State

Staff Report Fourth-graders in Illinois on average scored 218 on a standardized reading test administered last year, which is one point below the 2019 national average calculated by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).…

By Greg Bishop SPRINGFIELD - An interim annual financial report shows Illinois spent more in the previous fiscal year than it collected in revenue despite claims from elected officials that the state's budget was balanced. A public…

By Rebecc Anzel Capitol News Illinois CHICAGO - Illinois Supreme Court Justice Robert Thomas, a former placekicker with the Chicago Bears, will retire from his seat on the bench effective Feb. 29. He plans to join the Chicago-based…

By Peter Hancock Capitol News Illinois SPRINGFIELD – An estimated 2,500 children and young adults in Illinois who had been in the custody of the state’s foster care system within the last year abruptly lost their health coverage on Feb.…

By Greg Bishop SPRINGFIELD - Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White said Wednesday he put his employees on notice over problems with the state's automatic voter registration program after it was revealed that more than 570 people who…

Staff Report CHICAGO - Kevin M. Sligh, recently selected as deputy regional administrator of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), began his service on Monday, Feb. Sligh will…

By Jerry Nowicki Capitol News Illinois SPRINGFIELD – While the information for approximately 4,700 16-year-olds was forwarded from the Illinois Secretary of State’s Office to the Illinois State Board of Elections as part of an automatic…

By Peter Hancock Capitol News Illinois SPRINGFIELD – Government reform advocates told a panel of state lawmakers Thursday that Illinois has some of the weakest governmental ethics rules in the country and that lawmakers should put more…

Staff Report SPRINGFIELD - The Illinois Chamber of Commerce, on Thursday, responded to Gov. J.B. Pritzker's State of the State address. "Governor Pritzker presented a positive view of his first year in office, much of which the…

Staff Report SPRINGFIELD - Gov. J.B. Pritzker talked economy, the new Senate president and Illinois' challenges Wednesday in his 2020 State of the State Speech.  The governor said the Illinois economy supports 6.2 million jobs, the…

By Greg Bishop SPRINGFIELD - With early voting for the March primary set to begin early next month, Illinois House Republicans demanded an immediate hearing into how the Secretary of State's Office improperly caused voter registration…

By Cole Lauterbach SPRINGFIELD - Another measure has been filed to create a taxpayer-funded program to ensure Illinois residents have their first two years of college tuition paid for. State Sen. Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant, D-Shorewood,…

Staff Report SPRINGFIELD (CAPITOL NEWS ILLINOIS) - The Illinois Senate will hold a special meeting Sunday, Jan. 19, to elect a new chamber president. Senate President John Cullerton, a Chicago Democrat, surprised his colleagues at the…

By Peter Hancock Capitol News Illinois SPRINGFIELD — The Illinois economy grew at a slower pace than most neighboring states and the nation as a whole during the third quarter of 2019, according to new figures released last week. The…

By Jerry Nowicki Capitol News Illinois SPRINGFIELD — In year two, Gov. J.B. Pritzker will focus on ending cash bail, reforming low-level drug crime sentencing and reducing mandatory minimum sentences, he announced in Chicago Thursday.…