The Sentinel: Illinois Government

Conservative policy leader Dabrowski announces Illinois governor run with $1.2M raised

by Ben Szalinski
Capitol News Illinois

With strong early financial support, Ted Dabrowski announced his bid for Illinois governor in the 2026 Republican primary. His campaign focuses on conservative reform and moral clarity, setting him up as the GOP fundraising frontrunner.

SPRINGFIELD - Ted Dabrowski, the leader of a conservative research publication, officially announced Friday he will run for Illinois governor in the 2026 Republican primary.

Dabrowski’s Wirepoints.org publishes research and commentary on state policy issues and advocates for conservative solutions on pensions, taxes, governance and other public policy issues. Before joining Wirepoints in 2017, Dabrowski was vice president of policy for the conservative Illinois Policy Institute think tank after spending nearly 20 years in banking.

“I am not from the political system,” Dabrowski said from his Wilmette home. “I know the system; I know the players. I know how the sausage is made and why it tastes so bad. And I know that if we don't revitalize the Republican Party with strong executive leadership, we cannot resuscitate the state of Illinois.”

Ted Dabrowski for governor in Illinois — Ted Dabrowski talks to fellow Republicans at a State Central Committee meeting in Springfield on Aug. 14, 2025.

Though Dabrowski has built his reputation in Illinois politics by leaning into analytical, data-driven arguments, he signaled that his message on the campaign trail might be different.

“We will win this race by laying out a competing vision for Illinois, one rooted in conservative reform principles,” Dabrowski said. “And as much as I like charts and graphs, the main feature of my candidacy will be the moral clarity on those matters which impact the quality of life for productive Illinoisians who play by the rules.”

Dabrowski announced that his running mate will be Carrie Mendoza, an emergency room doctor from the Chicago area. She previously held a director position at the Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism, a group that has opposed lessons on gender in schools. Dabrowski did not take questions from reporters following his announcement.

Fundraising leader

Dabrowski enters the race as the immediate leader in fundraising after first saying last month that he planned to run for governor. Dabrowski has raised $1.2 million, including from his own seed money, in contributions of $1,000 or more.

State Board of Election records show Dabrowski loaned $250,000 to his campaign at the end of August — a move that eliminated fundraising restrictions for all candidates in the race.

Other contributions reported to the State Board of Elections over the last month show he has received several other large contributions of $100,000 or more from various people in finance and philanthropy in the Chicago area.

two candidates in the race have also not reported substantial fundraising.

The stiffest competition for Dabrowski and other Republican candidates for governor — former state Sen. Darren Bailey — is likely to officially enter the race in the coming days. Bailey was the party’s 2022 nominee for governor, and sources confirmed he’s planning a second run to try to beat Gov. JB Pritzker. He received 57% of the vote in the 2022 primary.

It’s still unclear who Bailey’s financial backers will be as he has not been actively fundraising for state office. He had just $2,800 in his campaign fund as of June 30. Lake Forest billionaire Dick Uihlein was his primary funding source in 2022.

“I'm very aware of the skepticism about the Republican Party's prospects and Illinois' future, but we have a strong team, and we are and will be well-funded,” Dabrowski said. “Illinoisans have Pritzker fatigue, and they're looking for a credible alternative.”

The other two candidates in the race have also not reported substantial fundraising. DuPage County Sheriff Jim Mendrick’s financial records show he had $100,588 on hand at the end of June and has reported $11,000 in contributions of $1,000 or more since then. Joe Severino, a Lake Forest resident who is also running for governor, has not reported any contributions to the State Board of Elections.

One of Dabrowski’s earliest supporters is Sen. Jason Plummer, R-Edwardsville, who is chair of his campaign.

“He has spent 15 years researching, digging and offering solutions, highlighting the failings,” Plummer said “A lot of people in the state may not know the name Ted Dabrowski yet, but I assure you they know his work. He has shed light on so many of our problems.”

If first you don't succeed ... Darren Bailey plans second run for Illinois governor in 2026

by Ben Szalinski
Capitol News Illinois

Bailey, who lost to JB Pritzker in 2022, re-enters the governor’s race with new campaign strategy.

SPRINGFIELD - Darren Bailey plans to run for governor for a second time in 2026, Capitol News Illinois confirmed with sources close to the campaign.

The former state senator and farmer from Clay County would become the highest-profile Republican to enter the race, having lost the 2022 campaign against Gov. JB Pritzker and a close primary race in 2024 against U.S. Rep. Mike Bost for a downstate congressional seat.

Darren Bailey speaks at press conference during his first campaign — State Sen. Darren Bailey appears at a news conference alongside law enforcement officers during his 2022 campaign for governor. Bailey plans a second run for Illinois governor in 2026 with Aaron Del Mar as his running mate.

A formal announcement is expected next week. News of the planned announcement was first reported by NBC Chicago on Monday afternoon.

