The House also passed bills addressing ‘sexting’ education, and supplying feminine products at colleges.
After Firearms Owners Identification card and concealed carry license applications backed up over the last year, lawmakers are making an effort to address the delay and make the renewal process more efficient with support from Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelly.
The changes in rules regarding party leadership come on the heels of former Speaker Michael Madigan’s ousting following his record 36 years as speaker of the Illinois House between 1983 and his resignation in January of this year.
Independent pharmacies and their customers would benefit under a bill to be debated Wednesday that would slap major regulations on intermediary companies that control what pharmacies are paid by Medicaid and private insurance plans.
House Bill 2775 and Senate Bill 2492 aim to create additional legal defenses for renters and protections against discrimination based on source of income, as well as preventing undue administrative burdens when applying for housing assistance.
DES MOINES — U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst has taken up arms in Iowa Republicans’ battle in what they are calling the “war on meat.”
DES MOINES — Ultimately, the job of a legislator is to “make life better for Iowans,” Rep. Mike Sexton said last week as he urged the Iowa House to approve a change in state law to allow the third-party delivery of alcohol products.
DES MOINES — Iowa senators voted Wednesday to send Gov. Kim Reynolds a bill that will establish ongoing funding to track evidence kits critical to the prosecution of rapists.
As economic uncertainty lingers one year into the COVID-19 pandemic, housing advocates across the state are planning next steps to protect tenants and landlords and create additional affordable housing opportunities.
Andy Hill discovered he was house poor soon after he bought his first home in 2004. When Hill put 10% down on the 1,200-square-foot house in Royal Oak, Michigan, a…
As economic uncertainty continues to linger one year into the COVID-19 pandemic, housing advocates across the state are planning next steps to protect tenants and landlords and create additional affordable housing opportunities.
A bill that would allow secure ballot drop boxes and curbside voting to become permanent fixtures in Illinois elections was signed into law Friday by Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
The expansive bill, which addresses health care disparities affecting brown and Black Illinois residents, would allow the state Health Facilities and Services Review Board to put off approval of applications to close hospitals.
The bill is expected to go to the floor of the House by the end of May.
A roundup of legislative and Capitol news items of interest:
DES MOINES — The path to Gov. Kim Reynolds’ desk hit a dead end Wednesday for dozens of bills that legislators had hoped to successfully move through the Iowa House and Senate this year.
The convenience store cashier who sold cigarettes to George Floyd and was handed a counterfeit $20 bill in return says he watched the Black ma…
DES MOINES — Iowa lawmakers, who said they were looking to the future in approving bills to expand broadband connectivity and permit the use of technology that could facilitate the use of cryptocurrency, engaged in 23rd century philosophy in discussion of another.
As the clean energy conversation in Illinois continues, a coalition of lawmakers and labor unions introduced legislation that focuses on employing union workers as the state begins to transition to a clean energy economy.
DES MOINES — It’s do-or-die week in the Iowa Legislature.
Here's what you missed this week in Illinois news...
State lawmakers are proposing an expansion of the Earned Income Tax credit to extend a tax break to more low and middle income people.
Misinforming the public is a problem. So is misinforming the public when arguing that the public should not be misinformed, as in Jay Ambrose’s column on March 17 about the American Rescue Plan Act.
House Bill 1871, which was approved by the House last week, would revise the state election code to make permanent some of the changes that were widely adopted across Illinois for the 2020 general election in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.