36 districts are under review as the Justice Department examines opt-out policies and classroom content surrounding gender and sexuality, with the potential for probes to expand to bathroom and sports team access.

From Capitol News Illinois: The Illinois Accountability Commission is also sending letters to local law enforcement agencies for potential prosecution of federal immigration agents amid Operation Midway Blitz

From Capitol News Illinois: Republican candidate for governor Darren Bailey proposed changes to electronic monitoring rules, but said his plan would not call for returning to the use of cash bail. JB Pritzker blamed the judge in the case for deciding to release the man accused

From Capitol News Illinois: Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, said the Senate will not move forward with a constitutional amendment rewriting the state’s redistricting rules after a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday

From Capitol News Illinois: JB Pritzker announced Wednesday that IBM will bring its FutureNow innovation and delivery hub to Chicago’s South Side, bringing an estimated 750 new full-time jobs in supercomputing fields, such as cybersecurity, AI and data science

In dueling appearances Friday, Gov. JB Pritzker and his Republican rival in the Nov. 3 election, Darren Bailey, outlined fixes for legislation intended to anchor the Chicago Bears in Illinois

From Capitol News Illinois: Proponents of BUILD argued that the primary driver of the current housing affordability crisis is a lack of supply caused by legislative hurdles and different municipal priorities

The Illinois Municipal League put together a model resolution for the Plainfield Village Board to approve, urging state leaders to not take zoning authority away from municipalities.

For months, the Bears had sought property tax concessions, which drew pushback from local governments, and financial aid with stadium infrastructure like roads

From Capitol News Illinois: The Illinois House voted to approve a constitutional amendment that would make a new priority list for lawmakers as they redraw legislative district lines. Even if the Senate agrees to support the amendment, voters would still need to approve it

From Capitol News Illinois: A 2025 nationwide report on statewide early childhood education found that Illinois stalled in efforts to expand preschool for 3- and 4-year-olds. A flat budget for the upcoming fiscal year may further stall Illinois’ progress

Illinois lawmakers took a major step toward keeping the Chicago Bears from moving to Indiana on Wednesday night. The Illinois House passed a Bears-backed megaprojects bill by a 78-32 vote that would help the team build a new stadium in Arlington Heights

From Capitol News Illinois: JB Pritzker signed an executive order Tuesday barring state employees and elected officials from using information obtained in their official capacity to place bets on prediction markets like Polymarket and Kalshi

From Capitol News Illinois: Democrats are also considering asking voters to approve a millionaires tax amendment in November, but it’s not clear if they will be able to pass that resolution before a May 3 deadline

The Illinois State Board of Elections released final vote totals Friday in the March 17 primary. Here are the results for McHenry County races.

From Capitol News Illinois: A federal judge on Monday officially closed the book on a lawsuit filed against the Trump administration last fall when the White House ordered 500 National Guard troops to Chicago as the “Operation Midway Blitz” mass deportation campaign escalated

The Illinois State Board of Elections released final vote totals Friday in the March 17 primary. Here are the results for Kendall County races.

The Illinois State Board of Elections released final vote totals Friday in the March 17 primary. Here are the results for Kane County races.

The Illinois State Board of Elections released final vote totals Friday in the March 17 primary. Here are the results for DuPage and suburban Cook county races.

Almost 10,000 more people voted Democratic in the March primary in McHenry County. Was that simply indicative of more competitive races on that side of the aisle, or a bigger political shift?

From Capitol News Illinois: The Illinois House and Senate approved hundreds of bills this week ahead of a Friday deadline, including a plan proposed by Gov. JB Pritzker to limit cell phones in schools

From Capitol News Illinois: Public school teachers in Illinois may soon have to add Latin Americans to the list of ethnic groups whose contributions to American history and culture must be taught in class

From Capitol News Illinois: The bill would also require social media platforms to have default privacy settings for minors that would stop addictive feeds, location sharing and transactions with digital currency

From Capitol News Illinois: In its most recent version, the bill would require elementary and middle schools to implement a bell-to-bell ban, while high schools could allow students to use their cellphones during breaks and lunch

From Capitol News Illinois: The Illinois estate tax creates a heavy burden for families trying to pass down farms between generations. A bill in the legislature seeks to raise the tax exemption to $6 million, from $4 million

