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.

A committee of Chicago City Council members on Thursday unanimously approved a resolution calling on state lawmakers to take action on Peoples Gas rates, calling out the company for its multibillion-dollar System Modernization Program.

Peoples Gas, the private utility company that delivers natural gas to the entire city, is in the midst of a massive infrastructure upgrade – and consumers are paying for it. 

A one-on-one with Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who spent part of the week in Springfield lobbying lawmakers to approve a bill that would ease some of the casino taxes and fees. We discuss that and more with the mayor.

With the acknowledgement that “our choices remain hard, our fiscal situation challenging,” Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday delivered his proposal for a $42 billion state spending plan for the coming fiscal year.

Even as cities like Rockford and Waukegan move forward with their fresh authority to host casinos, Chicago is at a standstill.

In the war against plastic pollution, Illinois legislators just announced a new battle plan that would tackle the problem from multiple angles.

Previous attempts to end gerrymandering in Illinois have come up short, but a coalition of advocacy groups are at it once again.

State Sen. Rob Martwick says the bill would grant students up to five excused absences from class to let them “take care of their mental health, just like they would be with a broken bone or the flu.”

Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Illinois lawmakers are signaling they could be ready to pass legislation that eventually moves the state to 100% renewable energy. A look at how that might happen.

A guilty plea has reverberations throughout the state. Coronavirus concerns spread in Chicago. A massive restructuring of the Chicago Police Department. And Catholic schools get a financial lifeline.

Beyond Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s State of the State address, the guilty plea of yet another former public official is the talk of Springfield and Chicago. Our politics team digs into that story and more in our weekly roundtable.