Bars, restaurants and other businesses that welcome customers in defiance of Illinois’ stay-at-home order will not immediately face punishment after the General Assembly declined to heed Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s call to take action.

Illinois has had its share of financial troubles in the past, but a pandemic has complicated the budgeting process this year — and the state’s answer is to rely on borrowing up to $5 billion from the federal government.

Illinois casinos may be closed due to the coronavirus, but Chicago hit the jackpot as both chambers of the General Assembly narrowly gave approval to redo the tax structure for the planned Chicago casino.

Thirsty Illinoisans who wish they could get premade cocktails for takeout can get their martini (or quarantini) glasses ready.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has an extra day to make a play for tax changes that would allow a city-owned casino to finally get underway as Illinois legislators extend their special session into a fourth day. 

A measure designed to considerably expand the number of Illinois voters who cast their ballot in the 2020 presidential election by mail cleared the state Senate Friday and is headed to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s desk.

Amid uncertainty over the coronavirus — and how long public gatherings will be restricted — legislators on Thursday swiftly moved to approve new voting procedures for the 2020 general election.

Illinois lawmakers wrapped up their first day of the legislative session Wednesday — and it was full of drama as they took the rare move of temporarily kicking out one of their own.

For the first time since the coronavirus pandemic hit, Illinois lawmakers will return to Springfield on Wednesday for a special session. It’s sure to be special in more ways than one.

Members of the Illinois General Assembly will meet May 20 for the first time since the coronavirus hit “to conduct the critical work of state government in this unprecedented pandemic.”

Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s recently unveiled five-phase plan to gradually reopen the state is already getting pushback. Joining us to share their views are state Reps. Deanne Mazzochi, a Republican, and Mike Zalewski, a Democrat.

A high-profile effort to convince Illinois lawmakers to change the way the state draws congressional and state legislative districts has fizzled out after the coronavirus pandemic shut down the General Assembly.

The proposal would cancel rent and mortgage payments statewide for 180 days amid concerns that thousands of Illinois residents have missed rent payments due to the coronavirus.

The last time Illinois lawmakers were in Springfield, the coronavirus had not yet been declared a pandemic. After nearly two months, Republican legislators are amplifying their calls to return.

State Rep. John Cabello claims the governor “had no legal authority to act in ordering isolation or quarantine of citizens,” according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday — the second legal challenge to the governor’s stay-at-home order meant to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Come Friday, one man in Illinois will be exempt from the governor’s extended stay-at-home order: Republican state Rep. Darren Bailey. But the state is moving quickly to get a downstate judge’s decision reversed.