Bailey rose to statewide notoriety in 2020 as a state lawmaker who opposed mask mandates and other COVID-19 emergency actions early in the pandemic. He capitalized on his opposition to Pritzker-imposed restrictions and ran for governor in 2022.

Bailey plans to enlist Cook County Republican Party Chair Aaron Del Mar as his running mate

Bailey easily won the Republican primary that year with 57 percent of the vote. His campaign was indirectly helped by Pritzker, who ran TV ads during the primary calling Bailey “too conservative” for Illinois, which helped boost his credentials with Republican voters.

But Pritzker handily won a second term with 55 percent of the vote, defeating Bailey by 13 points in a race the Associated Press called just moments after polls closed. Pritzker spent millions on his campaign as Bailey struggled to compete despite receiving financial help from Lake Forest billionaire Dick Uihlein.

Bailey then tried to unseat Bost in 2024 in the 12th Congressional District but came up about 2,700 votes short. While he received President Donald Trump’s endorsement in the governor’s race, Trump endorsed Bost over Bailey in 2024.

New running mate

Bailey plans to enlist Cook County Republican Party Chair Aaron Del Mar as his running mate, a source said.

Del Mar ran for lieutenant governor in 2022 alongside Gary Rabine, receiving 6.5 percent of the vote.

He was elected to lead the Cook County Republican Party earlier this year, marking the second time he has held that role after previously leading the party in the early 2010s. He is also a member of the Illinois GOP’s State Central Committee and serves as Palatine Township’s highway commissioner.

Outside of politics, Del Mar has led a career in business and as an entrepreneur.

Bailey ran in 2022 with Stephanie Trussell, a conservative radio host from the suburbs.

Bailey’s message

It is unclear how Bailey plans to overcome his 2022 loss and what message he will take to voters in 2026.

He focused much of his 2022 campaign on crime and public safety, criticizing the SAFE-T Act and bashing Chicago as a “hellhole.”

The message failed to gain traction with voters, however, as Democrats focused heavily on abortion rights in the months after Roe v. Wade was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Facebook has been Bailey’s primary communication platform to voters, and in recent weeks, he has focused many of his posts on Pritzker and ways he believes the governor has failed Illinois. Like other Republicans, Bailey has criticized Pritzker’s growing national profile.

“In 2026, we have the chance to stop him,” Bailey wrote in a post Monday. “But it will take ALL of us. Every Illinoisan who knows we deserve better. Together, we can end JB’s presidential ambitions before they even begin and finally turn Illinois around.”

Darren Bailey at the 2023 Illinois State Fair — Former state senator and unsuccessful candidate for governor and later Congress Darren Bailey is pictured at the 2023 Illinois State Fair during his unsuccessful congressional campaign.

Bailey would become at least the fourth candidate to enter the Republican primary for governor, which has been slowly taking shape this fall.

DuPage County Sheriff Jim Mendrick, Lake Forest resident Joe Severino, and conservative media writer Ted Dabrowski have also formed committees to run for governor.

Antioch Mayor Scott Gartner released a statement Sunday saying he was also considering running.

Pritzker is running for a rare third term as governor amid speculation he will also run for president in 2028.

Candidates must turn their petitions in to the State Board of Elections by the end of October.

Group urges passage of child care bill to help Illinois families

Illinois advocates urge Congress to pass the Child Care for Working Families Act to lower child care costs.

by Mark Richardson
Public News Service

CHICAGO - Advocates for working families are asking Congress to pass a bill to lower the cost of child care in Illinois and across the U.S.

The Child Care for Working Families Act is stalled in the Republican-controlled Congress. The measure would increase federal funding so child care would cost no more than 7% of a family's annual income. The median family income in Illinois is about $80,000 a year.

Amber Knight, board president of the Illinois Association for the Education of Young Children, said currently, most families are priced out of the child care market.

"This act is going to help working families," Knight asserted. "It's going to provide security and being able to have children attend early-childhood education settings without having the burden be solely placed on families."

Early childhood education is so beneficial to the children and families

The bill would fund grants to open new child care centers and guarantee higher wages for providers, in order to stabilize and grow the workforce. The two biggest programs in the bill, Child Care and Development Fund and Head Start, would receive about $12 billion each. Most House and Senate Democrats are backing the bill, while Republicans oppose it because of its cost.

Knight noted many Illinois families, especially those in rural areas, live in so-called "child care deserts," where the supply is insufficient to meet the need. She stressed it forces working families to make hard social and financial decisions.

"People are able to go to work if their child is being taken care of and also be able to take care of their family by not putting their whole paycheck to child care," Knight explained.

She pointed out studies show children who get an early start on education perform better during their entire time is school and are more successful later in life.

"Early childhood education is so beneficial to the children and families and being able to give them the access in any way we can," Knight added. "Helping the families or helping the centers will really benefit our future."

