Controversial public safety measures took priority in Springfield. And we know that Illinois has a budget. But a whole lot of other changes are coming, thanks to state lawmakers’ recent rush of activity. 

Illinois legislative leaders Dan McConchie, Don Harmon, Tom Demmer, and Chris Welch join “Chicago Tonight” to break down the budget, efforts to fight crime, tax relief and more.

Illinois voters may have been asleep from 1 a.m. to 6 a.m. Saturday morning as members of the General Assembly passed a new state budget, but lawmakers designed it to grab their attention in an election year.

It’s getting down to the wire for state lawmakers. They’re supposed to finish their work for this session Friday. And just before the deadline, Democrats are out with a deal.

The former Illinois House Speaker and longtime chairperson of the Democratic Party of Illinois faces multiple counts that carry prison sentences of up to 20 years each. And advocates say Mike Madigan’s indictment should be a call for reform of state government.

Former state Rep. Luis Arroyo’s conduct was a “blatant cash grab,” Assistant U.S. Attorney James Durkin told U.S. District Judge Steven C. Seeger, asking that Arroyo spend between 46 to 57 months behind bars.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s Wednesday afternoon address from the Old State Capitol was delivered to a mostly virtual audience after a snowstorm thwarted plans for an in-person session of the General Assembly.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker presents an election-year budget filled with tax relief and more spending on programs.  And Rod Blagojevich weighs in on a congressional race. . Our politics team weighs in on that story and more.

Gov. J. B. Pritzker will present the new state budget Wednesday. Details will include Illinois' pandemic response, funding for schools, and for violence prevention, and potential tax relief. Among the expected proposals are holding the line on a gasoline tax, and temporarily lifting a 1% tax on food. 

As Gov. J.B. Pritzker heads into a reelection year that could prove trying, on Wednesday he is set to present a budget proposal with nearly $1 billion in one-time tax relief.

Sending former state Rep. Luis Arroyo pleaded guilty to one charge of wire fraud in November, and is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 18. Arroyo has acknowledged that he offered a member of the Illinois Senate monthly payments of $2,500 to support a bill supported by a sweepstakes firm that hired Arroyo as a lobbyist. 

It’ll be easier to access birth control in Illinois, courtesy of a new law that allows pharmacists to dispense hormonal contraception without a doctor’s prescription.

Illinois House Speaker Emanuel Chris Welch reflects on his first year on the job. Welch’s historic win followed Michael Madigan’s decadeslong hold on political power in the Illinois House. 

A series of new laws could make it easier for consumers to comparison shop for prescriptions, make sure unused medicine doesn’t go to waste, and expand coverage of fertility treatment.

The General Assembly canceled its Jan. 4 and 6 session dates, and will likely call the session off the following week as well “amid the ongoing global pandemic.”

Because of the pandemic, in 2020 the legislature was thrown a bit off course, so there weren't a ton of laws that took effect at the start of 2021. Not so for 2022. Dozens of measures will kick in starting Saturday.