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Raoul’s office to receive $15.7M budget increase for operations

Capitol News Illinois

Kwame Raoul & Omar Aquino

SPRINGFIELD – In a year when many state agencies received little or no funding increase, state lawmakers this year approved an increase of $15.7 million, or 22.4%, for general operating expenses in Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office.
That General Revenue Fund increase is significantly more than some other constitutional officers received for their operating expenses in the upcoming fiscal year.

Capitol View | June 12, 2025

WSIU’s Jeff Williams discusses Illinois politics with Charlie Wheeler and Peter Hancock.

Originally published on this site

Pension change boon to Chicago police officers, firefighters, but additional hit to taxpayers

Last-minute changes approved by Illinois lawmakers in the waning days of the session will cost Chicago taxpayers tens of millions of dollars in their first year and billions over time by giving some police officers and firefighters more lucrative pensions.

Lead sponsor Sen. Robert Martwick, a Chicago Democrat, told the Tribune the tweaks were a negotiated fix agreed to by Mayor Brandon Johnson and Gov.

Jim Dey | Bill to boost legal services to indigent on governor’s desk – The News-Gazette

Illinois legislators have created a new statewide public defender’s office, but it’s going to take a while to sort out the details.

They put the finishing touches on the “Funded Advocacy & Independent Representation (FAIR) Act” on May 31, the last day the legislature met in its spring session.

The bill now goes to Gov. J.B.

Giannoulias accuses Texas of illegally accessing Mount Prospect license plate data in abortion case

Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias accused Texas law enforcement of illegally accessing automated license plate reader data in Mount Prospect while searching for a woman who had an abortion. 

Giannoulias said in May, Texas authorities searched more than 83,000 automatic license plate reader cameras nationwide to find a woman they said had given herself an abortion.

Illinois lawmakers continue to make a case to bail out mass transit

(The Center Square) – Despite failing to get a mass transit funding package passed in the Illinois legislature this spring, some lawmakers continue to present their case.

As the mass transit agencies paint a bleak picture regarding the fiscal cliff in 2026, a funding package appears far from the finish line. The Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) said it needs $770 million to keep the systems in the Chicago area running as usual.

Illinois’ sports betting tax means all bets are off – Reason Magazine

As the sports betting industry explodes in popularity, Illinois is set to slow its momentum. 

As part of a $55.2 billion state budget package full of tax hikes, Illinois lawmakers passed a new tax on online sports wagering. Under the guise of filling a roughly $1 billion shortfall, the move imposes a new per-wager tax of 25 cents on the first 20 million online sports bets each fiscal year, doubling to 50 cents per bet after.

Illinois Gov JB Pritzker grilled over trans bathroom tweet

Gov. JB Pritzker was grilled Tuesday over a tweet he posted in 2017 saying “As a protest against Trump’s rescinding protections for trans kids, everyone should use the other gender’s bathroom today!” Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas) had dredged up the old tweet from Pritzker during a heated House Oversight Committee hearing with sanctuary state governors.

#jbpritzker #transgender #brandongill

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Watch: Pritzker says ICE shouldn’t be abolished, calls gender identity questions “political circus”

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker testified before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and suggested ICE shouldn’t be abolished. Pritzker was also questioned about gender identity and donations to a Muslim advocacy group.

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Chicago area transit providers plan for service cuts amid funding uncertainty 

Metra riders in downtown Downers Grove wait for the BNSF Line train to leave the station. (Photos by Igor Studenkov/For Chronicle Media)   

After the bill that would have bailed out Chicago area transit agencies failed to clear both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly, CTA, Metra, Pace and RTA were left with no choice but to start planning for cuts.

Gov. JB Pritzker grilled on sanctuary state policies – here are the facts

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul are sworn in during a House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearing, Thursday, June 12, 2025, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington.
<p>Amid a week of protests in Chicago and across the country, U.S. Rep. James Comer, R-Ky, chair of the House Oversight committee, began today’s hearing on state sanctuary policies accusing the governors of Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota of “willfully” ignoring federal law on immigration.</p><p>But immigration advocates in Chicago and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker dispute that.</p><p>“Illinois follows the law,” Pritzker said in his opening statement.

