Allowing hunters to remove the dead animals can be seen as a cost-saving measure by the state. Hammond also believes hunters may then be able to skin the furs off the roadkill and sell them. If you're in the market for a coonskin cap, get a hunting license, instead. more ›

Yesterday, Governor Pat Quinn signed a legislation that would improve school facility planning as well as "increase transparency and accountability in Chicago Public Schools." more ›

The right for Illinois craft brewers to self-distribute their beer is just a signature away from becoming Illinois law, and the veto-proof majority in both houses of the Illinois legislature means that SB754 is almost a done deal. Yesterday, by a vote of 112-0-3 in the House, Illinois overwhelmingly voted to allow small breweries to self-distribute their own product (up to a certain amount). We say it's almost a done deal because there's one last hurdle to cross - the motion filed by Anheuser-Busch in the courts that continues to argue in favor of a solution more beneficial to them. more ›

Illinois legislators could take a hit to their own pocket books, eventually. The Illinois House voted 85-14 yesterday to give back about 10% of their paychecks, about $6,784 from their current base salary of $67,836. Illinois Statehouse News reports the bill could save the state about $1.2 million, a small drop in a very large $13 billion deficit. more ›

Last month, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker was crowing about the businesses that would come to his state from Illinois as a result of our state income tax hike. Now, his assaults on organized labor have made his state a prime battleground for the 2012 elections after the Wisconsin Assembly ceased debate and then approved legislation stripping labor unions of their collective bargaining rights. Assembly Democrats, many of them groggy from three days of intense debate over the legislation, didn't know what hit them. more ›

Do you want to see your favorite craft beers sold in stores throughout Illinois? Do you want your neighborhood brewpubs to be able to distribute their beer? Call your state legislators and support "Save the Craft," a campaign to revise the Liquor Control Act to make it easier for small, craft brewers to get their beers to the drinkers who want them. Bills are before the Illinois State House and Senate right now, and they need your support. more ›

We're guessing Illinois corporations are taking a hard look at the nonsense happening in Wisconsin right now and thinking maybe an increase in the state income tax isn't so bad in comparison. Wisconsin state Democrats fled the state yesterday to hold off a vote on eliminating many collective bargaining rights for public workers, a vote that is nearly certain to pass. more ›

Attorney General Lisa Madigan has promised to fight legislation in Springfield currently being championed by ComEd that would lock in rate hikes automatically over the next decade to finance a $2.6 billion infrastructure improvement project. more ›

Rather than put a complete end to the Put Illinois To Work Program, Governor Quinn signed a law yesterday using it. Effective immediately, employers who hire a former trainee from the program before June 30, 2011 will receive a $2,500 tax credit. The credit is also available to small businesses with fewer than 50 total employees. Businesses hiring from the Put Illinois To Work program can claim half the $2,500 within six months of the hire and the rest after a full year. more ›

The Illinois General Assembly burned some midnight oil and passed a 66 percent increase in the state income tax with mere hours to spare before the new General Assembly is to be sworn in today. The votes in the both houses of the State Legislature went straight down party lines; the Senate's vote by left very little room to spare. more ›

The suicide of former Metra chief Phil Pagano and the subsequent revelations regarding his finances could have something of a silver lining to them. The General Assembly, working with the Better Government Association, RTA and good-government lobbyists, passed legislation establishing an Inspector General for the transit authority that oversees CTA, PACE, and Metra. more ›

The State Legislature is currently debating a bill called Performance Counts which, if passed into law, would link teacher tenure to student test scores, make it easier to fire ineffective teachers and restrict teachers' right to strike. more ›

With the state legislature ready to debate and vote on major casino expansion when they return to Springfield next month to complete their lame duck session, they may have public opinion in their favor. more ›

Good Morning, Illinois. You're one step closer to recognizing civil unions for same-sex couples after the House approved of the civil union bill by a 61-52 margin. The bill now moves on to the Senate, where, barring last-minute lobbying from opponents, it's also expected to pass. more ›

Governor Quinn is in favor of having "open" primary elections and has gone so far as to insert language to that effect into some election-related legislation. There are questions as to whether what Quinn did is legal, and it will certainly face a challenge in Springfield, but not because of its legal ramifications. Lawmakers in the General Assembly use separate primary ballots to target voters for future campaign donations and to keep tabs on who's actually voting. more ›

The Sun-Times investigation into how properties throughout the city are billed for water may have been news to some, but not Mayor Daley. Daley introduced an ordinance early last month in anticipation of the Bright One's expose, as an attempt to both get ahead of the story and to modernize a billing system that was established back when Chicago still counted furs and livestock as currency. more ›

32nd Ward Alderman Scott Waugespack is set to introduced his tweaked food truck legislation to City Council today, according to the always-with-his-ear-to-the-ground Mike Sula. The legislation is also available to read online (PDF). more ›

The Illinois Legislature is closer to passing reform to the Payday Loan Act and the Consumer Installment Loan Act, which would close loopholes that have allowed some of the more predatory practices of lenders. Crain’s reports the Consumer Installment Act is expected to be amended to impose a cap of 99% on consumer installment loans under $4,000. The Payday Loan Reform Act will be amended to increase terms of loans to six months. more ›