Tags: Illinois child care costs, Child Care for Working Families Act 2025, early childhood education funding, child care deserts in Illinois, Head Start and Child Care Development Fund expansion

Letter to the Editor |
Don't Increase Hunger

Dear Editor,

The new administration has now cut billions of dollars from food stamps (SNAP) in the budget. This is cruel. This will take food away from the hungry, including children and senior citizens. We have a government out to starve its own people, take medical care away from the sick and perpetrate other evils. They must be stopped.

According to our state legislators, Illinois cannot possibly make up for the billions taken away. Non-profit food pantries will be stretched to their limits.

In 2023, 13.8 million children lived in households that experienced food insecurity, up 3.2 percent from 2022, according to the Food Research and Action Center (frac.org). Taking billions out of food assistance will worsen these already intolerable numbers.

Where will these people go? Possibly many will go begging on the streets or turn to worse to support their families. This in a country that used to claim to be generous and compassionate.

Why are they doing this? Because they believe that most (maybe all) the recipients are scamming the system. Even if true, their sledge hammer approach affects everyone indiscriminately. Instead investigate what the real situation is. Improve the vetting process. Don't hurt the needy.

They should visit soup kitchens such as the one where I volunteered and note the number of people for whom the meal we served was the only meal they had that day.

We must stop this outrage to humanity. If you have any compassion, please, please contact your congressman as soon as possible and demand that he/she work to roll back these cruel, un-American cuts.

Anthony Buttitta
Des Plaines

Anthony Buttitta is a 21-year resident from Des Plaines. He enjoys the sense of community that comes from being close to people and supporting local, independent businesses. Success comes from maintaining a positive, confident attitude and trusting in God.

Got something you want to get off your chest? Send us your letter to the editor today. How to submit your letter to the editor.

Pritzker, Durbin push back against Trump threat to deploy troops in Chicago

Chicago officials warn against federal troop deployment, highlight crime trends, and promise legal challenges to Trump's plan.

Gov. JB Pritzker criticizes the Trump administration

Photo: CNI/Andrew Adams

With Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson standing behind him, Gov. JB Pritzker criticizes the Trump administration’s threat to deploy military forces in Chicago alongside dozens of activists, Democratic politicians and religious leaders in downtown Chicago on Monday, Aug. 25, 2025.

by Ben Szalinski
Capitol News Illinois

CHICAGO - In front of gleaming skyscrapers along the Chicago River, Illinois’ Democratic leaders showed a united front Monday against President Donald Trump’s threats to deploy the military into Chicago’s streets to fight crime with one message: “Mr. President, do not come to Chicago.”

“You are neither wanted here nor needed here,” Gov. JB Pritzker said at a news conference. “Your remarks about this effort over the last several weeks have betrayed a continuing slip in your mental faculties and are not fit for the auspicious office that you occupy.”

The Washington Post reported Saturday that the Pentagon has been considering for weeks deploying the military to Chicago. The report came a day after Trump suggested Chicago will be the next city he sends the military to after he activated the National Guard and other federal law enforcement personnel in Washington, D.C., earlier this month.

Thousands of troops could be deployed in Chicago as soon as September, though two officials who spoke to the Post anonymously said the deployment is considered less likely for now.

State leaders said they have not asked for help.

“When I have some slob like Pritzker criticizing us before we even go there — I made the statement that next should be Chicago because Chicago is a killing field right now and they don’t acknowledge it and they say ‘we don’t need them, freedom, freedom, freedom, he’s a dictator. He’s a dictator.’ A lot of people are saying maybe we’d like a dictator,” Trump said Monday. “I don’t like a dictator. I’m not a dictator. I’m a man with great common sense and a smart person.”

The state’s leaders said they have not been contacted by the Trump administration asking whether the state wants policing help, and state leaders said they have not asked for help.

“If this were happening in any other country, we would have no trouble calling it what it is — a dangerous power grab,” Pritzker said.

The state's top Democrats said Trump is targeting Illinois for political reasons.

“This is an act of political theater by Donald Trump, and sadly, we have to take it extremely seriously,” said U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill. “My friends, don't walk away and say this is just another political issue. This is how democracies die.”

Anticipating Chicagoans will take to the streets to protest if the military arrives, Pritzker encouraged protestors to be peaceful.

“Remember that the members of the military and the National Guard who will be asked to walk these streets are, for the most part, here unwillingly, and remember that they can be court martialed, and their lives ruined if they resist deployment,” Pritzker said.

Legal Questions

Trump’s move faces significant legal questions, and Illinois leaders promised to file lawsuits to block the mobilization of the military.

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, who has led more than three dozen lawsuits against President Donald Trump’s administration, criticizes the president’s threats to deploy military forces in Chicago on Aug. 25, 2025.

The president and Congress have more powers over Washington, D.C., because of its status as a federal district and not a state, but it’s unclear what legal authority the president is considering applying to send troops to Chicago.

The National Guard is under the control of the governor, though the president has the power to federalize it to quell a rebellion or “unable with the regular forces” to enforce laws. The president can also invoke the Insurrection Act to deploy troops to serve as law enforcement.

