Governor Signs Law To Help Stop Public Pensions For Felons
Gov. Pat Quinn signed legislation Monday giving Illinois' attorney general more power to stop pension payments to convicted felons.
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Gov. Pat Quinn signed legislation Monday giving Illinois' attorney general more power to stop pension payments to convicted felons.
Gov. Pat Quinn was moving to call a special session of the Illinois General Assembly next month to vote on legislation to set up a special election in 2016 for the Illinois State Comptroller's office.
The case involves the pension fix lawmakers and Gov. Pat Quinn adopted last year. The law cut retirement benefits and made other changes to help fill a $111 billion deficit in five state pensions systems caused by years of state underfunding.
Fast food and home healthcare workers were rallying in the River North neighborhood early Thursday, hoping to keep the pressure on state lawmakers to raise the minimum wage.
Illinois lawmakers face a number of issues as they wind down their fall veto session but won't consider increasing the state's minimum wage. Votes could come Wednesday on an expanded election law and a state health-insurance exchange.
Aldermen have set the stage to hike the city's minimum wage to $13 an hour over the next four-and-a-half years, under a measure the City Council is expected to approve Tuesday.
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan said she expects the state's highest court could take up the state's landmark pension overhaul plan by the end of January, now that a lower court judge has ruled it unconstitutional.
With state lawmakers set to return to Springfield for three days of veto session later this week, and then again in early December, advocates for a higher minimum wage were urging the legislature to act on a measure to increase the minimum wage in Illinois to $10 an hour.
Democrats and Republicans on a state panel looking into the governor's scandal-plagued 2010 anti-violence program were accusing each other of playing politics on Thursday as former Quinn administration aides testified in Chicago.
The Chicago Democrat approved the bipartisan legislation that will also provide lawmakers with opportunities to attend popular ribbon-cutting ceremonies in an election year.
A law enacted last year authorized a four-year pilot project that will expire in 2017. So far, not a single marijuana seed has been planted. But now that rules have been approved, the state agencies running the program can start posting applications for a limited number of grower and retailer permits.
Not a single marijuana seed has been planted in Illinois' pilot medical cannabis program. But medical marijuana is inching closer to reality and a meeting set for Tuesday will shape the program's future.
Plans to expand gambling in Illinois were put on hold Friday when the backer of legislation proposing new casinos said he wouldn't call the measure for a vote until he resolved lingering issues and had key support.
Illinois lawmakers continued to grapple Wednesday with a new state budget, as Republicans ripped majority Democrats for spending beyond their means with a plan even Democrats acknowledge leaves "big unanswered questions" about the state's finances.
Having given up on extending Illinois' temporary income tax increase -- at least for now -- the Illinois Legislature is moving forward with a scaled-back budget that could lead to layoffs, further delays in paying the state's bills and a post-election vote to make the tax hike permanent or generate some other source of revenue.
House Speaker Michael Madigan emerged from a Memorial Day caucus meeting and told reporters that he was dropping the idea of making the 5 percent income tax permanent -- and crafting a budget blueprint that holds the line on spending but is not the "doomsday" plan the House overwhelmingly rejected on Friday.
The Illinois General Assembly could soon vote on a measure that would allow psychologists — who are not medical doctors — to prescribe medicines much the same as psychiatrists who have medical degrees.
The legislation was prompted by the 2008 death of St. Charles High School student Lauren Laman during a drill team practice. Laman's parents say her life may have been saved if her teammates were properly trained to use an automatic external defibrillator, or AED.
Newly released figures that show downstate school districts gaining at the expense of suburban ones have fueled a debate among lawmakers about a proposed overhaul of the complicated school funding formula that Illinois has used for almost two decades.
The public-private development would fund the proposed Illiana toll road, a 47-mile east-west road connecting Interstate 55 near Wilmington, Ill., and Interstate 65 near Lowell, Ind.
A legislative commission that helps review the use of public money has voted to grant itself subpoena powers to investigate Gov. Pat Quinn's troubled anti-violence program.
Court proceedings have begun in a lawsuit that aims to block proposals for term limits for the Illinois legislature from being placed on the November ballot, reports WBBM Political Editor Craig Dellimore.
With the help of wealthy donors and a bipartisan group of politicians, a petition to end the gerrymandering of Illinois election districts was presented Thursday, but it faces a stiff constitutional challenge that could keep the question off the November ballot.
An Illinois law that requires juveniles accused of the most serious crimes to be charged as adults may be discriminatory, prevents judges from exercising their judgment and makes it more likely that those who are convicted will commit violent crimes in the future, according to a study due out Tuesday.
Illinois voters will consider a constitutional amendment this fall aimed at scuttling attempts at voter suppression after Senate action Thursday.
Brad Arnold, the founder and lead singer of the 3 Doors Down has died following "his courageous battle with cancer," the rock band announced Saturday on social media.
A $10,000 reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest after a Chicago city employee was found shot to death Friday morning inside an apartment in the West Ridge neighborhood.
The 2026 Chicago Auto Show kicks off at McCormick Place on Saturday.
A man was shot in the leg inside a home on Chicago's West Side early Saturday morning.
Chicago helped shape the nation in so many ways, including the pioneering of skyscrapers – the big, beautiful buildings the city of big shoulders introduced to the world.
The footage is included in a video that promotes false claims that the 2020 presidential election was rigged against Mr. Trump.
The FBI has arrested "one of the key participants" behind the attack on U.S. facilities in Benghazi, Libya, in 2012 that killed four Americans.
A new push to pass a GOP elections bill known as the SAVE America Act is underway in Congress, but Democrats warn the proposal could disenfranchise millions of eligible voters.
