With global tensions and an intensely partisan presidential campaign fueling division among Americans, Illinois is launching the Help Stop Hate program to combat the severe increase in hate crime throughout the state. 

This year in Illinois, there are no statewide elections. And yet, political campaigns in the state raised about $600 million in itemized individual contributions, according to a Capitol News Illinois analysis of Illinois campaign finance data.

Members of the Illinois Flag Commission have nearly 5,000 designs to wade through, as the state moves onto a new phase of potentially overhauling its flag.

Voters will consider a non-binding referendum that seeks to impose a 3% tax on income over $1 million to fund property tax rebates for homeowners. It’s different from the contentious 2020 graduated income tax amendment that sparked an expensive campaign battle.

The Chicago area’s transit agencies are facing a $730 million fiscal cliff in 2026 when federal COVID relief money runs out, money that’s filling the gap in operating budgets from still-sluggish ridership numbers. Some legislators and advocates back the idea of doing away with RTA, CTA, Metra and Pace in favor of a new regional mega-agency, the Metropolitan Mobility Authority.

Local officials celebrated the completion of the Illinois Beach State Park Shoreline Stabilization Project, which will protect the state’s only remaining natural shoreline from the devastating effects of erosion.

Quantum computers operate significantly faster, which backers promise will yield astonishing breakthroughs in medicine, finance and science.

“Borrowing to pay for operating expenses in a business, in a government, etc., is not a great idea unless you know how you’re going to pay for that, because it’s going to come due,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said, “speaking as a businessperson.”

Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Wednesday that “nothing has changed” from his previous stance that public funding for sports stadiums is not something he, or the public, has much of an appetite for. But he did signal the teams’ bids for state help building new football, baseball and soccer stadiums, respectively, would be better off if they all got on a level playing field.

As Chicago grapples with a nearly $1 billion budget gap in the coming year, the city shouldn’t count on the state to help fill it. Gov. J.B. Pritzker said he’s “read things in the newspaper” about relief Chicago may want from the Illinois government, but at this point that’s not something his budget team is thinking about.

WTTW News Director Jay Smith sat down with our political team to reflect on the Democratic National Convention for a behind-the-scenes look at what covering the convention was like, and to help provide insights into the stories that emerged from the week.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker worked hard to bring the Democratic National Convention to Chicago, and Tuesday he got a reward: a primetime speech during the DNC, putting him in the national spotlight for the biggest address of his political career.

“As the mother of four daughters that I thought would have more rights than me, not fewer,” Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton said, “I’m devastated to this day that Trump’s Supreme Court found a way to relegate us to second-class citizens.”

Legislation that Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed into law this month bans physical punishment in private schools while reiterating a prohibition on the practice in public schools implemented 30 years ago.

Night 1 of “The Daily Show” in Chicago is in the books. Taping wrapped Monday evening at the Athenaeum Center in Lakeview. The show was hosted by Michael Kosta with appearances by Jordan Klepper and Grace Kuhlenschmidt. Jon Stewart will host live on Thursday night.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker and close confidants began plotting to bring the Democratic National Convention to Chicago all the way back in 2021. Now that it is here, the governor is in the spotlight.