• State Rep. Margo McDermed (R-Mokena) [Submitted]
    State Rep. Margo McDermed (R-Mokena) won’t be seeking a fourth term in the Illinois House next year, and will retire from public service, the Republican announced Wednesday.

  • A Wendella lake tour. [Twitter/@WendellaBoats]
    The city of Chicago can’t collect $3.3 million in unpaid taxes from the long-operating Wendella Sightseeing Inc., a state appeals court ruled, partially due to federal maritime law.

  • Heidi Dalenberg [ACLU]
    More than 30 years ago in 1988, attorneys with the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois filed suit against the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services — a case that would result in a 1991 consent decree that DCFS has failed to live up to in the years since, the watchdog group said.

  • State Rep. Mark Kalish (D-Skokie). [Submitted]
    Freshman State Rep. Mark Kalish’s (D-Skokie) decision not to vote for the Reproductive Health Act — despite promising to back pro-choice policies after being appointed to replace former State Rep. Lou Lang — could complicate his bid for a second term.

  • The Illinois Department of Human Services cannot recover money from people who collect more government assistance than they are entitled to and then file for bankruptcy, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled.

  • Despite the findings of a recent Auditor General report on the board charged with overseeing Illinois’ sex offender database, the state’s Sex Offender Management Board still received $100,000 for the 2020 fiscal year — far more than the board has spent in recent history. 

  • Courtesy of Ralf Steinberger via Flickr.


    As it became clear in the waning weeks of the General Assembly’s spring legislative session that massive gaming expansion — including six new casino licenses — would help fund the “vertical” portion of the state’s $45 billion infrastructure plan, much was made of the billions in tax revenue a massive gaming effort would bring in for the state.

  • After Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Gov. JB Pritzker went back and forth in the press and in person about whether the state can — or should — directly help with Chicago’s pension costs, each offered their own alternative path while appearing together on Monday at an unrelated event.

  • Gov. JB Pritzker address reporters about his proposal for a graduated income tax. [Hannah Meisel/The Daily Line]
    After 24 weeks in office, Gov. JB Pritzker made his 170th appointment on Friday— a diverse group that’s 40 percent female and almost 50 percent people of color. 

  • Cook County Judge John Mulroe, left, swears Robert Martwick into The Illinois Senate. [Robert Martwick]
    A game of political musical chairs will continue to churn with the selection of former State Rep. Rob Martwick (D-Chicago) to replace newly minted Cook County Judge John Mulroe in the Illinois Senate.