Illinois’ first congressional remap draft is out but changes could be in store as lawmakers returned to Springfield this week for the first of their final two weeks of scheduled session in 2022. It’s customary for lawmakers to meet each fall to consider overriding or accepting any of the governor’s vetoes or amendatory vetoes of […]
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.
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Governor reinstates indoor mask mandate
The statewide mask mandate indoors is back, and educators and health care professionals will be required to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, Gov. JB Pritzker announced Thursday amid an ongoing surge in the pandemic that first arrived in Illinois in March 2020. Beginning Monday, people will be required to wear masks indoors, Pritzker announced. The vaccine […]
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State announces $250 million ‘Back to Business’ grant program
The state announced a $250 million “Back to Business” grant program aimed at assisting small businesses in the recovery from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and associated economic shutdowns. The program is funded by the federal American Rescue Plan Act signed by President Joe Biden, and it includes specific set-aside amounts for certain uses. Those include […]
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Statewide COVID-19 ICU bed usage jumps 15 percent overnight
Hospitalizations for COVID-19 jumped by more than 13 percent from Sunday to Monday night, Aug. 2, while intensive care bed usage jumped 15 percent as the delta variant of the virus continued to cause a surge nationwide. According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, 1,107 individuals with COVID-19-like illness were hospitalized as of Monday […]
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State “encourages” colleges to require students to get vaccine
The state’s higher education agencies released updated COVID-19 guidance July 19 encouraging all public and private higher education institutions in Illinois to issue mandatory vaccine policies. “Vaccination against COVID-19 is now widely available, and all persons over the age of 12 are eligible,” the guidance document reads. “Vaccination is the leading prevention strategy against COVID-19 […]
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Senate adjourns with no energy deal
The Illinois Senate adjourned Tuesday, June 15, without calling a comprehensive energy regulatory reform package for a vote. After adjournment, Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, made a statement similar to one he made June 1 after the Senate failed to call an energy bill for a vote. “There are still some points of contention […]
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Renewable energy faces a funding cliff
While advocates in Illinois were optimistic that a series of measures reforming the state’s energy landscape could pass in 2019, various factors caused the legislative package to stall while most of Gov. JB Pritzker’s first-year agenda eventually became law. At the time, advocates behind the Path to 100 Act warned of an impending “funding cliff” […]
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Some state and local races could be undecided for days
Although nearly 3.6 million Illinoisans had already voted by Monday, Nov. 2, according to the Illinois State Board of Elections, nearly 2.3 million ballots were still to be cast if the state is to match the 70.56 percent turnout of 2016. As of Monday, there were 586,709 mail-in ballots that Illinois voters had requested but […]
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State’s wealthiest person gives $20 million to anti-graduated tax committee
Illinois’ wealthiest man and frequent Republican political donor Ken Griffin has pledged $20 million to a group dedicated to defeating a graduated tax constitutional amendment. Griffin, who is the founder of the hedge fund Citadel, has previously donated tens of millions of dollars to the campaign of Republican former Gov. Bruce Rauner. He’s also given […]
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Number of House Democrats calling for Madigan’s resignation grows
Cracks are beginning to show in Michael Madigan’s hold over the House Democratic caucus that he has led as speaker for all but two years since 1983. Three more members of that caucus called for Madigan to resign this week, at least as House speaker and chair of the state’s Democratic Party. They join another […]
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State unveils six-year road, bridge plan
Gov. JB Pritzker joined Illinois Department of Transportation officials Tuesday, July 21, to unveil a six-year, $21.3 billion statewide road and bridge improvement plan that is an extension of the Rebuild Illinois infrastructure package passed last year by the General Assembly. IDOT is tasked with unveiling a multiyear plan each year to detail how it […]
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Pritzker blasts GOP legislator’s lawsuit, saying downstate isn’t immune from virus
Pritzker blasts GOP rep’s lawsuit, says two downstate counties have highest death rates Appeal coming as judge grants Rep. Bailey temporary restraining order for stay-at-home order By JERRY NOWICKI, Capitol News Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker urged southern Illinoisans to continue to comply with a stay-at-home order and named a pair of counties where the rate […]
