• Illinois’ Property Tax Appeals Board has had a much lighter caseload in recent years, according to a new report out last week indicating the body has considered hundreds fewer cases over the last several years — and as a result, the board is responsible for far less loss in assessed property values.
  • Approximately $10 million in state money paid tuition for students to attend for-profit colleges last year via Illinois’ Monetary Award Program grants, according to a report filed Friday from the Illinois Student Assistance Commission.
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    [Heather Cherone/The Daily Line]
    Mayor Rahm Emanuel put pressure on lawmakers aand Gov. JB Pritzker Sunday to support a bill that would ban the sale of tobacco products to those younger 21. Meanwhile, opposition to a minimum wage hike is mobilizing as a bill to raise Illinois’ minimum wage promises to move quickly this week through the Senate.
  • The Chicago-based Center for Racial and Gender Equality gave lawmakers overall a “D” grade as part of its Racial Justice Scorecard for the 100th General Assembly, but highlighted several new laws that the group said advanced the push for equality.
  • Gov. JB Pritzker’s administration direct the state’s Department of Public Health and the Department of Healthcare and Family Services to spend all of the money — $1.2 million — earmarked for for HIV prevention.
  • Gov. JB Pritzker speaks to reporters in his ceremonial Springfield office on Jan. 14 — his first full day as governor. [Hannah Meisel/The Daily Line]
    Gov. JB Pritzker announced another round of appointments to his administration Thursday, bringing the group of publicized early picks to 33.
  • House Speaker Mike Madigan (D-Chicago) speaks with reporters on May 30, 2014. [Hannah Meisel/The Daily Line]
    Attorneys for House Speaker Mike Madigan (D-Chicago) asked a federal judge on Thursday to keep the photographs taken during an inspection of Madigan’s political offices earlier this week sealed from public view.
  • The Sexual Harassment Task Force launched in the wake of sexual harassment allegations in the Capitol at the beginning of the #MeToo movement issued its final report Wednesday after more than a year’s worth of work.
  • While the call for a $15 minimum wage has been echoing in Springfield — and across the country — for several years, Democrats are confident that a bill to raise the wage in Illinois finally has the right political conditions to become reality.
  • House Speaker Mike Madigan (D-Chicago) speaks with reporters on May 30, 2014. [Hannah Meisel/The Daily Line]
    With the General Assembly back in session, there was action across the Capitol on a host of issues — as the revelation that House Speaker Mike Madigan was caught on tape by the FBI was the topic of the day.