Illinois State Senate
State Government: Elected Officials | State Legislative Bodies
Recent News About Illinois State Senate
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Teachers union vows to keep chasing health rules for Illinois private schools
After nearly 17,000 Illinois parents opposed a bill to impose state health mandates on private schools, and state lawmakers let the effort sit, it seemed the fight was over. Not quite. A teachers union lead lobbyist pledged to keep pursuing it. -
Dems' IL district maps challenged; GOP leaders: 'Population estimates' result in unequal, discriminatory districts
The lawsuit filed in federal court says the maps pushed through by Illinois Democrats wrongly rely on survey estimates, not actual Census data. -
Pritzker OKs gerrymandered maps, breaking promise to end partisan games
Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed Democrats’ partisan legislative and judicial redistricting plans. He had repeatedly promised to veto any maps drawn by state lawmakers for their own benefit. -
HEYL ROYSTER: Illinois Governor Signs Pre-judgment Interest Legislation Changing Tort Law in Civil Lawsuits
Illinois tort law has changed to include the award of pre-judgment interest in civil personal injury lawsuits. -
Illinois passes ethics package, first step in reforming culture of corruption
Illinois made an important first step in its break with the corrupt practices that defined the legislative process under former Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan. New ethics rules about lobbying, financial disclosures and the legislative watchdog were passed in the final hours of the session. -
What it takes to be inducted into the Judicial Hellhole Hall of Fame
State Rep. Jay Hoffman claims the reason for peeling off Monroe, Perry, Randolph and Washington counties from the 20th Judicial Circuit, and making St. Clair County a circuit unto its own, is because of its heavy caseload. -
Politicizing courts is 'last thing we should be doing in dark of night,' GOP senator says; Meier says 'very bad bill' intended to pack St. Clair Co
SPRINGFIELD - A bill redrawing judicial circuits in the Metro-East and Chicago suburbs passed the Illinois Senate at 3 a.m. on June 1, without public hearing or input from stakeholders. -
Democrat remap solidifies court where high number of defendants strive to escape; St. Clair Co will be just like Cook Co - its own circuit
SPRINGFIELD – Democrat State Rep. Jay Hoffman (Belleville) proposes to lop Monroe, Washington, Randolph and Perry counties off the 20th Judicial Circuit and make St. Clair County a circuit unto itself. -
Yandle allows uranium exposure claim to proceed under Price-Anderson Act
BENTON – Metropolis residents who asserted every kind of claim but the obvious one in a uranium exposure suit against Honeywell for two years gained permission to assert the obvious one. -
Pritzker signs law allowing prejudgment interest in personal injury cases; Biz groups warn of big costs
"You know it's a bad idea when they try & hide their actions," said Mark Denzler, president of the Illinois Manufacturers Association, about the signing of the law in the closing hours of business before holiday weekend. The law will allow trial lawyers to tack 9% interest on judgments, calculated from the moment a lawsuit was filed. -
Illinois takes aim at private schools with new bill
An amendment to Illinois House Bill 2789 could result in a flurry of complaints against private and public schools for alleged violations of COVID-19 protocols, provides harsh penalties, including punishing teachers, and expands state authority over private schools. -
Judicial re-map would add 11 counties to Fifth District, giving it nearly half of state
SPRINGFIELD – Eleven counties will join the Fifth Judicial District’s existing 37 southernmost, if legislators adopt a map that Democratic leaders introduced on May 25. -
IL Dems move to redraw state Supreme Court district lines for first time in decades, with eye on preserving their partisan majority
Illinois Democrats say the changes are needed to better balance the districts by population, but the redistricting move comes just months after a longtime Democratic Supreme Court justice lost his bid for retention in a district now considered solidly Republican. -
Pritzker has days to take action on pre-judgment interest bill opponents say will drive up costs of goods, services
Governor JB Pritzker has a May 31 deadline to take action on a bill that would allow plaintiffs in lawsuits accusing hospitals, health care providers and other businesses and defendants of personal injuries or wrongful death to collect interest calculated from the time the lawsuit was filed, not just from the time judgment was entered. -
Illinois is under 'extreme' threat of drawing another Madigan election map
Illinois is listed as one of the states under ‘extreme’ danger of partisan gerrymandering of its state legislative and congressional redistricting maps. Gov. J.B. Pritzker can stop that threat. -
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE BOST (IL-12): House Passes 9 Bost Backed Veterans Bills
U.S. Representative Mike Bost (IL-12) voted in support of nine bills to help our nation’s veterans. Bost introduced one of the bills, the VA Camera Reporting (VCR) Act, alongside Rep. David McKinley (WV-01). -
ILLINOIS ATTORNEY GENERAL: Attorney General Raoul Urges U.S. Senate to Confirm Chipman as Atf Director
Attorney General Kwame Raoul joined a coalition of 17 attorneys general in issuing a letter to U.S. Senate and Judiciary Committee leadership urging David Chipman's expeditious confirmation as director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). -
Connor: Body cameras mandated under criminal justice bill would cost $800,000
In anticipation of the new requirements under the controversial criminal justice bill, Major Jeff Connor with the Madison County Sheriff’s Department told the Judiciary Committee that it would cost the county more than $800,000 to provide mandated body cameras. -
79,000 more Illinoisans are in poverty because state can't fix its culture of corruption
If Illinois could have reduced corruption to the national average, an estimated 79,000 fewer people would be living in poverty, according to an analysis by the Illinois Policy Institute. State lawmakers can help by passing ethics reforms. -
Nearly all Illinois counties lost population in 2020
Census estimates tallied population decline in 98 of Illinois’ 102 counties. Only Los Angeles County lost more people than Cook County last year.