The state’s two main fiscal forecasting agencies agree: Illinois’ finances will see a strong close in the final 3 ½ months of the fiscal year before things tighten a bit next year.
J.B. Pritzker
A plan headed to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s desk will allow voters in November to choose half of the Chicago Board of Education. Johnson will appoint the other half, plus its president.
A recent Alabama Supreme Court ruling is raising questions about IVF. In Illinois, the Reproductive Health Act protects the increasingly popular path to parenthood while establishing people’s right to make decisions about their own reproductive health.
More money for migrants, increased access to preschool, a break on grocery bills and a prescription for how the state could wipe out medical debt — those are some of the spending plans in Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s nearly $53 billion state budget.
Illinois shoppers would save a dollar when they buy $100 worth of groceries under Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s proposal to eliminate a state sales tax on groceries.
You’ve probably been hearing about the Chicago Bears and White Sox stadium goals. They’re not the only ones making a pitch for publicly financed stadiums.
These cultural districts include ethnic enclaves in Chicago and historically Black neighborhoods in Champaign and Springfield.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker said he’s “reluctant” to use taxpayer funds to help the White Sox move from Bridgeport to the South Loop.
The nonprofit Chicago South Side Birth Center will mark the city’s second active midwife-led birth center, but the first for the South Side. Advocates say the Black-led center offers safe birthing alternatives in a medically underserved area of the city.
Closing the four shelters will allow the city to avoid paying $19 million to lease the facilities, staff them and provide food and laundry services, officials said.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday unveiled a $52.7 billion budget that he described as filled with “hard choices.” The plan builds on priorities like funding preschool, supporting Black residents, funding the neediest schools and caring for asylum seekers.
If Illinois continues spending next fiscal year as it has been this year, the state will face an $891 million deficit. Gov. J.B. Pritzker is set to spell out exactly how he plans to address that on Wednesday, when he delivers an annual combined state of the state and budget address.
That cost is on top of the $150 million already set aside in Chicago’s 2024 budget, the $100 million earmarked in Cook County’s budget to care for the migrants, and $160 million in state funds Pritzker agreed to spend to care for the migrants in mid-November, officials said.
Last week, eight local Teamsters unions representing about 3,800 transportation-related employees authorized strikes amid the ongoing negotiations. A strike can still be avoided despite the authorization votes.
The eight local unions that authorized strikes are spread throughout Illinois and represent around 3,800 employees, including drivers, highway maintainers and bridge tenders. Negotiations between the state and the unions have lasted more than seven months.
The emotional debate was over a resolution calling for a cease-fire in Gaza. Chicago became the largest city to pass such a resolution after Mayor Brandon Johnson cast a tie-breaking vote.
