Sen. Steve Stadelman (D-Caledonia) speaks at a news conference earlier this month. The graphic on the right shows which counties in Illinois are most deprived of local news, according to the task force report. [Ben Szalinski/The Daily Line] 

More than 200 newspapers and 86 percent of journalism jobs in Illinois have disappeared since 2005. Some counties don’t have any sources of news. The decline of journalism is leaving residents across Illinois more uninformed about what is happening in their local governments and that’s a problem the General Assembly should consider fixing, according to a report from a state task force. 

 

Rep. Marua Hirshaurer (D-Batavia) speaks at a news conference in Chicago on Wednesday. [Ben Szalinski/The Daily Line] 

With two headline-grabbing domestic violence shootings in the last week, lawmakers and advocates are renewing calls for a bill to close what they believe is a loophole in state law that has allowed accused domestic abusers to keep guns even after an order of protection is issued.  

The Illinois Capitol 

Illinois’ four legislative leaders and their caucus’ campaign accounts showed strong fundraising numbers to close the end of 2023 and head into the heat of primary season.  

Twelfth Congressional District Republican candidate Darren Bailey released an internal poll showing a closer race than the last poll he conducted. And Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias is pushing legislation to ban certain additives in food sold in Illinois.  

Gov. JB Pritzker holds a news conference on abortion in Chicago on Monday. [Gov. JB Pritzker/Facebook] 

Monday marked 51 years since the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark Roe v. Wade decision and the second anniversary of the ruling since the court overturned it last year, leaving issues of abortion policy up to the states.  

Gov. JB Pritzker marked the anniversary by continuing his strategy of keeping abortion a top-of-mind political issue with a news conference on the subject and a pair of statements through his political arm that focused on why abortion will be a top issue in the 2024 election.  

Gov. JB Pritzker is not supporting a reported new shelter plan by Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson for new arrivals. And quarterly campaign finance reports from the Chicago Teachers Union indicate which candidates and lawmakers have ties to the powerful union.  

The Illinois Capitol   

A proposal by the Illinois Department of Human Services (DHS) to cut service hours in group homes for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities is facing pushback from Senate Republicans.  

Rep. Nabeela Syed (D-Palatine) speaks at a news conference in Springfield on Wednesday. [Ben Szalinski/The Daily Line] 

A Commerce Commission-style board to regulate prescription drug prices in Illinois could be established under a new bill pushed by advocates and a pair of Democratic state lawmakers. 

The Illinois Supreme Court upheld a major pension law consolidating municipal pension system around the state. And two suburban Catholic schools announced they will close at the end of the school year because lawmakers let the Invest in Kids Act expire.  

Gov. JB Pritzker holds a news conference at Rochester Elementary School in Rochester on Thursday. [Ben Szalinski/The Daily Line]   

Illinois’ Smart Start preschool program, which aims to eliminate deserts to early childhood education and was the centerpiece of Gov. JB Pritzker’s Fiscal Year 2024 budget, had a successful first year that saw the state’s investment create more seats than expected.