As immigration sweeps expand nationwide, the work of justifying detentions is overwhelming federal prosecutors, who are being forced to sideline a range of other cases in order to keep pace.
Marimar Martinez, the Chicago woman shot five times by a Border Patrol agent in October, plans to attend President Trump's State of the Union address to Congress later this month, according to her attorney.
This week marks Identity Theft Awareness Week, and Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza emphasized some safety tips Monday for avoiding and dealing with identity theft.
A controversial data center in Naperville, Illinois, could be the cause to pack a city council meeting there on Tuesday night.
Police in the west Chicago suburb of Geneva are warning of a scam involving spoofed phone numbers.
Protesters on Tuesday were cranking up the heat on Peoples Gas over a recently proposed rate hike that would add an additional $10 to $11 a month to utility bills.
A lawsuit filed late last month took Chicago-based McDonald's to task over the McRib sandwich, calling its name a form of false advertising.
Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital announced this week that it is planning to open a new pediatric hospital in the west Chicago suburb of Downers Grove.
It has been nearly six years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and one of the many questions doctors are still working to answer concerns the long-term effects.
Leaders from Cook County, the Illinois Department of Human Services, and the Greater Chicago Food Depository denounced changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program on Wednesday.
The University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center has received a grant from The Ralph Lauren Corporate Foundation for a new cancer center.
Chicago's Lurie Children's Hospital said Tuesday that it is no longer initiating gender-affirming medical treatment for minors.
A Near West Side diner known for drawing in Blackhawks fans and players is up for sale.
January may be the coldest time of the year, but Chicago is already looking forward to summer farmers' markets.
A development proposal issued this month calls for the replacement of a building housing a Giordiano's pizzeria in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood with a new mixed-use building with 28 residential units.
United Airlines flight attendants picketed outside Chicago's Willis Tower Thursday morning as they fought for a new contract.
WSCR-AM, 670 The Score, will begin a simulcast on 104.3 FM next month.
Brad Arnold, the founder and lead singer of the 3 Doors Down has died following "his courageous battle with cancer," the rock band announced Saturday on social media.
Gamers across the world can now recreate drone strikes in Ukraine from the comfort of their own home, with this newly released game.
The members of Ratboys were teenagers when they met by chance, and now in their 30s, the Chicago band formed by two college friends almost two decades ago appears to be on the brink of something big.
Chuck Negron, a founding member of Three Dog Night whose lead vocals powered a string of hits for one of the top rock acts of the late 1960s and early '70s has died. He was 83.
Bad Bunny used his Grammy acceptance speech on Sunday to denounce U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and call for the end of the ongoing immigration crackdown.
The 2026 Chicago Auto Show kicks off Saturday with over 700 cars on display. You can even get registered for your Real ID.
The FBI is investigating a new message related to the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie.
Meteorologist Mary Kay Kleist has the extended forecast.
Meet 6-moth-old Baloo, he is looking for his forever home. Adopt him today at PAWS Chicago.
Meteorologist David Yeomans has the latest First Alert Weather forecast.
A $10,000 reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest after a Chicago city employee was found shot to death Friday morning inside an apartment in the West Ridge neighborhood.
The 2026 Chicago Auto Show kicks off at McCormick Place on Saturday.
A man was shot in the leg inside a home on Chicago's West Side early Saturday morning.
Police in Chicago's south and southwest suburbs are teaming up to target thieves targeting video gambling machines, which have become an increasingly popular target for burglary crews.
An eagle-eyed drone pilot helped spot a missing foster puppy who had been out in the cold for more than two weeks in Chicago's northwest suburbs.
Fewer Chicago kids are getting the dental care they need, and some dentists are blaming Chicago Public Schools.
Cynthia Eason recounted the moment Chicago police officers raided her family's home in 2018.
Water bills could be going up in several Chicago suburbs and other parts of Illinois, as Illinois American Water seeks a rate increase to fund infrastructure improvements.
The case involves a Chicago grandmother, her daughter, and her four grandchildren, who all said that Chicago police officers pointed guns at them during the botched raid.
Former Mayor Rahm Emanuel no longer will have to testify about an alleged "code of silence" at the Chicago Police Department, after a federal judge reversed an earlier ruling that would have allowed him to take the stand in a lawsuit over a botched police raid.
More than 35 local, state and federal agencies have been working for the last 18 months to prepare for Super Bowl LX in Santa Clara, California.
Two west suburban high schools have something extra to celebrate Sunday, when alumni from their schools make their Super Bowl debuts.
The 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics are underway after the lighting of the Olympic cauldrons and the Parade of Nations at the opening ceremony.
Caleb Williams certainly had plenty of big throws to celebrate in 2025, but it wasn't hard to pick his most memorable one after he launched a 46-yard touchdown pass to DJ Moore to beat the Packers in overtime in Week 16.
Brandon Ingram scored 33 points, Immanuel Quickley had 24 and the Toronto Raptors beat the new-look Chicago Bulls 123-107.
Local and federal authorities said "investigators are actively inspecting the information provided in the message for its authenticity" regarding the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie.
A South Side community came together on Friday, hoping for justice after a woman was shot and killed while her baby was in the back seat of their car earlier this week.
A Chicago city employee was found shot to death Friday morning inside an apartment in the West Ridge neighborhood.
Actor Timothy Busfield has been indicted on four counts of criminal sexual contact of a child, officials said Friday.
A burglary crew smashed into a restaurant in Chicago's southwest suburbs, leaving the owner cleaning up a big and frustrating mess.
