Stories by Peter Hancock — Capitol News Illinois

Throughout four days of testimony, a central issue has been whether the weapons and equipment covered under the law are commonly used in American society for lawful purposes such as self-defense, and thus protected under the Second Amendment, or military-grade weapons that state and local governments can more easily keep out of civilian hands.

Illinois lawmakers in 2023 passed the ban on so-called assault weapons following a mass shooting the prior year at a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park that left seven people dead and dozens more injured.

Illinois lawmakers passed the ban in 2023 following a mass shooting the prior year at a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park that left seven people dead and dozens more injured.

Illinois lawmakers passed the ban in 2023 following a mass shooting the prior year at a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park that left seven people dead and dozens more injured.

The first appeal the court heard Tuesday centered on the new law’s early implementation. It involved a Chicago man who was charged with attempted murder and jailed just before the new law took effect, but who later petitioned for release once cash bail officially ended.

In a decision released Friday, Judge Iain D. Johnston said under current U.S. Supreme Court standards, the law violates the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. 

Adam Kinzinger, from Channahon, served in the U.S. House from 2011 to 2023. He chose not to run for reelection in 2022 after publicly breaking with the Trump administration over Trump’s role in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the United States Capitol.

Illinois Republicans say they are still as united about the upcoming election as they were at their national convention in Milwaukee last month, despite surge of enthusiasm for the Democrats’ new presidential candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris.

Democrats gathered in Springfield Wednesday for their annual rally at the Illinois State Fair amid a surge of enthusiasm and a renewed sense of optimism about their chances of retaining the White House in November.

The legislation puts new controls on the state’s health insurance industry, including bans on certain practices companies have used to reduce costs by controlling the amount of health care services a patient receives.

Bump stocks became the focus of gun control debate following a 2017 mass shooting at a music festival in Las Vegas. A gunman used weapons equipped with bump stocks to fire more than 1,000 rounds into a crowd in a matter of minutes, killing 60 people and injuring more than 400.

The Prairie Band Potawatomi are now headquartered in northeast Kansas. But they once had a reservation in what is now DeKalb County, a reservation that officials now agree was illegally sold out from under them in 1850.

The Illinois House gave final approval Saturday to a pair of bills that limit the ability of insurance companies to deny coverage or steer individuals toward lower cost, and sometimes less effective, treatments and medications, strategies sometimes referred to as “utilization management.”

The bill is one of several responses Illinois lawmakers have passed in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in 2022 that overturned Roe v. Wade. It came in response to legislative efforts in other states to ban or severely limit access to abortion services.

The bill would authorize the state to hand over what is now Shabbona Lake and State Park to the tribe for $1. It also allows the tribe and the Department of Natural Resources to enter into a land management agreement under which the land would remain open to the public for recreational use for an unspecified period.

Advocates say as many as 40,000 youths statewide could lose access to tutoring services, recreation and other extracurricular activities this summer unless Illinois lawmakers approve an infusion of funds to keep them going.

Banks, credit unions and mortgage companies will soon have to report to state regulators about how many loans they make in low-income, high-minority neighborhoods. That's the result of a state law passed in 2021 as part of the Legislative Black Caucus' social and economic reform agenda.

Immigrant rights advocates on Friday continued to push for one of their top budget priorities: full funding for state-run health care programs that benefit noncitizens, regardless of their immigration status.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s initiative targets many of the “utilization management” practices insurance companies use to hold down costs by either denying claims or steering patients toward lower-cost options.

The recent surge of migrants arriving in Illinois has brought with it a host of new challenges for state and local officials. Advocates say the state has not done enough to address educating the children of those coming across the border.

The announcement came in the middle of a legislative session in which Gov. J.B. Pritzker is proposing sweeping changes in state regulation of the health insurance industry.

In a 6-0 decision, the court found the residency restriction “does not infringe upon a child sex offender’s fundamental rights” and that there was a “rational basis” for the state to restrict where a person convicted of such a crime can live.

The case involves Brian Hynes, a Chicago-based lawyer and one-time protégé of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, who maintains a residence in Puerto Rico. Hynes has operated lobbying and business entities over the years that work with the state of Illinois and the city of Chicago.

This year’s survey found more than 90% of schools responding reported having a “serious” or “very serious” teacher shortage problem.

The law passed last year came in response to the large number of constitutional challenges that were filed in multiple jurisdictions challenging Pritzker’s COVID-19 mitigation orders, as well as a law ending cash bail in Illinois and the state’s 2021 assault weapons ban.

The changes, which Gov. J.B. Pritzker first unveiled in his State of the State address in February, would limit the ability of companies to deny claims or steer patients toward cheaper, and possibly less effective, treatments.