Illinois’ insurance code prohibits discrimination, but state Rep. Will Guzzardi said there’s a difference between impact and intent. Even if insurance agents aren’t doing it maliciously, Guzzardi said, algorithms end up perpetuating inequities and punishing people of color and low-income drivers.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday unveiled a $52.7 billion budget that he described as filled with “hard choices.” The plan builds on priorities like funding preschool, supporting Black residents, funding the neediest schools and caring for asylum seekers.

If Illinois continues spending next fiscal year as it has been this year, the state will face an $891 million deficit. Gov. J.B. Pritzker is set to spell out exactly how he plans to address that on Wednesday, when he delivers an annual combined state of the state and budget address. 

Consumer advocates are pushing for a change to state law that would bar utilities from collecting money from customers for those expenditures, liability insurance covering executives and for the cost associated with filing rate cases. 

Under a new proposal introduced last week in Springfield, all tipped workers in the state would have to be paid the equivalent of the Illinois’ regular minimum wage through a combination of wages and tips. If the tips fall short, their employers would have to make up the difference.

Former state Sen. SamMcCann’s trial has been delayed numerous times since his February 2021 indictment on fraud, money laundering, and tax evasion charges.   

“Some people feel it’s a stigma, and I don’t want people to feel like it’s a stigma,” state Sen. Cristina Castro said. “There’s great treatment out there. We’re just trying to help lower the barrier to that treatment.”

The arrest caps a bizarre week that was supposed to have seen his corruption trial begin and end – until a last-minute hospitalization forced its postponement until Monday. 

On Thursday, Sen. Doris Turner, D-Springfield, introduced legislation mandates that a funeral director must place a unique identifier on the deceased’s body, body bag, and any body part, organ, or tissue separated from the deceased to be used in nontransplant organ donation. A director must also maintain chain of custody documentation. 

Democratic leaders in the legislature appear ready to revive talks to reform the state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act, or BIPA, after business groups poured cold water on the majority party’s ideas last spring.

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

“Without this law, Illinois is putting targets on the backs of domestic violence survivors,” said Yolanda Androzzo, the director of the gun control advocacy group One Aim Illinois.

A group of Illinois lawmakers have a proposal that would ban a handful of common additives in food made and sold in Illinois starting in 2027. California last year became the first state to ban the substances that are common in mass-produced and ultra-processed cereals, candies, salad dressings and sodas.

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.

The law, named the Protecting Illinois Communities Act (PICA), has banned the sale of hundreds of specific guns and types of guns since Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed it in early 2023.