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.

“This extension is necessary as my office continues to address the heavy customer volume caused by the COVID-19 pandemic through expanded online services and the introduction of appointments at select Driver Services facilities,” Secretary of State Jesse White said in a statement Friday.

Illinois House Majority Leader Greg Harris, the highest-ranking openly gay lawmaker in Illinois history, said after 15 years, he’s ready to move on. His current term ends in 2023.

While both parties have gerrymandered, these days Republicans have more opportunities. The GOP controls the line-drawing process in states representing 187 House seats compared with 75 for Democrats. The rest of the states use either independent commissions, have split government control or only one congressional seat.

The former member of the Illinois House told a federal judge Wednesday that he offered a member of the Illinois Senate monthly payments of $2,500 to support a bill supported by a sweepstakes firm that he worked for as a lobbyist.

Their final product, which still needs Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s signoff, is designed to send 14 Democrats and three Republicans to Congress from Illinois. If the strategy works, Democrats will gain a seat from Illinois while the GOP will lose two.

Late Wednesday, the Illinois House of Representatives approved a measure that would repeal a law requiring parents and guardians be notified before their minor child can have an abortion. The measure now heads to Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

Spurred in part by Texas’ new restrictions on abortions, Illinois legislators on Tuesday took a step toward moving in the other direction, when the Illinois Senate voted to roll back a law that requires parents and guardians be notified before their minor child can have an abortion.

The state’s gigantic new energy law will change the source of Illinois’ power. The package aims to move Illinois to carbon-free energy by 2045, but it also serves to tip the scales in terms of who makes up the transforming energy industry.

Extolling redrawn state legislative districts as reflective of Illinois’ diversity, Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Friday signed into law a new set of maps that will come into play in next year’s election and elections over the next decade.