A Kankakee County judge ruled Wednesday, Dec. 28, that lawmakers overreached their constitutional authority in passing a measure to abolish cash bail in Illinois, while other provisions in the wide-ranging SAFE-T Act criminal justice reform were not affected by the ruling. The ruling by Judge Thomas W. Cunnington leaves the impending cash bail reform in […]
Jerry Nowicki
Jerry Nowicki is bureau chief of Capitol News Illinois and has been with the organization since its inception in 2019.
Before joining CNI, Nowicki spent two years on Illinois Senate staff as a legislative aide to state Sen. Steve Landek. Prior to that, he was editor of the LeRoy Farmer City Press, which won the 2015 David B. Kramer Memorial Trophy for Illinois’ best small weekly newspaper.
Complementing his Statehouse and reporting experience, Nowicki has lived in a variety of Illinois communities. He grew up in Evergreen Park, a southwest suburb of Chicago, and has lived for a time in each of New Lenox, Bloomington, Champaign and LeRoy. He currently resides in Springfield.
He has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Illinois State University and obtained his master’s degree in communication from Purdue University in May 2019.
Posted inNews
The pandemic brought a new era of emergency housing. Now it faces a fiscal cliff.
For Illinois’ homeless populations and those that serve them, the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated a crisis – the volunteer, mostly faith-based shelters that had long been the backbone of the state’s emergency housing system were closing their doors. But with the crisis – and a sudden influx of temporary federal, state and philanthropic funding – came […]
Posted inNews
Pretrial detention changes to SAFE-T Act will head to governor
Lawmakers on Thursday passed a long-awaited amendment to the SAFE-T Act criminal justice reform’s provisions that will eliminate cash bail when the calendar hits 2023. The measure expands the list of crimes for which a judge can order pretrial detention, adds to what a judge can consider when determining if a defendant is a risk […]
Posted inNews
Early voting expands as campaign season enters final two weeks
Early voting hours and locations greatly expanded across the state this week as the campaign season entered its final two-week stretch. Polling places opened across the city of Chicago as well. Information on early voting for each local election authority can be found on the Illinois State Board of Elections website here, or by visiting […]
Posted inNews
Both governor candidates use non-answers in debate
Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker and Republican state Sen. Darren Bailey generally stuck to their talking points Oct. 6 at their first debate on the same stage. The questions and answers were similar to those posed during a forum organized by the Illinois Associated Press Media Editors, on which I served as a questioner. During the […]
Posted inNews
What happens when cash bail ends?
Beginning Jan. 1, 2023, cash bail will be abolished in Illinois. The measure that will eliminate it has been on the books since early 2021, giving the justice system two years to plan for the major overhaul of the state’s pretrial detention system. It’s also given time for the measure to become politicized to a […]
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10-day sales tax reduction on clothing, school supplies begins Friday
Beginning Friday and lasting through Aug. 14, the state will reduce its sales tax rate from 6.25 percent to 1.25 percent for certain clothing items costing less than $125 and school supplies. The “tax holiday” was included in Gov. JB Pritzker’s “family relief plan,” one prong of several bills making up the Fiscal Year 2023 […]
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Pritzker: “We’re gonna get more big things done.”
Inflation, crime, pandemic response, abortion rights and Donald Trump are all set to be major issues in the 2022 race for Illinois governor, if the winning candidates’ election night speeches are any guide. “(Gov. JB) Pritzker doesn’t understand how skyrocketing gas prices and soaring food prices make everyday life harder for Illinois families like you […]
Posted inOpinion
Poll shows “undecided” leads GOP governor field
We’re little over a month from the June 28 primary, and “undecided” was the lead vote-getter last week in a new poll of 1,000 likely GOP primary voters, with 36.9 percent of respondents falling into that camp. For those polled who have picked a candidate, Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin had the lead at 24.1 percent, […]
Posted inNews
Highway camera expansion includes Sangamon County
A pair of bills on Gov. JB Pritzker’s desk would expand a state roadway camera monitoring program to 21 additional counties while also expanding the number of crimes the cameras can be used to investigate and the number of parties that can prosecute them. The measures – House Bill 260 and House Bill 4481 – […]
Posted inOpinion
Capitol News Illinois to expand investigations
When Capitol News Illinois launched in January 2019, Gov. JB Pritzker had just been sworn in, Michael Madigan was elected to his 18th term as House speaker and the Senate’s president was Chicago’s John Cullerton. Now, as our fourth year is well underway, Pritzker is battling a wide field of Republican challengers in hopes of […]
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Illinois tries a “smart on crime” approach
A state program aiming to take a “comprehensive approach to ending Illinois’ firearms violence epidemic” will be expanded under a law signed Dec. 10 by Gov. JB Pritzker. The Reimagine Public Safety Act became law in June, but the expansion signed Friday clarifies guidelines in the original bill and gives the Illinois Department of Human […]
