Cocktails-to-go, new state agency among Illinois laws taking effect July 1 ^5.1%

STLPR - By Ben Szalinski - 6/26/2026, 3:51 PM

Negativity Bias 12.4% - Appeal to Authority 12.4% - Halo Effect 9.9%

July 1 marks a second New Year’s Day in Illinois as a new budget takes effect along with more than a dozen new state laws. In addition to the state’s nearly $56 billion fiscal year 2027 budget being implemented and the 1-cent motor fuel tax increase being suspended for the remainder of the year, 14 news laws will go into effect on... more

Pritzker signs nearly $56B budget with new business taxes as he seeks 3rd term ^24.5%

STLPR - By Ben Szalinski - 6/16/2026, 8:46 PM

Negativity Bias 15.4% - Framing Effect 11.5% - Appeal to Emotion 11.3%

Gov. JB Pritzker signed the eighth budget of his tenure on Tuesday as he and Illinois Democrats gear up for an election-year battle centered around affordability — though he had to issue a clean-up veto aimed at addressing late-night drafting errors. The fiscal year 2027 spending and corresponding revenue plans that will take effect on... more

Illinois lawmakers punt remap amendment after SCOTUS Voting Rights Act ruling ^31.8%

STLPR - By Ben Szalinski, Peter Hancock - 4/30/2026, 4:04 PM

Appeal to Emotion 12.6% - Overconfidence Bias 8.9% - Representativeness Heuristic 8.4%

Illinois lawmakers are not planning to pursue a constitutional amendment on redistricting after a key U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Wednesday. Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, told Capitol News Illinois that Senate Democrats decided not to call an amendment that passed House last week after the U.S. Supreme Court dealt a hefty... more

New laws: Illinois' grocery tax to end, aquifer protections begin ^78.7%

St. Louis Public Radio - By Ben Szalinski, Brenden Moore - 12/23/2025, 4:27 PM

Illinois’ statewide 1% grocery tax will go away on Jan. 1, though many people will continue to pay it at the local level. Data compiled by the Illinois Municipal League shows that 656 municipalities — a little more than half of the state’s municipalities — have passed an ordinance establishing their own grocery tax. Those communities are... more