An expert at rounding up support, ex-Speaker Michael Madigan leaning on letters at corruption sentencing

Over his five decades in elected office, Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan knew how to round up support, both in Springfield to pass legislation about tough issues and in the crucial precincts of tight legislative races to keep his Democratic majority.

Now, with his sentencing on his corruption conviction imminent, Madigan is placing fervent hope on the backing of a wide range of supporters, outlined in more than 200 letters to the federal judge who will decide Madigan’s fate.

After six decades on Illinois’ public stage, Michael Madigan’s likely last act will be his sentencing in a courtroom Friday

Michael J. Madigan stepped onto Illinois’ public stage as a young man in the late 1960s, when he was elected as one of 118 delegates to the state constitutional convention in Springfield.

“I enjoyed it a great deal because it was like a tutorial on Illinois government and the constitutional organic structure that would support the functioning of the government,” Madigan testified in a federal courtroom earlier this year, telling the jury he was so moved by the experience that it motivated him to run for the Illinois House.

New Illinois bill helps cover retired K-9 officers’ vet costs

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — A new bill in Illinois is giving retired police dogs the care they deserve after a lifetime of service.

House Bill 3140 officially creates the Care for Retired Police Dogs Program, which reimburses handlers and adopters for veterinary expenses tied to a dog’s service-related injuries or age-related conditions. The bill is designed to honor and support K-9 officers who’ve worked five or more years in law enforcement or were injured in the line of duty.

IL state senator blasts prison hospice bill for being named after murderer

(The Center Square) – Legislation that mandates the Illinois Department of Corrections annually report on hospice and palliative care within its facilities is being criticized for being named after a convicted murderer who threw a victim head first down an elevator shaft.

State Sen. Steve McClure, R-Springfield, urged the Senate to vote “no” on House Bill 2397 this spring session, but ultimately the bill passed both chambers and heads to the governor for his signature. 

Eye On Illinois: What are your ideas for changing how the General Assembly operates?

It was a happy coincidence to open Tuesday’s newspaper and see my column, suggesting voters would benefit from more proposals being considered individually instead of bundled into larger packages, right underneath Capitol Fax’s Rich Miller asserting “Way too much fell through the cracks at the Statehouse.”

Miller used a failed omnibus energy bill to illustrate a larger point: “the Legislature goes through this almost every year.

Gov. JB Pritzker at House hearing defends sanctuary policies, calls out congressional inaction on immigration reform

WASHINGTON — Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker defended Illinois’ sanctuary laws for undocumented immigrants before a House committee Thursday and pointed at congressional Republicans and Democrats for using the issue to try to score political points rather than enacting comprehensive immigration reform.

“The vast majority of immigrants contribute to our communities, pay taxes and abide by the law.

Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi: Budget debate in Washington ignores the human cost in Illinois

The latest political fight over President Donald Trump’s self-described “big, beautiful bill” might seem pretty remote — unless you happen to be one of the millions of individuals who could be affected.

Take one of my constituents who contacted my office just a few weeks ago. She was diagnosed with breast cancer and had been receiving Medicaid.

Michael Madigan is being sentenced Friday. Here’s what you need to know.

Former House Speaker Michael Madigan arrives at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse this month.
<p>This week’s sentencing of <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/madigan-trial-news" target="_blank" >Michael J. Madigan</a> has been more than a decade in the making. It’s the result of one of the most aggressive, expansive FBI corruption investigations in Chicago history.</p><p>But the once-powerful Democrat left office more than four years ago. So, as sentencing approaches, here’s a look back at the man, his record-breaking reign in Illinois, and the federal probe that finally brought it to an end:</p><h3><b>WHO IS MICHAEL MADIGAN?</b></h3><div

In House committee testimony, Pritzker will defend TRUST Act, point finger at ‘abuses of power’

Gov. JB Pritzker is scheduled to testify in front of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on Thursday.
<p>WASHINGTON — Amid the vivid backdrop of federal immigration raids and <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/crime/2025/06/11/17-arrested-4-charged-with-felonies-as-thousands-gathered-for-anti-ice-protests-in-downtown-chicago" >protests in Chicago</a>, Gov. JB Pritzker plans to tell House Oversight committee members Thursday that the state of Illinois isn’t a place for violent criminals who lack legal status — and it will not tolerate “violations of the law or abuses of power.”</p><p>The