Tensions rose again this week between Gov. JB Pritzker’s office and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson over how to handle the tens of thousands of people who have arrived in the state since August 2022 via buses or planes sent from Texas. The most recent back-and-forth between the two came in response to the city’s recent […]
Capitol News Illinois
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Governor names new DCFS director
The troubled state agency charged with the protection of abused and neglected children will have new leadership in the new year. Gov. JB Pritzker announced Jan. 3 that Department of Juvenile Justice Director Heidi Mueller will take over the embattled Department of Children and Family Services starting Feb. 1. “The work Director Mueller has done […]
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Disparity in access to college credit for high schoolers
As the cost of higher education continues to rise in Illinois and elsewhere, a growing number of students are working to earn as many college credits as possible while they are still in high school. But even as the popularity continues to grow for “dual credit” offerings – courses in which a student earns credit […]
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New year, new laws
More than 300 new laws took 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 law signed in 2019, workers at the lowest end of the pay scale will see a pay raise with the new year as the state […]
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Funeral home failures
State regulators allowed a Carlinville funeral director to operate for months despite a complaint filed by a local coroner who found a decomposing body in his funeral home and alleged the care of the remains was “unacceptable and criminal in nature.” While trying to assist a local family with retrieving cremated remains in March, Morgan […]
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Inside Illinois youth lockups
In late December 2022, a teenage boy with a broken arm was left to suffer alone in his cell at a youth lockup in rural southern Illinois. Staff were aware he’d been seriously injured; he told them he was in pain and asked to see a doctor. Two hours passed before staff took him to […]
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State school board weighs increased funding requests
Officials at the Illinois State Board of Education say they’re receiving more requests for increased funding for next year than the state could possibly afford, and they’re bracing for the possibility that budgets will start to tighten in the near future. “It does appear that revenue will be a little bit tighter in the next […]
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State Supreme Court weighs constitutionality of lifetime restrictions on child sex offenders
The Illinois Supreme Court is weighing whether it is constitutional to impose lifetime restrictions on where a person can live after they’ve been convicted of a sex crime involving a minor. “It’s been 21 years – almost 21 years since my conviction,” Martin Kopf told the court’s seven justices Nov. 15. “I have been totally […]
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Legislature approves bill to allow small nuclear plants
Lawmakers on Nov. 9 approved a proposal that would allow companies to develop new nuclear power generation in Illinois for the first time since 1987. House Bill 2473 does not entirely lift the 36-year-old moratorium on nuclear construction. Instead, it creates a regulatory structure for the construction of small modular nuclear reactors, or SMRs. The bill limits […]
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Lawmakers pass bill aimed at modernizing professional licensing in Illinois
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 up both initial licensing and renewals in […]
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Illinois’ educator workforce improves, but teacher shortages persist in some areas
The supply of education professionals continues to improve in Illinois despite strains brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, but persistent issues remain in certain regions of the state and within some teaching fields. That’s the conclusion of a new report by the education advocacy group Advance Illinois, which was instrumental in the 2017 passage of […]
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Nurses unions push for mandatory staff-to-patient ratios
Unions representing nurses in Illinois are pushing for legislation that would impose mandatory staff-to-patient ratios in hospitals, nursing homes and other health care facilities. But lobby groups representing hospitals and nursing homes say they are steadfastly opposed to the legislation, arguing that a nationwide nursing shortage makes it impossible to comply with such a mandate. […]
