Two new measures give victims the ability to bring a civil lawsuit against an alleged perpetrator — a step that has raised alarm from civil liberties advocates and media groups like motion picture and cable organizations.

Illinois Democrats have the ranks to pass a new state budget, but an inability to agree on spending figures means they blew past Friday’s deadline and will return to the capitol next week in another attempt to get the job done.

State legislators are responsible for drawing the 20 districts that will comprise Chicago’s elected school board. Advocates were dissatisfied with the General Assembly’s first attempt and say a revised draft made public Wednesday isn’t much of an improvement.

Illinois lawmakers will miss their self-imposed Friday deadline to pass a budget, with no spending plan having surfaced by Thursday night. They are also working to pass an array of measures regulating everything from bathrooms to generic drug pricing and Native American studies.

One roadblock to the passage of a state budget this week has been a set of programs in which Illinois provides health care coverage to green-card holders and undocumented residents.

Uber has been pushing back hard against the common carrier proposal: emails and push notifications to customers, a reported six-figure ad buy on popular radio stations, web banners on news sites covering the General Assembly and plenty of lobbying.

Illinois legislators have through Friday to accomplish their most important task: passing a budget.

The glaring issue for many parent advocates is that they see the proposed map as not representative of the majority Latino student population in Chicago Public Schools. Instead, the maps are based on Chicago’s overall population, meaning fewer majority Latino districts.

Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart on Friday said millions more dollars must be dedicated to helping police departments recover weapons from those who’ve had their FOID cards revoked.

The Pan-Asian Voter Empowerment Coalition, a coalition of Asian American organizations from across the Chicago area, will come together in Springfield on Tuesday to advocate for legislation to meet the community’s needs. 

WTTW News analyzed state salary data and found some departments got smaller or had a noticeable uptick in employees leaving. Even in agencies that grew, employee churn was evident. We walk you through the numbers. 

Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson, who got his start as an aide to Senate President Don Harmon, traveled to Springfield to declare his election marks a “new day” in Illinois politics – and to serve notice that he would govern boldly as a progressive and supporter of organized labor.

The lawsuit over cash bail pits the state’s Democratic governor, attorney general and legislative leaders against roughly half of Illinois’ state’s attorneys, as well as county sheriffs. Both sides can agree on this much: The justices’ decision will have major ramifications on the future of the criminal justice system in Illinois.

Come next year, a new law will mandate nearly all Illinois employers give their workers a minimum of five paid days off, for any reason.

Uber and Lyft are currently exempt from the so-called “common carrier” standard that applies to other forms of transportation like taxis, railroads and airlines. Some Illinois lawmakers want to change that. 

The legislation would take effect on Jan. 1, 2024. Employees will accrue one hour of paid leave for every 40 hours worked up to 40 hours total, although the employer may offer more. Employees can start using the time once they have worked for 90 days.