This is exactly the type of overreach that our country's founders warned against...

Those criteria haven’t been met, Attorney General Kwame Raoul said.

Trump’s decision earlier this year to deploy the California National Guard to Los Angeles was challenged and has so far been upheld by a federal appeals court. California argued in that case that the Posse Comitatus Act prohibits the military from acting as a domestic police force. The National Guard was sent to L.A. following protests over Trump’s immigration policies.

“This is exactly the type of overreach that our country's founders warned against and it's the reason that they established a federal system with a separation of powers built on checks and balances,” Pritzker said. “What President Trump is doing is unprecedented and unwarranted. It is illegal, it is unconstitutional, it is unamerican.”

Raoul noted his office has long had effective crime-fighting partnerships with federal agencies.

“I'm not and have never been opposed to collaborative help from well-trained federal law enforcement agents. Were the president serious about addressing crime or criminal threats in Chicago, he would dedicate more resources to collaborative work that we already engage in with these federal agencies,” Raoul said.

Chicago Crime Trends

Overall crime in Chicago has declined by 13% this year, according to data from the Chicago Police Department. Nearly every category of crime has decreased this year, including murders — down 31%. Chicago has seen 256 murders through Aug. 17 this year, compared to 370 over the same timeframe in 2024. Shooting incidents broadly are down 36%.

Crime in Chicago has trended downward since 2023 and is down 15% overall since then. Incidents of crime are still 40% higher at this point of 2025 than in 2021, though murder is down 50% since 2021 and shooting incidents are down 57%. Felony theft, misdemeanor theft and motor vehicle theft are all up significantly since 2021.

The city’s data portal shows crime has generally been trending down throughout the 21st century from nearly half a million crimes in 2001 to about that level in 2024. The number of annual crimes in the city has been relatively flat for about 10 years, however.

Nationally, Chicago ranked 92nd in violent crime per 100,000 people in 2024 among the nation’s 200 largest cities, according to FBI data. Memphis ranked first and Milwaukee and St. Louis were eighth and ninth, respectively, while Rockford ranked 19th. Chicago had the 22nd highest murder rate and was eighth in robbery.

“I know (Trump) doesn't read, I know he doesn't listen to very many people, but I know he watches television, and so perhaps if somebody from FOX News or from Newsmax is here, they'll cover the fact that Chicago is in much better shape as a result of the work that we are doing to prevent crime,” Pritzker said.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson acknowledged the city must do more to reduce violence and said the Trump administration should release $800 million in violence prevention funding it has withheld this year and provide more funding for housing.

Also on Monday, Trump signed an executive order seeking to block federal funding to states and cities with cashless bail policies. Illinois eliminated cash bail in 2023 and Trump claimed jurisdictions with it have higher levels of crime. Early research of the first year without cash bail in Illinois did not show an increase in crime.

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.

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DOJ demands sensitive Illinois voter registration information after Illinois responds to initial request

In response to a July letter, the Illinois State Board of Elections provided the U.S. Department of Justice with the same limited voter data that it provides to political parties.

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker speaks at rally in August

Photo: Capitol News Illinois/Jerry Nowicki

Gov. JB Pritzker takes questions during a news conference Thursday, Aug. 14, 2025, in Springfield. He defended Illinois’ decentralized election system after signing an unrelated bill.

by Peter Hancock
Capitol News Illinois

SPRINGFIELD - The U.S. Department of Justice is insisting Illinois election officials hand over the state’s entire computerized voter registration database, including sensitive information such as driver’s license and partial Social Security numbers.

In a letter dated Thursday, Aug. 14, an attorney in the department’s Civil Rights Division rejected the Illinois State Board of Elections’ offer of a partially redacted database – the same data that state law allows political committees and other governmental agencies to access – insisting that federal authorities are entitled to the complete, unredacted data.

“We have received Illinois’s statewide voter registration list (“VRL”),” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon wrote. “However, as the Attorney General requested, the electronic copy of the statewide VRL must contain all fields, including the registrant’s full name, date of birth, residential address, his or her state driver’s license number or the last four digits of the registrant’s social security number as required under the Help America Vote Act (‘HAVA’) to register individuals for federal elections.”

The letter indicated DOJ was making the request under a provision of the National Voter Registration Act, also known as the “Motor Voter Act,” a 1993 law that was intended to make it easier for people to register whenever they conducted other government business such as obtaining a driver’s license or renewing their vehicle registration.

“Our request is pursuant to the Attorney General’s authority under Section 11 of the NVRA to bring enforcement actions,” the letter stated.

The letter also cited the 2002 Help America Vote Act. Passed in the wake of the controversial 2000 election between Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Al Gore, that law made sweeping changes to the nation’s voting processes, including new requirements about how states must maintain accurate and up-to-date voter registration databases.

