From Capitol News Illinois: For Illinois farmers, the math is tough: Food-grade soybeans require older genetics that yield 10-15 fewer bushels per acre, and commodity soybeans are more lucrative

From Capitol News Illinois: Illinois abortion advocates are urging lawmakers to do more to protect reproductive healthcare as the legislative session moves into its final days and the federal landscape keeps shifting

From Capitol News Illinois: The Illinois Senate voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to advance a bill that would regulate how large artificial intelligence model developers handle transparency and catastrophic risk

From Capitol News Illinois: The Illinois House advanced a bill that would regulate the maximum price certain prescription drugs can be sold for in the state

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: Senate Republicans are calling on their colleagues and the governor to opt into a federal school choice tax credit program.

From Capitol News Illinois: Illinois lawmakers are considering legislation that a major gun rights organization says would effectively ban one of the nation’s most popular types of firearms

From Capitol News Illinois: A bill heading to the House would allow minors to consent to receiving birth control without parental consent. The governor also says he will sign a measure to ban “junk fees,” or unlisted charges tacked onto the total of cost of ticketed events

A pregnant ER nurse was kicked by a patient. Prosecutors, hospitals and nurses say violence has become routine – and convictions remain rare

From Capitol News Illinois: The Illinois General Assembly is considering extending unemployment benefits to public school support staff during the 10 to 11 weeks of summer break

From Capitol News Illinois: Backers of a bill aimed at limiting law enforcement’s use of biometric surveillance say they’re not looking to move the measure this legislative session

From Capitol News Illinois: Public school advocates have rallied against the tax credit, arguing it is a voucher program, in which the state directly funds students’ private school tuition

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: Advocates are calling for the General Assembly to pass the POWER Act to regulate data centers before the legislative session ends on May 31

From Capitol News Illinois: With less than a month left in the spring legislative session, Senate Democrats introduced a package of bills aimed at regulating some artificial intelligence usage.

From Capitol News Illinois: Growing pessimism over the direction of the global economy is leading budget analysts for the governor’s office and Illinois’ legislature to temper revenue expectations

From Capitol News Illinois: JB Pritzker sent a letter to U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Tuesday, urging the release of $1 billion in broadband infrastructure funds previously allocated to Illinois

From Capitol News Illinois: A Cook County judge on Monday pushed off her scheduled ruling on whether to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate alleged abuses by federal immigration agents during last fall’s “Operation Midway Blitz.”

From Capitol News Illinois: As thousands of Illinois households lose their federal food assistance this month, business owners are also preparing for potential loss

From Capitol News Illinois: There are leaders who question whether the benefits make up for increased energy prices and water use, and they’re calling on the General Assembly to pass regulations this spring through the POWER ACT.

From Capitol News Illinois: The Illinois Senate advanced a bill that would ensure students who commit sexually violent crimes can be expelled from school

From Capitol News Illinois: In an annual May ceremony, friends, family and supporters of law enforcement honored two Illinois police officers who died in the line of duty in 2025

From Capitol News Illinois: Progressive Democrats want to see more taxes on businesses and billionaires and the end of some economic development incentives. Republicans are calling for a measured approach that prepares for the possibility of an economic slowdown

From Capitol News Illinois: Eight months after a federal immigration agent shot and killed a man in the earliest days of “Operation Midway Blitz,” the Illinois State Police has opened an investigation into the fatal shooting

From Capitol News Illinois: Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and an army of suburban mayors descended on Springfield on Wednesday to call on the General Assembly to boost funding for local governments

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: 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: 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: A bill to strengthen privacy protections for transgender and abortion patients in Illinois passed a Senate committee Wednesday in a 9-4 partisan vote.

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: A first-of-its-kind apprenticeship program in Illinois launched by the Illinois Retail Merchants Association provides online college coursework and real-life experience

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

From Capitol News Illinois: U.S. District Judge Rubén Castillo, who chairs the commission, confirmed for the first time that the commission is planning to refer prosecutions of agents who abused their power to Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke

Seismic legislation that could determine the Chicago Bears’ future in Illinois officially arrived in the Illinois Senate on Tuesday, but the big finish is days off.

Lawmakers are raising concerns that a plan tied to keeping the Chicago Bears in Illinois could impact property taxes, even as supporters argue it is needed to stay competitive with Indiana’s billion-dollar offer

From Capitol News Illinois: The mother of a young woman to whom the Trump administration dedicated Operation Midway Blitz testified to the Illinois Accountability Commission on Monday, saying her daughter would not have wanted this legacy

From Capitol News Illinois: The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld all of ex-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s bribery and other corruption convictions, writing in a 29-page ruling Monday

From Capitol News Illinois: A federal agency says Illinois can’t limit credit card swipe fees for federally chartered banks, even though a federal judge earlier this year ruled that it could.

From Capitol News Illinois: Water supply concerns are furthered by the development of data centers, particularly in regions with depleted aquifers

From Capitol News Illinois: Illinois launched two websites last week that share various work, training and volunteer opportunities that meet federal food assistance work requirements

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

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: Lawmakers emphasized the need for transparency about how much water data centers use to cool their facilities at the final of three data center-focused hearings in the House Executive Committee

From Capitol News Illinois: It’s looking increasingly likely that Illinois voters will not see an amendment about creating a “millionaire tax” on the ballot in November

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: In response to the nationwide school bus driver shortage, a partnership emerged between Illinois schools, transportation providers and the secretary of state