
Brenden Moore
Government and Politics Reporter at Lee Enterprises
State Government Reporter at Pantagraph
State Government Reporter at Herald & Review
@LeeEntNews’ man in Springfield covering Illinois government + politics. @DePaulJOUR, @UISPAR alum. [email protected]
Articles
-
5 days ago |
herald-review.com | Brenden Moore
SPRINGFIELD — Democrats in control of the Illinois General Assembly flexed their supermajorities to muscle through a $55.2 billion state budget plan at the 11th hour that, for the second year in a row, will be balanced by a series of tax hikes and other revenue enhancements totaling more than $1 billion. At the same time, efforts to reform the governance structure of Chicago area public transit agencies and boost funding for public transit across the state hit the brakes.
-
6 days ago |
pantagraph.com | Brenden Moore
SPRINGFIELD — Democrats in control of the Illinois General Assembly flexed their supermajorities to muscle through a $55.2 billion state budget plan at the 11th hour that, for the second year in a row, will be balanced by a series of tax hikes and other revenue enhancements totaling more than $1 billion. At the same time, efforts to reform the governance structure of Chicago area public transit agencies and boost funding for public transit across the state hit the brakes.
-
1 week ago |
pantagraph.com | Brenden Moore
SPRINGFIELD — Over the past several months, conversations in the Illinois Capitol about public transit have largely centered around a $770 million fiscal cliff facing Chicago-area agencies and lawmakers' demands for reforms to their governance structures in exchange for the new funds. But there has also been a quiet acknowledgement that the 54 public transit agencies in the 95 counties outside of the Chicago region also have funding challenges that need to be addressed in any legislative measure.
-
1 week ago |
pantagraph.com | Brenden Moore
SPRINGFIELD — With just over a day until the scheduled adjournment of the spring legislative session, Democratic lawmakers filed a $55.3 billion spending plan that relies on more than $1 billion in tax hikes and other revenue-generating measures. The plan for the fiscal year that begins July 1 would not increase income tax or sales tax rates, but it would up so-called sin taxes on tobacco, vaping products and certain gambling activities.
-
1 week ago |
pantagraph.com | Brenden Moore
SPRINGFIELD — Legislation that would authorize a race track and casino in Decatur has cleared the starting gate, but continued opposition from a key player in the gaming industry could keep it from reaching the finish line before lawmakers wrap up their spring legislative session later this week. Senate Bill 1473, sponsored by state Sen. Patrick Joyce, D-Essex, passed unanimously out of the Senate Executive Committee on Wednesday.
Journalists covering the same region

Colin Feeney
Sports Writer at River Bender
Colin Feeney primarily covers news in the southwestern region of Illinois, United States, including areas around Alton and Edwardsville.

Julia Rosier
Multimedia Journalist at WICS-TV (Springfield, IL)
Reporter at News 12 Westchester
Julia Rosier primarily covers news in Springfield, Illinois, United States and surrounding areas.
Dave Hinton
Editor at The News-Gazette (Champaign, IL)
Dave Hinton primarily covers news in the Central Illinois region, including cities like Terre Haute, Indiana and Champaign, Illinois, United States.

Claire Grant
Business Reporter at The State Journal-Register
Claire Grant primarily covers news in various locations across Illinois, United States, including cities like Springfield and surrounding areas.

Addi Weakley
Real Time Editor at KSHB-TV (Kansas City, MO)
Addi Weakley primarily covers news in Kansas City, Missouri, United States and surrounding areas.
Try JournoFinder For Free
Search and contact over 1M+ journalist profiles, browse 100M+ articles, and unlock powerful PR tools.
Start Your 7-Day Free Trial →Coverage map
X (formerly Twitter)
- Followers
- 5K
- Tweets
- 20K
- DMs Open
- No

Emma Shafer was a friend, so there was no way for me to cover what transpired last week as an objective news reporter. I was too close to it. But do write columns on occasion. So these are my thoughts — not as a reporter, but as a friend of Emma's: https://t.co/IHbIDLv4jN

I haven't seen any hypothetical polling on an open 2026 Democratic primary for Illinois governor. But my guess is that Rahm Emanuel would not scare any would-be candidates from the race. He'd certainly be able to raise money. But he's not popular with many Democratic base voters.

Hmmm. @capitolfax wonders whether prominent Dem consultants are publicly advising against a 3rd JB Pritzker term to clear field for Rahm run for governor https://t.co/ZTVyKD0nS4

RT @J_muck: And on @CNN just now, @JBPritzker suggests the same... mentioning @RahmEmanuel by name. https://t.co/mXgZBAVuhU