‘Not entitled to demand’

DOJ first requested a copy of the Illinois database in a July 28 letter. That was a few weeks after the agency filed what’s known as a “statement of interest” in a civil lawsuit that the conservative legal activist group Judicial Watch, along with other plaintiffs, had filed against the state board, alleging it was not meeting its duties under HAVA to maintain the voter database. Read more: Trump administration requests voter data from Illinois elections board

In that initial letter, DOJ also requested the names of all election officials in the state who are responsible for maintaining the registration list. It also asked the state to identify the number of people removed from the registration list during the 2022 election cycle because they were noncitizens, adjudicated incompetent or due to felony convictions.

David Becker, a former attorney in the DOJ’s voting section who now runs the nonpartisan Center for Election Innovation and Research, told Capitol News Illinois last month that the letter is similar to requests filed in multiple other states and that it goes far beyond the Justice Department’s legal authority.

“The Department of Justice asked for the complete voter file for the state of Illinois, including all fields in that file, which is an absolutely huge file that contains so much sensitive data about Illinois citizens, including driver’s license numbers, Social Security numbers and dates of birth that the Department of Justice is not entitled to receive and not entitled to demand,” he said in an interview. “They know this. Other states have told them this, and yet they continue to seek to receive this information, citing sections of federal law that don’t apply and don’t require that.”

Illinois’ initial response

The State Board of Elections responded to that request Aug. 11 with answers to DOJ’s questions as well as an electronic copy of what it described as the statewide voter registration list.

However, the board also cited a state statute that limits what the agency can disclose from the centralized registration list. A spokesperson for the board said in an email that the law allows the release of two types of data files. One, available only to political committees or “a governmental entity for a governmental purpose,” includes the voters’ names and addresses, their age at the time the registration was completed, the voting jurisdictions in which they reside, and their voting history. That includes elections in which they voted and, in the case of primary elections, which party’s ballot they selected.

That is the list the state board provided to DOJ. The board also waived the normal $500 fee it charges for providing the list. Another version of the file, available to the general public, contains much of the same information, but only the name of the street on which they live, not their exact street address.

But neither file, the spokesman said, contains voters' personal identification information used to verify voter registrations such as driver’s license numbers or Social Security numbers.

DOJ, Pritzker respond

In its letter Thursday, however, DOJ said the list that the elections board provided was insufficient. “In charging the Attorney General with enforcement of the voter registration list requirements in HAVA and the NVRA, Congress plainly intended that DOJ be able to conduct an independent review of each state’s list,” Dhillon wrote. “Any statewide prohibitions are preempted by federal law.”

The letter directed the board to provide the information by Aug. 21.

The board spokesman said the latest DOJ letter is “under review.”

On Monday, Pritzker declined to say whether the board’s decision to provide the partially redacted database was the correct one. But he also accused the Trump administration of ulterior motives.

“Well, it's clear why they're hunting around for voter data, right? They're trying to say that in the next election, that there will be fraud because they know they're going to lose,” he said at an unrelated bill signing. “They are looking, essentially, to say that, well, we found somebody who died who's still on the rolls, and therefore there's fraud, and therefore these elections are fraudulent and should be overturned.”

He also defended Illinois’ decentralized election system.

“We have, actually, one of the safest, best systems in the entire country, because it's run by individual county clerks so it's unhackable,” he said.

Pritzker signs ‘squatter bill’ into law, real estate and property owner organizations support the bill

The goal of the bill is to make it easier for police to enforce criminal trespassing. State law does not explicitly give police the power to remove a person squatting in another person’s home without an eviction.

Squatter's home

Photo: Juan Giraudo/Unsplash

Until new law that takes effect in January, removing squatters from a home meant homeowners would have to go through the eviction process in Cook County court, which can take months. New law makes it easier to kick squatters off an owner's property.

by Ben Szalinski
Capitol News Illinois

SPRINGFIELD - A new law signed by Gov. JB Pritzker on Monday will make it easier for police to remove squatters who are illegally staying at a residence.

Squatters are people who enter and occupy a place for a long period of time with the intention of staying there, rather than a trespasser who enters without intentions to stay.

Pritzker signed Senate Bill 1563, which clarifies that a court-ordered eviction is not required for police to remove squatters from a person’s home. The bill stipulates that police can enforce criminal trespassing charges against a squatter.

“Squatters are a problem, and no one should have to get an eviction notice to remove squatters from their home,” bill sponsor Sen. Lakesia Collins, D-Chicago, said in a statement. “Law enforcement need to be able to do their job and return homes to their rightful owners.”

The bill passed through the General Assembly nearly unanimously, with only Sen. Andrew Chesney, R-Freeport, voting against it. Law enforcement, real estate and property owner organizations supported the bill.

Collins, who represents much of the West Side of Chicago, said the bill came from concerns her constituents expressed and said the goal was to make it easier for police to enforce criminal trespassing. State law does not explicitly give police the power to remove a person squatting in another person’s home without an eviction.

