Stories by Alex Abbeduto — Capitol News Illinois

In 2022, the General Assembly created a task force to research the state of journalism in Illinois. Data from Northwestern University showed one-third of local outlets have closed since 2005, creating an 86% decline in newspaper jobs over that span.

With two weeks left before the General Assembly’s spring session is set to adjourn, negotiations continue on a labor union-backed initiative that would allow Illinoisans to skip religious and political work meetings without reprimand.

The Illinois State Police do have a higher-than-average presence of women in law enforcement leadership, however. Women make up 14% of ISP’s leadership, according to an agency spokesperson. A new initiative aims to increase that number. 

Last week, eight local Teamsters unions representing about 3,800 transportation-related employees authorized strikes amid the ongoing negotiations. A strike can still be avoided despite the authorization votes.

The Local Journalism Task Force found that about one-third of Illinois counties have either no source of local news or a single source.

The new Workers Owed Wages website attempts to connect workers with potential unclaimed back pay.

The board would be tasked with assessing high-cost drugs, like ones used to treat cancer, auto-immune disease and diabetes, as well as other drugs that might impact the state health care system.

The Illinois Underground Railroad Task Force met for the first time this week to begin devising a strategy for sharing, growing and celebrating the history of the Underground Railroad in Illinois.