Illinois General Assembly

State lawmakers passed and the governor signed the criminal justice reform back in 2021. Originally scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1, 2023, lawsuits slowed the SAFE-T Act's enactment. The legislation includes the elimination of cash bail.

The $20 million will support existing grocers and encourage new stores in underserved rural and urban areas — including Venice, the small Metro East town where the bill was signed and which sits entirely in a food desert.

The programs serve thousands of students in low-performing and high-poverty schools. Advocates are hoping that either the Illinois General Assembly or the federal government can keep them from closing.

The goal of the new law is to protect workers and customers who may be allergic to latex.

As the eighth most populous county in the state, Madison would be the largest with a secession referendum on the ballot. Illinoisans who want to secede see the Metro East county as a tipping point for their movement to break free from Chicago’s political influence.

Democrats say the expansion will lower health care costs by reducing care administered at emergency rooms, while Republicans argue it will incentivize illegal immigration and overburden the state’s health system.

There aren’t local or statewide rules in Illinois ensuring workers in the nearly 30 warehouses surrounding the Amazon facility that collapsed in December will be any safer the next time a tornado strikes the St. Louis region.

The session was originally scheduled to start this week with three meeting days, but leaders announced last week they will meet only one day this week and likely will cancel all in-person meetings the following week, Jan. 11-13.

The minimum wage will increase to $12 an hour, FOID card renewals will be streamlined and public colleges and universities won’t be able to require standardized tests for admission.

The new law promises significant changes for communities in the state, but it will take a few years before residents start to see them where they live.