker often shares, he’d attend marches, rallies and protests with his mother in support of abortion, women’s rights and LGBTQ issues. Those experiences, Pritzker […]
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Legislature kills bill that would have expanded resentencing for youth offenders
The Illinois House shot down legislation Thursday that would have allowed some people incarcerated for crimes they committed when they were under 21 to become eligible for release. In a rare rebuke of a Democrat-sponsored bill, a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers voted against House Bill 3332, causing the bill to fail on a 49-51 vote. […]
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Trump administration blocks more than $400M in funding for Illinois health programs
President Donald Trump’s administration is pulling back $477 million from Illinois that was to be used to prevent infectious disease and treat mental health and substance abuse issues. The Illinois Department of Public Health announced this week the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is taking back $125 million allocated to IDPH and 97 […]
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Pritzker wants state to ban cellphones in classroom
Are cellphones a useful tool or a distraction in the classroom? According to Gov. JB Pritzker, they’re a distraction, and he has proposed banning them during classroom instruction. Pritzker proposed legislation during his State of the State speech in February that would call for banning cellphones during classroom learning time. However, his proposal would not […]
