Illinois General Assembly
Recent News About Illinois General Assembly
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Illinois Christian Home Educators director fears repercussions of bill to add LGBT curricula
Illinois Christian Home Educators (ICHE) Executive Director Kirk Smith thinks the state government is at risk of doing more harm than good by pushing a plan to add lessons about gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people to public school curricula.
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Illinois lawmakers highest paid U.S. legislators for the amount of work they do, IPI reports
Illinois lawmakers will receive their first pay increase since 2008 in the amount of $1,628 after the General Assembly passed the budget and Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed it into law on June 6.
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Late-session election bill stirs House debate
Tensions were high during a House Executive Committee while discussion a bill that makes changes to election laws.
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GOP denies Pritzker's claim of bipartisan support for minimum wage hike
The Illinois Republican Party is calling out Gov. J.B. Pritzker on his claim that he compromised with GOP lawmakers to raise the state's minimum wage, a claim the GOP said this week is not true.
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Illinois House approves spending of $635K on three "lactation and wellness" rooms at State Capitol
The Illinois House of Representatives voted 91-1 Friday to spend $635,570 to build three "lactation and wellness" rooms at the state capitol in Springfield.
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Mendoza's reduced bill backlog claim is 'nonsense,' expert says
Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza is misleading the public by claiming that having a state budget in place has allowed Illinois to reduce its backlog of bills, fiscal experts say.
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Illinois' debt crisis fast changing and difficult to keep up with, fiscal advocate finds
With Illinois' interest penalties alone approaching $1 billion, Truth in Accounting Director of Research Bill Bergman is wondering who is servicing the state's debt, an area where things can change very fast.
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Tight GOP races show Illinois voter frustration
Although Rep. Jeanne Ives (R-Wheaton) was all but knighted as the Republican heir apparent in the governor’s race, she failed in her bid to topple incumbent Gov. Bruce Rauner – but only by 3 percentage points.
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House committee passes bill banning kids under 12 from playing on tackle football teams
With 11 yes votes, a bill banning youth younger than 12 years old from playing on organized tackle football teams passed the House Mental Health Committee on Thursday.
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Still struggling to be heard, Rotheimer to hold press conference Monday on sexual harassment
It has been more than three months since long-time victims rights advocate Denise Rotheimer repeated during a public hearing accusations of sexual harassment against a high-ranking Illinois state senator and still she can't seem to be heard.
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State's tax-credit scholarship program off to a solid start, education advocate says
A tax-credit scholarship program enacted by Illinois lawmakers last summer to provide tuition to attend nonpublic schools has brought in more than $40 million, the director of an education advocacy group said during an interview last weekend.
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BGA: HOW CAN YOU BE A MORE ENGAGED CITIZEN? READ, PARTICIPATE, USE FOIA AND COLLABORATE
HOW CAN YOU BE A MORE ENGAGED CITIZEN? READ, PARTICIPATE, USE FOIA AND COLLABORATE
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2017 year in review
With the New Year about a week away, it's time to reflect on the rough-and-tumble time that was 2017 and project forward into the uncertainty of 2018. From struggles in the state General Assembly over the budget and sexual harassment, to Gov. Bruce Rauner's swings to the left to Lisa Madigan's unexplained decision to not seek another term as Illinois attorney general and other news items that made for an interesting year, here's our 2017 in review.
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Nowlan: It’s no fun being from Illinois
I attended a spiffy wedding (cruel and unusual punishment) in Dallas this past Saturday, at a park on the Texas State Fairgrounds. After the reception, at a dinner table for eight with Dallas executives, both male and female, we played the "Where are you from; what do you do?" game.
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Grundy state's attorney 'not afraid of challenge' in secretary of state race
Grundy County State’s Attorney Jason Helland says he just can't stay in Grundy County when he knows Illinois needs him in the secretary of state's office.
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Taxes, laws blamed for keeping Illinois behind neighbors in manufacturing jobs
Illinois is the odd-state-out in the Midwest where other states are experiencing a robust recovery in manufacturing jobs since the Great Recession's end, the head of a Springfield-based manufacturers advocacy group said during a recent interview.
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Fall veto session comes to a close as lawmakers face challenges
In a busy fall veto override session, Illinois legislators overrode more than a dozen of Gov. Bruce Rauner's vetoes, nearly a third of total vetoes on record.
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Morrison, watchdog group call Illinois lost in lawsuits, lack of reform
Illinois is backing itself into a corner by refusing to mirror the reforms sweeping other states, Rep. Tom Morrison (R-Palatine) and members of the Illinois Lawsuit Abuse Watch (I-LAW) said at a recent Palatine rally to spur legislation preventing frivolous lawsuits, according to a press release.
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Stanford analyst: Illinois school funding changes won't improve student performance
The evidence-based school funding formula Illinois will adopt once the Legislature and Gov. Bruce Rauner finally agree on the particulars in Senate Bill 1 brings with it only one guarantee: Taxpayers will pay billions more for an input-driven formula that has no proven track record of success, one analyst said recently.
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16 Illinois lawmakers face 'accountability' attack over budget vote
The lllinois chapter of Americans for Prosperity (AFP-IL) is taking aim at 16 state legislators who voted to override Gov. Bruce Rauner’s veto and pass a budget that carries the largest permanent tax hike in state history.