Illinois State Senate
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Recent News About Illinois State Senate
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SCOTUS to take up Illinois case challenging power of unions to collect fees from non-union state workers
The U.S. Supreme Court will again wade into the question of whether public sector worker unions can force government employees who don’t wish to join their union to still pay fees, ostensibly for collective bargaining representation, after the court on Sept. 28 agreed to hear arguments in the case of Janus v AFSCME. -
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Illinois automatic voter registration bill signed into law; Cook clerk says will enable cleanup of voter rolls
When Gov. Bruce Rauner signed a bill on Aug. 28 to automatically register Illinois residents to vote, the man in charge of the office that oversees elections in suburban Cook County said the signature was the final piece in a long sought tool to "clean up" voter rolls in the county and elsewhere. -
State appeals panel: IL's governor has the power to fire members of Prisoner Review Board
A state appeals panel said Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner has the right to fire members of the Prisoner Review Board. -
Judge: State Rep Drury yet to prove malice in defamation suit vs Proft over campaign ads
An Illinois state representative and Democratic candidate for governor has failed in his renewed attempt to sue an Illinois conservative radio talk show host and political activist and his political organization for statements made in 2014 political advertisements, as a Cook County judge has again tossed the defamation lawsuit brought by State Rep. Scott Drury against Dan Proft and Liberty Principles PAC. -
Posner departure sets stage for potential political fight over future of Seventh Circuit
After decades of relative stability, Chicago's U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals could soon undergo an extensive makeover, making the court potentially the next battleground in the fight for the future of the nation’s judiciary, as President Trump and the Senate seek to fill four vacancies on the court, including a new one left following the sudden departure of influential Judge Richard Posner. -
Lawsuit demands IL pay schools based on 'evidence-based' funding plan called for in state budget
Parents of Illinois public school students have filed a lawsuit in an attempt to secure what they consider adequate funding for the coming school year. -
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Taxes hiked, Democrats blamed, but how much will Republicans be boosted in 2018?
The Illinois General Assembly recently ended a two-year budget stalemate by overriding Gov. Bruce Rauner's veto of a proposed spending plan that included a 32 percent income tax increase. But just how much the tax increase will persuade Illinois voters to toss out of office the primarily Democratic lawmakers who promoted and voted for the tax hike remains an open question. -
New CFPB ruling favoring group lawsuits called bad for America
A new rule from the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) that makes it easier for people to file class-action lawsuits against a bank or credit card company would make society yet more litigious, some attorneys say. -
Cook County officials bank on legally imperiled beverage tax to balance county budget
As a Cook County judge prepares to rule later this week on whether the county should be allowed to begin collecting its so-called sweetened beverage tax, county officials say the county has banked much of its budget hopes for the coming year on the $17 million a month in revenue they expect the tax will pour into county coffers. -
Wrigley Co. to vaping products maker: Stop using iconic candy, gum names to peddle e-cig liquids
Where there’s smoke there’s fire, but where there’s Doublemint and Juicy Fruit, there’s supposed to be only chewing gum, according to a trademark infringement lawsuit from one of Chicago’s iconic candy makers against the makers of e-cigarette “vaping” products. -
Murder victim's family: Backpage 'sanitizes' sex trafficking ads, such as one that led to slaying
Backpage has removed to federal court a lawsuit from the family of a murdered young Chicago woman, accusing the online classified website of encouraging the type of sex trafficking that allegedly led to her death. -
Former state senator shouldn't expect to win his lawsuit asking for back pay, state constitution expert says
Michael Noland, an Elgin Democrat who served in the Illinois state Senate for 10 years, has sued the state of Illinois, alleging his pay was illegally withheld during budget crises. However, an expert in Illinois constitutional law says his lawsuit has little chance of prevailing, particularly since the lack of funds was caused in part by legislation to cut lawmaker pay - legislation he, at the time, supported. -
Tinley Park seeks to dismiss federal discrimination lawsuit over low-income housing project
The fate of a low-income housing development in Tinley Park could yet turn on the question of whether the President of the United States must appoint someone to serve as the overseer of the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division for the Justice Department to legally file housing discrimination lawsuits. -
Ex-state senator sues IL over 'unconstitutional' skipped paychecks, years after supporting skipped pay
Ex-state Senator Mike Noland, D-Elgin, is suing the state of Illinois to force the comptroller to get the money he claimes was denied him during a decade in office - even though he voted for the measure he now claims is illegal. -
Chicago Public Schools try again to persuade court to order fix of 'discriminatory' school funding
After their first attempt to obtain a court order to compel a rewrite of the state's education funding rules was rebuffed, the Chicago Public Schools have renewed their legal challenge, again asking a Cook County judge to force changes in a school funding system they call discriminatory. -
Dominos, takeout restaurants fight potentially onerous FDA Obamacare calorie counting rule
Takeout restaurants, where the majority of the orders are placed online or over the phone, are making a last push to stop a new regulation that requires all calorie counts to be listed on store menus. -
Operators of Dotty's, Stella's, Shelby's gambling cafes sue state over revenue rules
The owners of two groups operating many of the video gambling establishments in strip malls and other locations across Illinois have sued the Illinois Gaming Board, arguing one board policy and two provisions of the state’s 2009 Video Gaming Act are unconstitutionally depriving them of the chance to negotiate better business deals for a larger share of the revenue they generate. -
IL law forcing 'pregnancy resource centers' to refer women for abortions violates constitution: Lawsuit
Eighteen Illinois women’s health organizations have sued the state of Illinois and Gov. Bruce Rauner over a new law that forces pro-life doctors and pregnancy resource centers to discuss abortion benefits and to refer pregnant women for abortions despite the medical providers' opposition to the procedure. -
IL 'fair share fees' lawsuit tossed; plaintiffs say 'desired result,' allowing appeal to SCOTUS
The U.S. Supreme Court will get the chance to decide just how much public worker unions in Illinois and elsewhere can exact from non-union workers, after a federal appeals court in Chicago upheld a lower court’s dismissal of a lawsuit intended to challenge a longstanding legal precedent used by unions to justify the forcible collection of so-called “fair share” fees. -
Cook County voters will select new mayors, school boards, other local elected officials on April 4
Despite being an “off-election year,” Cook County voters will decide a number of key local races on the ballot in the April 4 consolidated general election, which could have big implications for their hometowns, local schools and their tax bills.