Illinois Capital News

byBen Szalinski SPRINGFIELD — Growing pessimism over the direction of the global economy is leading budget analysts for the governor’s office and Illinois’ legislature to temper revenue expectations less than three weeks before lawmakers are set to finalize a new budget. Both the governor’s budget office and the General Assembly’s Commission on Government Forecasting and…

byBen Szalinski SPRINGFIELD — The Illinois Senate advanced a plan that would ensure students who commit sexually violent crimes can be expelled from school. The chamber voted 48-3, with two voting present, to pass Senate Bill 939 sponsored by Sen. Steve McClure, R-Springfield, which would require students who initiate sexual assault to be expelled for…

byNikoel HytrekandUIS Public Affairs Reporting (PAR) The Illinois General Assembly continues to debate what to do about data centers as the artificial intelligence business keeps booming, and communities complain about their energy bills, noise, and environmental impacts. Data centers are warehouse-like buildings that house computer servers and other infrastructure that power the internet, cloud storage…

byNikoel HytrekandUIS Public Affairs Reporting (PAR) Drought and hot temperatures have burdened Illinois since last summer, and despite rain improving conditions this spring, the long-term lack of precipitation and high temperatures have impacted water supplies across the state. For example, Sullivan, a small city southwest of Decatur, declared a water emergency in February that’s expected…

byJerry Nowicki A federal agency says Illinois can’t limit credit card swipe fees for federally chartered banks, even though a federal judge earlier this year ruled that it could. Two interim filings posted last week by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, an independent subsection of the U.S. Treasury Department, represent the latest…

byMolly Parker CAIRO — Outside a repair shop in rural southeastern Illinois, the parts of a massive 3D construction printer sat disassembled on a flatbed trailer, weeds climbing the wheels. The $1.1 million investment wasn’t meant to end up there, abandoned. Two local men had taken out a loan from a tiny bank to buy…

byNikoel HytrekandUIS Public Affairs Reporting (PAR) A House committee got an overview this week of how data centers are driving up energy demand and threatening potential shortfalls in the second of three planned hearings on the matter. The fundamental issue is that data centers have created a sudden and massive spike in demand for electricity,…

byHannah Meisel CHICAGO — A federal judge on Monday, April 20, officially closed the book on a lawsuit filed against the federal government last fall when the White House ordered 500 National Guard troops to Chicago as the “Operation Midway Blitz” mass deportation campaign was escalating. U.S. District Judge April Perry, whose October 9 temporary…

byJenna Schweikert A nationwide school bus driver shortage, driven by the COVID-19 pandemic, persists in some parts of the country. But in Illinois, efforts to attract new demographics of bus drivers and make hiring easier have paid off. Illinois school districts and transportation providers partnered with the secretary of state’s office to increase hiring and…

byJenna Schweikert A new report from the National Institute for Early Education Research found Illinois’ rate of growth in enrollment and funding for universal preschool is slowing, despite state efforts to expand preschool programming. While the report noted Gov. JB Pritzker’s Smart Start initiative increased access in recent years, flat funding for the current year…