Latest POLITICS News From The Illinois Newsroom Team
Congress will miss the farm bill deadline in the midst of a likely government shutdown
The leaders of both Congressional agriculture committees say federal lawmakers will move back farm bill negotiations to December. The current law expires Sept. 30, but

Urbana city and school officials hope to redevelop the site of a downtown school district building.
With Urbana School District 116 administrative headquarters moving elsewhere, the district wants to sell the property to the city, which would then tear it down and seek a commercial developer for the site.

Debt-ceiling deal: What’s in and what’s out of the agreement to avert US default
A source familiar with the deal says it would keep non-defense spending roughly flat in the 2024 fiscal year and increase it by 1% the following year, as well as provide for a two-year debt-limit increase.

Biden says debt deal ‘very close’ with default deadline now set at June 5
An upbeat President Joe Biden says a deal to resolve the government’s debt ceiling crisis seems “very close.”

Legislature approves bill to tighten restrictions on red-light camera industry
Bill hailed as first step toward broader ethics reform.

State budget clears first hurdle with Senate vote — but elected school board map hits possible stall until next year
The plodding along on the state budget could still see the Illinois House passing the $50.6 billion spending plan by Friday.

Senate Democrats send budget to House, teeing it up for early Saturday morning vote
Measure came to vote after frenzied two days of closed-door negotiations.

Lawmakers OK bill to limit constitutional lawsuits to Cook, Sangamon County
Democrats accuse plaintiffs of ‘venue shopping’ in suits challenging COVID-19 orders, weapons ban.

Top Democrats announce budget ‘deal,’ but details are scant as last-minute negotiations continue
Gov. JB Pritzker and Democratic leaders announced Wednesday they’ve agreed to a framework for next year’s roughly $50 billion state spending plan, even as negotiations continued in the final stretch of lawmakers’ already-extended spring legislative session.

Statewide task force aims to decrease barriers for immigrants in Illinois
These are a few of the recommendations in a new report by the state’s Immigrant Impact Task Force, a group created by the General Assembly in 2021 to help immigrant communities.

Federal complaint charges Illinois man with attempted arson of Danville’s proposed abortion clinic
DANVILLE — A northern Illinois man accused of driving his car into a building proposed for use as an abortion clinic in Danville was scheduled

Supreme Court lets Illinois keep ban on sale of some semiautomatic guns for now
The high court denied an emergency request from people challenging the law, which bans so-called assault weapons. The law’s opponents had asked the court to put the law on hold while a court challenge continues.

Illinois lawmakers are requiring honesty from crisis pregnancy centers. Here’s what Urbana activists want to do.
CHAMPAIGN — When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last summer, Kit Santa Ana, an organizer in Champaign-Urbana, said she was inspired to do something.