More than 2 million people in Illinois are eligible to have their records sealed but haven’t acted on what is currently a cumbersome, lengthy process.

Staff at the elections board fined Don Harmon’s campaign $9.8 million earlier this year following a Chicago Tribune report that it improperly accepted $4 million more than was allowed during the 2024 election.

While Senate Bill 2111 was widely covered for the $1.5 billion it drives to transit throughout Illinois and its governance reforms in the Chicago region, the more than 1,000-page bill outlines a new approach to public transportation.

The 2026 budget makes permanent the regional day pass allowing a single, discounted 24-hour fare across CTA, Metra and Pace, as well as a program allowing paratransit users to ride for free on fixed routes.

Terminally ill people in Illinois may soon be able to end their lives with medical assistance. State lawmakers recently passed a controversial medical-aid-in-dying bill, which now heads to Gov. JB Pritzker’s desk.

The RTA held a special meeting to approve new funding projections for 2026 through 2028 based on revenue estimates from new funding sources for public transportation. Those were approved by the General Assembly last week, which Gov. JB Pritzker said he will sign.

Illinois lawmakers last week signed off on a sweeping $1.5 billion transit funding package that reshapes how the CTA, Metra and Pace are run and funded. The plan also creates what’s called the Northern Illinois Transit Authority to oversee the transit agencies.

Advocates for the bill say it is rooted in compassion and will bring agency to already dying people in the last stages of life, while opponents cite religious concerns and potential harm to vulnerable populations.

Illinois lawmakers passed two dozen bills during their annual fall veto session that ended Friday, Oct. 31, including a measure that will empower the state’s Department of Public Health to issue vaccine guidelines amid federal uncertainty.

Republicans and Democrats are in an escalating national fight over congressional seats. Some members of Congress are pushing for Illinois to redraw its districts to get another Democratic seat.

The proposal passed the House with an overwhelmingly bipartisan roll call and is expected to receive a vote in the Illinois Senate later this week. It comes amid a startling rise in violence and threats aimed at public officials.

Gov. JB Pritzker on Wednesday expressed skepticism about some of the revenue streams House Democrats pitched in a transit rescue bill filed late Tuesday night.

Illinois lawmakers head back to Springfield next week to finish out their fall veto session with plenty on the agenda.

U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ push for Illinois Democrats to redraw the state’s congressional map as a counter to President Donald Trump’s mid-decade redistricting project in GOP-led states has met a cool reception with state lawmakers.

Violent protests, legally questionable immigration raids and the deployment of National Guard troops without the governor’s approval will be at the forefront of state lawmakers’ minds when they return to Springfield on Tuesday.

Chicago-area public transit agencies are facing a fiscal cliff. The budget gap for CTA, Metra and Pace is at $200 million, according to the Regional Transportation Authority.