A lawmaker’s encounter

Pritzker signed the bill after Rep. Marcus Evans, D-Chicago, had a first-hand encounter with squatters this summer. ABC7 Chicago reported last week squatters moved in next door to Evans’ Avalon Park home on Chicago’s South Side. The owners of the house had put the home up for sale, but last week found strangers living inside without buying or renting the home.

According to ABC7, Chicago Police told homeowners they couldn’t remove the squatters from the home and the homeowners would have to go through the eviction process in Cook County court, which can take months. Evans told ABC7 he would call Pritzker directly to ask him to sign the bill, which was sponsored in the House by Rep. Jawaharial Williams, D-Chicago.

“My community is full of hardworking, mortgage- and rent-paying citizens who believe in working, not stealing and scheming,” Evans said in a Facebook post Monday. “We don’t support crooks who prey on hardworking people.”

The law takes effect Jan. 1.

Pritzker seeks more regulatory authority over homeowners insurance business

The Consumer Federation of America describes Illinois’ current regulatory environment as “toothless” and ranks the state second in the nation for having the fastest-rising insurance premiums in the country.

Photo: CNI file photo

State Farm homeowner premiums will rise by roughly 27% in Illinois, prompting calls for greater regulation by residents around the state.

by Peter Hancock
Capitol News Illinois

SPRINGFIELD - Gov. JB Pritzker is asking state lawmakers for more authority to regulate the homeowners insurance market in Illinois.

His comments came after the Bloomington-based State Farm Fire and Casualty Company notified the Illinois Department of Insurance that it was raising premiums for residential property casualty insurance in Illinois by an average 27.2%.

In a statement July 10, Pritzker called on lawmakers to pass legislation in the upcoming fall veto session, “that prevents insurance companies from taking advantage of consumers through severe and unnecessary rate hikes like those proposed by State Farm.” The veto session is scheduled to begin Oct. 14.

“Over the past six years, our state economy has flourished based on transparent markets and fair competition,” Pritzker said. “State Farm’s actions are antithetical to the core principles that the Illinois business community is built on.”

The increase will raise the average cost of a State Farm homeowners’ policy in Illinois to about $2,175 a year, up from $1,700 before the increase, according to State Farm.

The higher rates took effect July 15 for new policies and will go into effect Aug. 15 for renewals of existing policies.

Current regulations

Although Pritzker was not specific about what kind of increased regulatory authority he wants lawmakers to consider, some consumer advocates have called for giving the state Department of Insurance broad authority to review, modify or even reject proposed rate hikes.

Under current state law, companies are required to file their rates with the Department of Insurance, and the agency can review consumer complaints to determine whether the rates being charged are consistent with those filings.

The department also has the authority to conduct examinations to determine whether a company is paying out claims in a timely manner. It can also conduct examinations into a company’s financial condition and solvency.

But currently, according to the agency, Illinois is the only state in the country that does not prohibit rates from being “inadequate, excessive or unfairly discriminatory,” which means it has no authority to reject a rate filing on those grounds. Douglas Heller, director of insurance for the Washington-based Consumer Federation of America, described Illinois’ law as “among the most toothless in the nation.”

“Almost every state in the country has a law that says for auto, home and most other lines of insurance as well, rates cannot be excessive,” he said in an interview. “Now, it doesn't mean that the regulators around the country do a great job or even have the tools to enforce that very strictly … but Illinois doesn't even have the language that prohibits excessive rates for homeowners insurance companies.”

In April, CFA issued a report that said from 2021 to 2024, Illinois ranked second in the nation for having the greatest increases in homeowners insurance premiums. Average premiums in Illinois rose 50% over that period, more than any other state except Utah, where rates went up 59%.

“At a minimum, Illinois should empower the Department of Insurance to reject or modify excessive rate hikes, which would represent a basic consumer protection that residents in almost every other state enjoy,” Abe Scarr, director of the Illinois Public Interest Research Group, said in a statement in response to the report.

Even with those increases, though, the report indicated that rates in Illinois were relatively modest compared to some other states, particularly those that experience more frequent natural disasters. Florida, Louisiana and Oklahoma ranked highest in average premiums.

In recent years, lawmakers have given the Department of Insurance broader authority to regulate premiums in the health insurance market.

Last year, Pritzker signed legislation giving the agency authority to review and reject proposed rate increases in large-group health insurance plans. That law also prohibited companies from engaging in certain “utilization management” practices that steer patients toward cheaper therapies and medications to lower payouts.

Also last year, Pritzker named a new director of the agency, former state Sen. Ann Gillespie, who had served on the Senate Insurance Committee.

But the agency does not yet have that kind of regulatory authority over property casualty insurance policies for homeowners, renters and condominium owners, a fact that consumer advocates say puts Illinois out of step with the rest of the nation.

Reasons for rate hikes

In his statement, Pritzker accused State Farm of raising rates in Illinois to cover losses the company has suffered in other high-risk states like Florida.

