Rep. Jay Hoffman, Rep. Marcus Evans and Rep. Robyn Gabel addressed reporters Thursday night after the passage of the omnibus energy bill.

The Illinois House of Representatives on Thursday approved yet another version of the omnibus energy bill, signaling the most significant movement to date for an issue that has been years in the making. The chamber’s approval is set to be confirmed by the Senate on Monday so it can head to the governor’s desk.   

The House on Thursday accepted Gov. JB Pritzker’s amendatory veto of the ethics bill. And businessman Jesse Sullivan entered the race to be the GOP nominee for governor.  

Eureka College president Jamel Wright on Wednesday endorsed an effort by Rep. Tom Bennett (R-Gibson) to add a statue honoring former President Ronald Reagan to the Capitol grounds.

Former President Ronald Reagan is the first and only president of the United States to be born, raised and educated in Illinois and as such should have a statue honoring him on the state Capitol ground, a college president told a panel of lawmakers on Wednesday.  

Attorney General Kwame Raoul announced a probe of the Joliet Police Department. And Rep. Mike Halpin (D-Rock Island) will run for the state Senate. 

The need for workers across various Illinois job sectors has resulted in an increase in starting pay, according to a new report from the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability. [Unsplash]

The need for workers across various Illinois job sectors has resulted in an increase in starting pay, according to a new report from the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability (COGFA). 

In May, Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White warned residents about the dangers of phishing schemes. 

Sending legal notices to Illinois drivers via email could expose the state to cybersecurity risks, Secretary of State Jesse White wrote in a message to lawmakers eager to end the office’s reliance on snail mail. 

House Speaker Chris Welch (D-Hillside) announced the House will return on Thursday to take up the pending energy bill. And former U.S. Sen. Adlai Stevenson III has died. 

A newly filed House bill requires Prairie State Energy Campus and other municipal facilities to meet emissions reduction goals before their closure.

Facing a Sept. 13 deadline for the closure of the one of the state’s nuclear facilities, House lawmakers revealed some of their priorities before the holiday weekend for the omnibus energy bill that recently passed the Senate. 

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services Director Marc Smith (left) and Danielle Gomez, a staff attorney for the Cook County Public Guardian’s office, testifying during a House hearing on Thursday

The head of the state’s embattled foster care agency on Thursday defended what he called the department’s “comfortable and safe” network of makeshift intake spaces being stood up in offices and private facilities around the state, directly contradicting critics who said state officials are leaving vulnerable children “in limbo” for weeks with sometimes devastating consequences.

Gov. JB Pritzker held an event Thursday to promote a bill he signed last month that he said will make the state a “national leader” on digital access for students with disabilities. And the governor expressed cautious optimism that the states’ latest COVID-19 surge could be cresting.