SAFER Foundation senior director of external affairs and community partnerships Kevin Brown, left, and Live Free Illinois Executive Director Ciera Bates-Chamberlin, right, speak to the House Public Safety and Violence Prevention Task Force Thursday. [Blue Room Steam]

The next step to improve public safety should be improving help for people recently released from prison so they can return to society as productive members, advocates told members of the House Public Safety and Violence Prevention Task Force Thursday.

House Speaker Chris Welch (D-Hillside) speaks at the City Club of Chicago Wednesday. [City Club of Chicago]

With about six weeks before Election Day, House Speaker Chris Welch (D-Hillside) is calling for politicians to tone down their rhetoric and focus more on having civil and productive political discussions rather than spreading misinformation about policies they disagree with.

A poll commissioned by WGN News and conducted by Emerson College found Gov. JB Pritzker holds a 15-point lead on Republican challenger Sen. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia) and shed light on which issues are most important to voters this November. And a protestor interrupted a news conference by Republican attorney general nominee Tom DeVore in an altercation that turned physical.

Gov. JB Pritzker speaks to reporters in Chicago Tuesday. [Blue Room Steam]

Illinois’ unemployment insurance trust fund deficit is now a little lighter as stakeholders continue to work out an agreement to pay down the remaining balance before a Jan. 1 deadline.

Alison Shih from Every Town for Gun Safety, left, and Ed Sullivan from the State Rifle Association, right, speak during the House Public Safety and Violence Prevention Task Force Thursday. [Blue Room Stream] 

As advocates call on Illinois lawmakers to tighten up the state’s gun laws following a mass shooting in Highland Park and an ongoing problem with gun violence in Chicago and other cities, opponents of gun regulations argue putting more restrictions on firearms and gun owners will not improve public safety.

From left to right, U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, Gov. JB Pritzker, and Director General Johnson Chiang of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Chicago sign letters of intent Friday. [Gov. JB Pritzker/Facebook]

Illinois and Taiwan are partnering for a second multi-billion-dollar trade agreement for the state to export corn and soybeans to the Pacific island nation in a move officials praised as an agreement that will greatly benefit both Taiwan and Illinois.

The Illinois Supreme Court deliberates in Noland v. Mendoza in May. [Illinois Supreme Court]

A pair of former state lawmakers who hoped to claw back lost wages from a pay freeze will not be getting back pay, the Illinois Supreme Court announced in a decision released Thursday.

Sen. Michael Hastings (D-Frankfurt), left, and Sen. Emil Jones III (D-Chicago), right, are both facing calls to resign.

Pressure is mounting for two Illinois Senators accused of misconduct to give up their positions as lawmakers after Gov. JB Pritzker issued a statement Thursday morning calling on Sens. Emil Jones III (D-Chicago) and Michael Hastings (D-Frankfurt) to resign.

Paddock Publications, the parent company of the Daily Herald, will no longer allow political publications published by radio host Dan Proft to use Paddock’s mailing permit after Gov. JB Pritzker’s campaign announced they would not participate in a Daily Herald. And House Republicans introduced a bill to crack down on fentanyl trafficking to oppose a separate bill Democrats passed last year.

Gov. JB Pritzker, left speaks at an endorsement event in Chicago Wednesday, and Sen. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia) speaks at a restaurant in Crystal Lake Wednesday. [Ben Szalinski/The Daily Line]

Another indictment of an Illinois lawmaker hangs over the election season after federal investigators Tuesday slapped Sen. Emil Jones III (D-Chicago) with charges of bribery and lying to the FBI.