Illinois Democrats on Friday released their first draft of new congressional boundaries that were criticized by Republicans, outside observers and U.S. Rep. Marie Newman. 

Democrats on Friday released a first draft of their proposed congressional district boundaries, which they said would ensure equal representation for communities across Illinois. But they were met with a wide array of criticism from Republicans, advocacy groups and U.S. Rep. Marie Newman (D-Ill.).  

Gov. JB Pritzker and First Lady MK Pritzker on Friday released portions of their 2020 tax returns. And Senate President Don Harmon’s (D-Oak Park) chief of staff contracted COVID-19. 

Rep. Tim Butler (R-Springfield) expressed concern Thursday about the lack of information about Democrats’ plans to create new judicial subcircuits in Illinois. 

When lawmakers announced their plans to hold a series of public hearings to gather input for the creation of new congressional and judicial subcircuit maps, Democrats indicated they were looking at creating new judicial boundaries for counties with populations of more than 150,000 people. 

Gov. JB Pritzker announced a $15 million investment in ‘wet’ labs designed to advance research in biotechnology and medicine. And a racing board commissioner called for lawmakers to rewrite Illinois’ gaming laws to help horse racing by shifting regulations around how people can place bets.  

Kelly Cunningham, the Medicaid director for the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, on Wednesday provided four House committees an overview of a new report calling for changes to the state’s nursing home industry.  

Illinois lawmakers can improve the state’s long-term care facilities by tying Medicaid money to performance and using $444 million in incentives and subsidies to help the industry, according to a new report from the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services. 

Wednesday’s redistricting hearings continued to feature little public participation. And a group filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice alleging that Illinois’ new legislative maps infringe on the rights of Black voters. 

Sen. Elgie Sims (D-Chicago) and Sen. Jason Plummer (R-Edwardsville) engaged in a partisan-charged 20-minute discussion about the redistricting process during Tuesday’s latest Senate hearing on congressional redistricting. 

Lawmakers’ congressional redistricting hearings continued to be plagued by lack of participation on Tuesday, with just three witnesses offering testimony in a hearing that largely consisted of partisan bickering.  

The Illinois Municipal League and Illinois mayors are calling on the legislature to pass four bills during the veto session they say will help their municipalities. 

With one week until the start of the General Assembly’s fall veto session, Illinois mayors on Tuesday joined the Illinois Municipal League in calling on the legislature to pass four bills they say will help their municipalities by opening a new avenue for small business supports, tweaking gambling rules, codifying a parking tax break and allowing more remote meetings.  

Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity acting director Sylvia Garcia on Thursday gave lawmakers an overview of the preliminary allocation of Back to Business grants.

A newly launched grant program aimed at helping small businesses recover from the COVID-19 pandemic has awarded 784 companies a total of $36 million as of last week with a majority of funding going to minority-owned businesses, a state official told a panel of lawmakers on Thursday.  

Cook County circuit court clerk and former Sen. Iris Martinez (D-Chicago) encouraged lawmakers to redraw the county’s judicial boundaries to better reflect the latest population figures. 

Lawmakers on Friday formally initiated a process required by a 2019 state law that called for the redrawing of Cook County’s judicial subcircuit boundaries.