From Capitol News Illinois: ComEd customers in Illinois will see an average $19 monthly reduction to their electricity bills over the coming months, thanks to a policy in the state’s climate bill

From Capitol News Illinois: As Illinois officials remain strongly committed to closing coal-fired power plants, federal policies under the Trump administration are creating uncertainty, spurring legal action and a push by some to keep the plants open

From Capitol News Illinois: A long-proposed bill to improve price transparency and ban junk fees passed the Illinois House for the second time in three years. A plan pushed by Gov. JB Pritzker to create a new abortion grant fund is advancing to the Senate

A major opportunity for Illinois families awaits Gov. JB Pritzker, and once again, the question is whether he will play politics or listen to the people.

From Capitol News Illinois:

From Capitol News Illinois: Gov. JB Pritzker and Democrats have added a new abortion access measure to their agenda that would allow people with limited or no insurance to get financial assistance for abortion care in Illinois.

Statewide teacher vacancies decreased by 24% with less than 3,000 vacancies remaining in the state as of Oct. 1, 2025, according to the Illinois State Board of Education.

From Capitol News Illinois: Elected officials and advocates for both domestic violence survivors and immigrant rights are warning of an uptick in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement presence around Cook County’s Domestic Violence Courthouse, in violation of both an order fro

Cary Mayor Mark Kownick used the annual state of the village event to warn residents of new state legislation that will put limits on local control from housing to parking.

From Capitol News Illinois: While the state program that created them is still relatively new, Illinois' clean energy workforce hubs are struggling to convert training into employment.

From Capitol News Illinois: Gov. JB Pritzker is urging Congress to authorize year-round E15 gasoline sales, arguing it would stabilize fuel markets and support rural economies

From Capitol News Illinois: The blame game comes after Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas released a report that found property taxes in the state’s largest county have grown faster than inflation and wage growth over the past 30 years

The Bears say they want a new stadium open by 2030, with a final decision expected in the coming months. Arlington Heights and Hammond, Indiana, remain in play as lawmakers negotiate key incentives

This declaration will allow homeowners, renters, businesses, and some nonprofits to apply for low-interest loans to help cover damages not covered by insurance.

From Capitol News Illinois: The measures included a ban on junk fees, classification of “child torture” as a Class X felony, a retry at a nonprofit savings bill, and a bill to strip Chicago’s authority to alter the minimum wage for workers who make tips

From Capitol News Illinois: A House education committee unanimously approved the latest version of a bill that would require school boards to prohibit public school students from using their cellphones in the classroom

From Capitol News Illinois: Midwestern governors, including Illinois’ JB Pritzker, are seeking a permanent solution to being able to use the ethanol blend E15 gasoline that’s cheaper but some say more polluting at a time when gasoline prices are rising

As lawmakers returned to Springfield Tuesday, Gov. JB Pritzker said that a deal to get a Bears stadium in Arlington Heights “needs to happen sooner rather than later,” but is in the hands of the state legislature.

From Capitol News Illinois: State Rep. Jeff Keicher, R-Sycamore, who works as an insurance agent, said the new bill was an improvement over earlier versions. But he said it does not address the factors that he said are the real causes of rising premiums

Fresh from a come-from-behind victory in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton greeted voters Wednesday and explained why she thinks an aggressive anti-Trump message resonated in Illinois.

From Capitol News Illinois: The newly introduced POWER Act seeks to regulate new data centers built in Illinois and address concerns about their effects on energy prices, water and the environment

From Capitol News Illinois: Republican gubernatorial nominee Darren Bailey said his campaign will focus heavily on the Chicago area. Bailey heavily lost suburban counties in Tuesday’s primary that he won four years ago but said he intentionally focused recently on downstate

Darren Bailey has won the Republican nomination for governor in Tuesday’s primary election, setting up a familiar face-off with Democrat JB Pritzker in the race for the governor’s office in November, according to unofficial election results.

March 17 marks the 2026 primary, where DeKalb County voters can pull a Democratic or Republican ballot to pick who appears on the ballot come November. All voters, partisan or not, can weigh in on referendum questions.

March 17 marks the 2026 primary, where Kane County voters can pull a Democratic or Republican ballot to pick who appears on the ballot come November. All voters, partisan or not, can weigh in on referendum questions.