A Daily Line analysis of county population counts from the 2020 Census data compared with estimates that Democrats used to draw the legislative maps found notable deviations that advocates say back up their previous concerns.

Next week, lawmakers will return to Springfield for a one-day session to consider how to adjust the previously approved legislative redistricting maps based on the Aug. 12 release of the U.S. Census Bureau’s decennial data. 

Gov. JB Pritzker signed 11 more bills into law this week while vetoing two others. 

Gov. JB Pritzker on Monday and Tuesday signed 11 more bills into law, including measures to tighten the state’s regulations on e-cigarettes, while issuing two more vetoes.  

Kina McAfee, assistant coordinator for the Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters apprenticeship and training program, and other witnesses offered ideas to lawmakers on Monday about how to diversify Illinois’ trade schools and vocational programs.  

Addressing long-standing barriers, adding enforcement mechanisms to ensure diversity goals are being met, changing mentalities, following federal law and bolstering efforts to reach out to kids even before they enter high school will drastically improve Illinois’ trade schools and vocational programs while diversifying an industry long dominated by white men, a panel of witnesses told lawmakers on Monday.  

Gov. JB Pritzker held a bill signing ceremony on Friday as he signed off on seven measures aimed at helping victims of domestic violence. 

Gov. JB Pritzker on Friday signed 155 bills into law while vetoing two measures related to private school teaching credits and a southern Illinois port project.

Lawmakers will head back to Springfield to “incorporate” new Census data into legislative maps. And Senate Republican Leader Dan McConchie contracted COVID-19 in a breakthrough case.  

House Republican Leader Jim Durkin addressed Illinois Republicans at the State Fair on Thursday.

Illinois Republicans gathered at the Illinois State Fair on Thursday in hopes of energizing their supporters by focusing their attention on Gov. JB Pritzker, President Joe Biden and U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. 

Gov. JB Pritzker spoke Thursday at a rededication ceremony for Wrigley Field.

Gov. JB Pritzker on Thursday signed more than a half-dozen measures into law, including two bills aimed at protecting the state’s immigrant and refugee communities.   

Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, Secretary of State Jesse White, Gov. JB Pritzker, Treasurer Michael Frerichs, Attorney General Kwame Raoul and Comptroller Susana Mendoza gathered for a rally at the State Fair on Wednesday. [JB Pritzker’s Twitter]

Democrats on Wednesday flocked to the Illinois State Fair as the state’s top elected officials, including Gov. JB Pritzker, worked to energize the party’s base ahead of the 2022 election. 

Ald. Pat Dowell, Alexi Giannoulias, Ald. David Moore and Clerk Anna Valencia wait for their turn to speak at Illinois Democratic County Chairs’ Association brunch on Wednesday. [Josh Catalano]

Chicago Ald. Pat Dowell (3), Ald. David Moore (17) and Clerk Anna Valencia on Wednesday offered specific changes they would make if they become Illinois’ next secretary of state while former Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias focused on national politics. 

Lawmakers and parents criticized Gov. JB Pritzker and the State Board of Education for the new mask mandate in schools.