Illinois is one of the few states that provides Medicaid-style health care benefits to undocumented immigrants, but that coverage is proving costly and the state is scaling back. It’s causing a political rift.

Next time you attend a parade, there might be an eye in the sky. A new law signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker expands local police departments’ authority to use drones to surveil certain events, respond to certain 911 calls, inspect buildings and participate in public relations events.

The Winnetka Republican-turned-Florida resident on Monday unveiled the portrait painted by Chicago Artist Richard Halstead and privately funded by Rauner. He downplayed the artwork as “not that big a deal” and declined to stray far from a message of “thanks” to the people of Illinois.

The new law declares it to be the policy of Illinois to “encourage and protect the freedom of libraries and library systems to acquire materials without external limitation and to be protected against attempts to ban, remove, or otherwise restrict access to books or other materials.”

The bill came in response to a flurry of lawsuits filed in recent years in courthouses throughout the state challenging such things as Pritzker’s COVID-19 mitigation orders, a law that would end cash bail, and, most recently, the state’s ban on assault-style weapons and large-capacity magazines.

Backers of a new state budget say they've passed a balanced plan crafted in cooperation. Many Republicans, however, say the measure largely ignores their input and sets the state up for obligations it won’t be able to meet.

Illinois’ legislative session is wrapping up in earnest, and Gov. J.B. Pritzker will soon face the task of deciding whether to crystalize legislators’ ideas by signing them into law. 

The $50.6 billion spending plan (SB250) passed the Illinois Senate late Thursday night, with only the support of Democrats who drafted it.

A more than $50 billion dollar budget agreement Gov. J.B. Pritzker and the leaders of the legislature trumpeted on Wednesday afternoon isn’t a done deal yet.

Passing a budget is arguably the single must-happen task for lawmakers and it was supposed to have been done by Friday, but that self-imposed deadline came and went without any budget action.

Illinois Democrats have the ranks to pass a new state budget, but an inability to agree on spending figures means they blew past Friday’s deadline and will return to the capitol next week in another attempt to get the job done.

Illinois lawmakers will miss their self-imposed Friday deadline to pass a budget, with no spending plan having surfaced by Thursday night. They are also working to pass an array of measures regulating everything from bathrooms to generic drug pricing and Native American studies.

One roadblock to the passage of a state budget this week has been a set of programs in which Illinois provides health care coverage to green-card holders and undocumented residents.

The plan released Wednesday kicks off a debate between progressive political organizations and the mayor they helped elect on how best to achieve the goals they all share.

After seven people were shot and killed during Highland Park’s Independence Day parade last summer, Illinois took a major and controversial step toward limiting which guns can be used and sold in state. The Illinois Supreme Court is being asked to weigh the law’s constitutionality.

Illinois legislators have through Friday to accomplish their most important task: passing a budget.