As the 2024 election season draws near, voters will once again choose whether to cast their ballots in person or by mail. One Illinois lawmaker is proposing a bill that would make voting by mail the default option for people in counties and cities that choose to go that route.

Advocates and lawmakers are calling for a permanent child tax credit to help lessen the economic burden on struggling families.

Hundreds – actually 320 – of new laws took effect in Illinois when the disco ball dropped on 2023. WTTW News has rounded up some of the laws most likely to impact your day-to-day life.

Chicago elected a new mayor, Illinois banned so-called assault weapons and the Boss played at Wrigley Field. Here’s what people were reading in 2023.

At public universities across the state, staff and faculty unions have faced a contentious year of negotiations and, in some cases, strikes. Pay has been a major issue on several campuses and the unions are now looking to Springfield for potential reforms to the state’s higher education funding.

The law prohibits the possession, manufacture or sale of semiautomatic rifles and high-capacity magazines. It takes effect Jan. 1.

Firearm owners in Illinois will have to wait at least another month before knowing exactly what items they must register with the Illinois State Police under the state’s assault weapons ban, even as the deadline for submitting those registrations is less than three weeks away.

The measure does not allow new large-scale power generation facilities like the six plants that are already operational in the state, but rather allows for new smaller-scale emergent technology.

In the run up to the March primary election, the spotlight for Chicago-area voters will focus on races for state’s attorney, circuit court clerk, a key seat in the Illinois House to represent the city’s Northwest Side and two Congressional contests.

The nearly three-dozen pensioners and 17 individual pension funds that sued have already lost twice in lower court. But their attorney was insistent the retired police and firefighters were wronged when Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed the law – passed with overwhelming bipartisan support.

The new statute forbids officials convicted of “a felony, bribery, perjury or other infamous crime” from holding local or state level elected positions.

According to Cook County data, 35% of residents speak a language other than English at home, while 14% of those people say they speak English less than “very well.” Meanwhile, migrants continue arriving in Chicago with limited to no English-speaking skills and few resources.

The name of the practice is debated — “medical aid in dying” to some, and “physician-assisted suicide” to others. Either way, advocates are hoping the issue comes up in Springfield soon.

The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation has failed to meet its goals to speed up both initial licensing and renewals in key industries as applications to the agency grew by 15% between 2019 and 2022.

Donors receive state income tax credits for their contributions to the Invest in Kids program, which helps some 9,600 students across Illinois attend private and trade schools. But barring last-minute legislative action, authorization for the program runs out at the end of 2023.

A group of individuals working for the office of Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch has been exploring forming a union. Welch is now the sponsor of a bill creating the Legislative Employee Labor Relations Act.