“These increases are predicated on catastrophe loss numbers that are entirely inconsistent with the Illinois Department of Insurance’s own analysis — indicating that State Farm is shifting out-of-state costs onto the homeowners of our state,” he said. “Hard-working Illinoisans should not be paying more to protect beach houses in Florida.”

But State Farm strongly denied that suggestion, saying the increases were directly related to the cost of weather-related disasters in Illinois.

“For example, last year in the state of Illinois alone, we paid out more than $638 million in hail damage claims,” State Farm spokeswoman Gina Morss-Fischer said in an interview. “That was just in Illinois, and it was second only to the state of Texas. And this is the kind of thing that we've started to see more frequently.

“And of course, we're also seeing the increase in replacement costs, longer waits for replacement materials. And these are all things that contribute to the need to make this difficult business decision,” she said.

IDOC releases initial solitary confinement report under new law

“Sunlight is the best disinfectant” - first transparency report on solitary confinement in Illinois is just a start, say advocates. Mentally ill inmates in Illinois placed in solitary confinement nearly 500 times monthly, new state report shows.

CHICAGO — The Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) released its first quarterly report this week on the use of solitary confinement, as required under a new state law aimed at increasing transparency around the controversial practice. But advocates say the initial data, covering April and May 2025, falls short of offering the clarity and accountability promised under Public Act 103-1074.

Signed into law in March 2025, Public Act 103-1074 mandates that IDOC produce quarterly and annual reports detailing how solitary confinement—referred to as “restrictive housing”—is used, including who is subjected to it, for how long, and why. The legislation was backed by a coalition of civil rights groups including the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, Restore Justice, and Uptown People’s Law Center.

Criminal behind bars — Prison rights advocates argue that solitary confinement is not only ineffective but also harmful.

Senate Republicans demand the removal of the Illinois DOC director amid safety crisis

GOP lawmakers call for IDOC Director Latoya Hughes to resign amid rising prison violence and drug smuggling scandals in Illinois correctional facilities.

SPRINGFIELD — Pressure is mounting on Acting Director of the Illinois Department of Corrections, Latoya Hughes, as Republican lawmakers demand her resignation, citing escalating violence, drug smuggling, and what they describe as a breakdown of leadership inside state prisons.

State Rep. Adam Niemerg (R-Dieterich) is leading the charge. After visiting the Robinson and Lawrenceville Correctional Centers in October 2024, Niemerg sounded the alarm on what he called “dangerous working conditions” for correctional staff. He blames Hughes for ongoing assaults on prison personnel and unchecked flows of illegal drugs into the facilities.

“She’s been terrible,” Niemerg said. “We keep having Department of Corrections employees put in the hospital because of incompetent management and bad policies that favor the inmates over the safety and security of the corrections officers and employees.”

In October, correctional employees staged protests outside multiple Illinois prisons, demanding safer work environments. Reports from inside the facilities point to synthetic drugs entering through visitor deliveries and even the mail system. Niemerg claims he’s received calls from current and former staff for nearly a year, begging for help.

“I offered some solutions to the mail process to stop the drugs from getting inside our prisons,” he said. “The bottom line is Governor Pritzker’s hand-picked director is responsible for the proper administration of the Department of Corrections, and the assaults and drug smuggling are still unsolved problems. Ms. Hughes must go!”

In May, State Sen. Jason Plummer pressed Hughes during a legislative hearing on whether the department is using mail scanning technology to intercept contraband. Hughes declined to give a specific number of inmate deaths but confirmed seven drug-related fatalities so far in 2024. Plummer later told reporters Hughes is “not fit for the job” and criticized Governor J.B. Pritzker for what he described as failed oversight. He was joined by fellow Republican Senators Terri Bryant and others in calling for Hughes’ removal.

Despite the political firestorm, Hughes brings more than two decades of legal and public service experience to the role. A graduate of the University of Illinois College of Law, she spent 15 years in the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, where she supervised Community Justice Centers and partnered with law enforcement on public safety initiatives. Within the Department of Corrections, she previously served as Chief of Staff and Chief Inspector before being appointed Acting Director in April 2023.

Governor Pritzker has not yet responded publicly to the calls for Hughes’ resignation. Meanwhile, concerns over safety inside Illinois prisons continue to dominate the conversation at the Capitol.

It is official: JB Pritzker announces run for a third term leading Illinois

If Pritzker decide to run for president, an announcement would likely come at some point in 2027 during what would be the first year of his third term if he’s reelected.

by Ben Szalinski
Capitol News Illinois

SPRINGFIELD - Gov. JB Pritzker began his third campaign for governor on last week, but much of the buzz around his 2026 campaign announcement focused on 2028.

Pritzker made four stops around the state to launch his campaign, fielding questions about any future interest in the presidency and what is driving him to run for what would be a historic third term. In his final stop in Springfield on Thursday evening, he was toasting personally branded “JBeers” – his own craft beer product he unveiled at last year’s Democratic National Convention – with a group of about 100 people at a small event venue just outside the Capitol and talking about his motivations.

