Capitol News Illinois

Illinois’ 290 state parks and 56 historic sites recorded more than 41 million visitors last year, which was the most in 15 years, according to new data from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

East St. Louis School District 189 stood to lose the most money — $19 million for a major HVAC project — of any Illinois district. The district's spokeswoman said the judge's decision is "encouraging."

University leaders from across the state push for new way of determining state funding. The fiscal year 2026 proposed budget includes a 3% increase for higher education in the general fund for operating costs – which is about the same as the rate of inflation.

The Illinois Department of Public Health is working to identify potential locations of exposure, including the clinic in southern Illinois where the patient sought care, to see whether any other patients were exposed.

A case brought to the Illinois Supreme Court by House Republican Leader Tony McCombie asked the court to reject the current legislative map for its partisan bias and have a special master redraw the districts.

At least nine other states have adopted statewide policies limiting or banning the use of cell phones in schools. Elsewhere, even in the absence of a statewide policy, individual districts have begun acting on their own.

USDA funds are part of nearly $2 billion being withheld from Illinois, Pritzker says.

As many as 770,000 Illinoisans could lose health coverage under GOP federal budget plan, according to the Democratic governor.

The finding comes after Gov. JB Pritzker proposed to defund the larger of the two programs at his Budget Address last week.

It’s not unusual for annual projections to show deficits in future years. Projections could change by the time Pritzker delivers his budget proposal on Feb. 19.