The fight for Street Food is gaining momentum so we round up the latest news, websites, and other info that's available. more ›

State Senator Bill Brady, still a contender for the GOP nomination for Illinois Governor, is backing off a plan to authorize the mass killing of stray animals in shelters that he introduced earlier this month, just days after the primary election. Brady, from Bloomington, sponsored the legislation which would allow animal control facilities to kill more than one animal at once in a carbon monoxide chamber. more ›

The Cohen Affair continues to show its far-reaching effects. Nevermind that it was just a year ago that Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn got called up to the big leagues to take over for ousted governor Rod Blagojevich. That position could soon become a thing of the past if State House Speaker Michael Madigan gets his way. Madigan introduced a bill yesterday that, if passed, would put the issue on the November election ballot and, if approved, would eliminate the Lt. Gov. position altogether come January 2015. Not that anyone else had a choice, as ABC 7 reports it appears Madigan introduced the bill without consulting anyone else on the subject. Meanwhile, there's currently a bill in the Senate that would require the Lt. Gov. and Governor candidates to run together, a la Presidential elections. Either way, it looks like the latest kerfuffle has finally pushed action on the position even as we await the decision of who the Dems will slate for this November's election. more ›

A student could still be charged with a misdemeanor but the legislation will give prosecutors more options if a higher class offense is warranted. Assistant State’s Attorney Christine Downs who told WBBM, "Every situation is so different. It's good to have options. Our goal is to enact laws that have a deterrent effect, and I hope ... this is that deterrent.” more ›

U.S. Rep Dan Lipinski of Chicago has put an a proposal before Congress that's likely to either make you nod your head in agreement or ruffle your feathers about whether or not it's really important. As the Trib explains in a profile today, Lipinski's proposal looks to install federal regulations on size limits of carry-ons. The Congressman is also mulling over a proposal that would put caps on the fees several airlines charge for checked baggage. As for the size limit, David Castelveter, spokesman for the Air Transport Association, questioned its feasibility, asking, "Why set standards that apply to both a large wide-body plane and a regional jet?" Check out the full story at the Tribune. more ›

All eyes are on Springfield as the General Assembly debates legislation affecting mental health funding in Chicago and Illinois. more ›

The three-tier liquor distribution system established after the repeal of Prohibition was designed after our model of checks and balances between the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches of government. Ideally, no one branch between the maker (brewery, distiller or winery), wholesaler and retailer should wield excessive power. Here in the real world, however, money talks, or so goes the adage. That's especially true here in Illinois, where legislation regarding how alcohol gets to a consumer is dictated by the wholesalers through the Associated Beer Distributors of Illinois, the powerful lobby for the state's liquor distributors. The ABDI was instrumental in the drafting and passing of HB 429 and SB 123, which prohibits out-of-state retailers (think wine clubs and online retailers) from selling to customers in Illinois. more ›

For the dipshits among us planning on getting absolutely 'faced and cruising home a couple nights from now, here's another thing to consider before you pour yourself into the driver's seat and hit the highways. Whereas a DUI on December 31st would be terribly expensive, time-consuming and have negative legal consequences on your life, a DUI on January 1st is even worse. How could that be, you say? more ›

Governor Rod Balgojevich will more than likely perform an amendatory veto on legislation regarding allowing hearsay in first-degree murder trials. According to the Trib, the bill, "would allow a judge to decide at a pretrial hearing whether hearsay testimony could be admitted into court if the prosecution could prove that the defendant made the witness disappear." The current incarnation of the bill, which passed both the state House and Senate, currently does not include an effective date. Such an exclusion would mean the bill wouldn't go into effect until July 1, 2009, but Blagojevich wants to make the bill effective immediately. The bill's sponsor, Sen. A.J. Wilhelmi (D- Joliet), said, "The governor's likely going to do an amendatory veto, and the amendatory veto is going to make it clear that the bill is effective immediately. It's unfortunate that this got left out, but we're making sure that the bill...is corrected." more ›

Illinois Senator and presumptive Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama is facing new opposition over his recent decision to support Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) legislation, which goes before the Senate today. The surprising source of this new opposition? His own base. Obama had formerly supported amendments to the FISA legislation repealing retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies. It's the new bill's restoration of retroactive immunity that has Obama supporters up in arms. One of the largest groups on Senator Obama's social networking site is dedicated to swaying Obama on today's vote. more ›

According to Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, the answer is yes. On Monday her office accused ComEd -- and its parent company Excelon -- of lobbying aggressively to kill a bill before the state legislature that would have required utilities to purchase as much as five percent of their electricity from clean-coal plants. The bill, which House Speaker Mike Madigan strongly supported, failed in the House Saturday. more ›

Lawmakers in Springfield expressed confidence they would have a state budget for the coming fiscal year yesterday, as the General Assembly began sending pieces of the budget to Blagojevich for approval yesterday. If the votes are any indication, it looks like state legislators are on track to finalize the budget before Saturday's deadline - avoiding another overtime session like last year's. more ›