-
5 days ago | 
chicago.suntimes.com | Mitchell Armentrout |George Wiebe
SPRINGFIELD — Another legislative session came and went without the Chicago Bears breaking the line of scrimmage in Springfield for legislation to help them build a new stadium. With lawmakers scrambling to pass a state budget and agonizing over the future of mass transit, the Bears’ team of lobbyists was left on the Capitol sideline in their push for a bill that would potentially pave the way to a dome in Arlington Heights.
-
6 days ago | 
wbez.org | Mitchell Armentrout |George Wiebe
SPRINGFIELD — Illinois lawmakers approved a $55.2 billion state budget package minutes ahead of a key constitutional deadline Saturday night, relying on tax hikes that would hit smokers, gamblers and big out-of-state companies to help seal an estimated $1 billion shortfall. Democratic leaders cut it down to the final seven minutes on the clock of May, but avoided the public intra-party squabbling that marked the chaotic conclusion of last spring’s legislative session.
-
6 days ago | 
chicago.suntimes.com | George Wiebe
SPRINGFIELD — After fierce pushback and a narrow vote of support in the House of Representatives, Illinois lawmakers ended their spring session without approving a bill that would let terminally ill people end their own lives. The House of Representatives had approved the measure Thursday with just three votes to spare to get it passed. But shortly after that vote, Cardinal Blase Cupich, the archbishop of Chicago, issued a rare statement, condemning the plan as “assisted suicide.”State Sen.
-
6 days ago | 
wbez.org | Mitchell Armentrout |George Wiebe
SPRINGFIELD — State lawmakers are on track toward overhauling the governance of mass transit across the Chicago area, but a lengthy list of proposed new taxes could derail efforts to stave off the fiscal cliff facing the CTA, Metra and Pace.
-
6 days ago | 
chicago.suntimes.com | Mitchell Armentrout |George Wiebe
SPRINGFIELD — Illinois lawmakers closed out their spring session early Sunday without passing legislation to reform mass transit governance in the Chicago area or direct upwards of $1 billion in new funding to the CTA, Metra and Pace to fend off a $770 million fiscal cliff that looms next year. A bill championed by state Sen.
-
6 days ago | 
chicago.suntimes.com | Mitchell Armentrout |George Wiebe
Illinois lawmakers were cutting it close to a key constitutional deadline to pass their $55.2 billion state budget package late Saturday, while the fate of a bill to overhaul Chicago-area mass transit governance hinged on legislators’ appetite to slap a $1.50 fee on package and food deliveries. The budget proposal relies on tax hikes that would hit smokers, gamblers and big corporations to help seal an estimated $1 billion shortfall.
-
1 week ago | 
chicago.suntimes.com | Mitchell Armentrout |George Wiebe
SPRINGFIELD — State lawmakers are on track toward overhauling the governance of mass transit across the Chicago area, but a lengthy list of proposed new taxes could derail efforts to stave off the fiscal cliff facing the CTA, Metra and Pace.
-
1 week ago | 
chicago.suntimes.com | Brett Chase |George Wiebe
Just weeks before ComEd customers are about to get hit with higher bills, Illinois lawmakers are considering ways to generate and conserve more power with a plan to push for additional solar and wind energy and end a state ban on new nuclear plants. Under the measure, the state would also provide incentives to build large batteries that store the energy produced by “renewable” solar and wind power.
-
1 week ago | 
chicago.suntimes.com | George Wiebe |Alex Degman
After months of debate, Illinois legislators released a transit reform proposal that renames the Regional Transportation Authority, establishes a consolidated police force and creates a universal fare system for the Chicago area’s mass transit agencies. But a gaping hole in the plan still remains. The bill does not address revenue options to pay for it. The proposed changes come as the RTA system faces a $770 million budget shortfall.
-
1 week ago | 
chicago.suntimes.com | George Wiebe
SPRINGFIELD — Despite facing legislative hurdles to continue advancing through the statehouse, Democrats on an Illinois House Committee voted to push forward a bill that would let terminally ill patients request life-ending medication. The legislation, which needs approval from the state House, Senate and Governor’s office, would legalize the prescription of life-ending drugs.
