Republican voters in Illinois have once again chosen former state Sen. Darren Bailey as their candidate for governor, giving him a second chance to unseat incumbent Democrat JB Pritzker in November. Bailey, a farmer from southern Illinois and the party’s 2022 nominee, claimed victory Tuesday night in a four-way primary for the GOP nomination, defeating […]
Peter Hancock, Capitol News Illinois
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Bill to regulate homeowners’ insurance rates could reemerge this session
Illinois lawmakers are poised to make a second attempt at passing a bill that would give state regulators more authority to control the rising cost of homeowners insurance. Gov. JB Pritzker called for the legislation last summer after Bloomington-based State Farm Insurance announced it was raising premiums in Illinois an average 27.2%, citing years of losses in […]
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Trump freezes $10B in social service, child care funding for Illinois, 4 other blue states
The Trump administration announced late Tuesday that it was freezing distribution of about $10 billion in federal child care and family assistance funds to five Democratic-led states, including Illinois. It will now require those states to submit detailed justification and documentation before any of the federal funds are released. The action applies to three programs […]
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Requests for new K-12 funding in Illinois outstrip available resources
If advocates, stakeholders and members of the public were granted all their requests for public school funding next year, lawmakers would have to increase the state’s K-12 education budget by nearly three-quarters of a billion dollars. That’s the approximate total of all the requests that Illinois State Board of Education officials received online and in-person during a […]
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State-based health insurance marketplace opens amid federal budget stalemate
People in Illinois who buy health insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplace are likely to see big increases in the cost of their premiums next year, but state officials are encouraging them to reach out for help before they decide to drop their coverage. “We’re really encouraging people, don’t walk away. Come and talk […]
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Illinois to issue its own vaccine guidelines
Illinois is among a growing list of states that are issuing their own vaccine guidelines that could supersede those of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Gov. JB Pritzker issued an executive order this month directing the Illinois Department of Public Health to work with other state agencies to develop vaccine guidelines. Specifically, Pritzker’s directive […]
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Texas Dems flee to Illinois to block redistricting vote
Gov. JB Pritzker welcomed a contingent of Texas House Democrats to Chicago Sunday night as part of a strategy to delay a vote in Austin on a mid-decade redistricting plan designed to give Republicans an additional five congressional seats in next year’s midterm elections. The Texas Legislature is currently meeting in a special session originally […]
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Trump administration requests voter data from Illinois elections board
The Trump administration has asked Illinois election officials for a copy of the state’s voter registration database, including sensitive data about individual voters and detailed information about the state’s efforts to scrub ineligible voters from the rolls. In a letter dated Monday, July 28, lawyers from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division also […]
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Illinois hospitals fear massive cuts under Trump domestic policy law
Hospital officials in Illinois say they will have to make some difficult decisions in the next few years that could involve laying off staff, cutting back services and even closing some facilities entirely. That’s the expected result of federal funding cuts built into the recently passed domestic policy bill that President Donald Trump signed into […]
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Attorney General Raoul joins lawsuit challenging Trump’s termination of federal grants
Attorney General Kwame Raoul announced this week he has joined another multistate lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s decision to withhold billions of dollars in federal funds that had previously been approved for states and other grantees. The complaint, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, challenges several actions the administration has taken since Trump […]
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Gun rights groups continue push to overturn Illinois assault weapons ban
Gun rights advocates once again are asking a federal appeals court in Chicago to overturn Illinois’ ban on assault-style firearms and large-capacity magazines in a case that may be destined for the U.S. Supreme Court. In briefs filed June 6 with the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, attorneys representing plaintiffs challenging the law urged the court […]
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Illinois bill aims to lower cost of prescriptions, rein in pharmacy benefit managers
A bill that seeks to control the rising cost of prescription drugs while also offering financial help for many small, independent pharmacies in Illinois cleared the General Assembly May 31 and has been sent to Gov. JB Pritzker for his signature. The bill, known as the Prescription Drug Affordability Act, would put new regulations and […]
