Peter Hancock - Capitol News Illinois

From Capitol News Illinois: Gov. JB Pritzker says he intends to sign legislation imposing a statewide ban on cell phones and other wireless communication devices during instructional time in public schools and charter schools

From Capitol News Illinois: Illinois lawmakers approved a budget after 4 a.m. Monday, which includes the full $350 million increase in Evidence-Based Funding for public schools. Some education advocates had called for a bigger increase

From Capitol News Illinois: The Illinois House gave final passage Wednesday to bills giving the Illinois Department of Insurance authority to review and approve rates for homeowners and automobile insurance

From Capitol News Illinois: As state lawmakers work to pass a school funding plan for the upcoming fiscal year, some are expressing frustration over how this year’s budget has been implemented

From Capitol News Illinois: A proposal that would expand access to a federal program that discounts the price of prescription drugs could end up costing Illinois employers an additional $89 million a year

From Capitol News Illinois: As budget negotiations kicked into high gear at the Illinois Statehouse this week, lawmakers from both chambers have begun to assess how much progress has been made under the Evidence-Based Funding formula for public schools

From Capitol News Illinois: Documents filed in federal court suggest the agency wants the information so it can purge the names of suspected noncitizens using a federal database that many have criticized for being inaccurate

From Capitol News Illinois: The Illinois State Board of Education is asking lawmakers this year for $200,000 to develop a new way of counting low-income students as participation in federal assistance programs declines.

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: 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: State employee health care costs have been rising steadily for several years due to growth in the state’s workforce and general health care inflation

From Capitol News Illinois: The Illinois State Board of Education presented its budget request for $10.9 billion to fund public schools in the upcoming fiscal year. The request includes $300 million in new spending for schools, plus $50 million for property tax relief grants

From Capitol News Illinois: The bill calls for annual increases in university funding of $135 million each year over the next several years, with priority for new money given to schools that are currently the most underfunded.

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