News from around Illinois “Every day I’m going to wake up going forward thinking about what I am going to do that’s going to help the people of Illinois,” Pritzker told reporters in Springfield when asked how many years of a third term he would serve. “So that’s the reason I’m running for reelection, it’s why I announced today, it’s what I’m going to do every day going forward no matter what decision I make.”

The 60-year-old Democrat’s national profile has grown significantly over the last year. He was a finalist to be former Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate last July, and weeks later, introduced himself to the country on the stage of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. In the months since President Donald Trump took office, Pritzker has emerged as one of his most vocal critics.

Gov. JB Pritzker takes a picture with Mike Lopez, mayor of nearby Jerome, after announcing his reelection campaign in Springfield on Thursday, June 26.

At news conferences throughout the state, Pritzker did not directly commit to serving a full four-year term if he is reelected and sidestepped questions about his rumored White House ambitions.

But while staying tight-lipped about what he thinks about his prospects in the 2028 presidential election, he said any decision he makes about his future would be Illinois-centric.

Speculation shows Pritzker ‘capable and competent’

In the meantime, Pritzker said he believed his inclusion in the national conversation is good for Illinois.

“When I ran for governor in the first place in 2017 and 2018, never, never could I have imagined that anybody would talk about me as the potential vice-presidential nominee or as a candidate for president of the United States,” Pritzker said.

While Republicans have frequently criticized the governor for his tendencies to criticize Trump rather than work with him to Illinois’ benefit, the governor spun his rising national profile as a positive.

“Having the state of Illinois’ leaders viewed as capable and competent and potentially able to run the entire country and being talked about in that way, allows us, I think, to get more for the people of Illinois because there’s an understanding that, you know, maybe in Illinois we’re doing the right things,” he said. “Maybe in Illinois we have leaders that can competently execute on what states really need.”

Pritzker said his experience last summer being vetted for the vice presidency has not played any role in the decisions he has made about his political career.

Should Pritzker decide to run for president, an announcement would likely come at some point in 2027 during what would be the first year of his third term if he’s reelected.

Pritzker’s goal: ‘Protect’ Illinois and his legacy

Pritzker said at his announcement Thursday that his goal in 2026 is to preserve his legacy and “protect” the story of Illinois that’s been written under his leadership. Pritzker didn’t outline a bold vision for his third term but rather pledged to build off what he has already accomplished.

He said his third term would focus on grappling with artificial intelligence, addressing the rising cost of living, continued spending on infrastructure and growing the state’s economy.

Pritzker reflected on his decision to seek reelection despite growing challenges facing the state.

“I don’t shy away from a fight, and we’re going to have to protect the people of Illinois,” Pritzker told reporters in Springfield. “And I feel like we’re in a moment when backing away from public service when things are hard doesn’t feel right. So that’s one of the reasons I chose to run for reelection.”

Pritzker was asked whether he would have run had Trump not been elected last year.

“I think I would, but I have to say that in this moment, it feels like walking away is the wrong thing to do given who is in the White House and given how this administration is attacking people all across this country,” Pritzker said.

The governor must also choose a new running mate as Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton has decided to run for U.S. Senate. Pritzker said he will choose one by the end of July so his campaign can start circulating nominating petitions in early August. Pritzker said in Chicago that he is looking for someone with enough experience to take over as governor if required.

Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth, D-Peoria, may be an early front-runner for the job. Pritzker specifically referred to Gordon-Booth as qualified at a stop in East Peoria on Thursday when asked about potential running mates, WGLT reported. The assistant House majority leader has been in the General Assembly since 2009.

Amid uncertainty in Washington, Illinois lawmakers pass slimmed-down Medicaid package

Lawmakers in Springfield passed a slimmed-down Medicaid omnibus bill this year as state budget constraints and federal funding uncertainties loomed large.

by Peter Hancock
Capitol News Illinois

SPRINGFIELD - Nearly every year, Illinois lawmakers pass a package of measures dealing with the state’s Medicaid program, the joint federal and state health care program that covers low-income individuals.

Known as the Medicaid omnibus bill, it sometimes includes bold components, like a 2021 initiative that made millions of dollars available to local communities to help them plan and design their own health care delivery systems. Other packages have focused on smaller changes like guaranteeing coverage for specific conditions and medications or adjusting reimbursement rates for different categories of health care providers.

Illinois state news

And most years, the packages receive bipartisan support because they are negotiated, largely behind closed doors, by an unofficial, bipartisan Medicaid Working Group.

This year, however, lawmakers passed one of the narrowest packages in recent memory, due mainly to the Trump administration’s vows to make sweeping cuts in federal funding for the program while state lawmakers faced their own set of budget constraints.

“There were many, many, very worthy program expansions, rate increases that we considered during this process that we were unable to include because of the uncertainty in Washington,” Rep. Anna Moeller, D-Elgin, the current chair of the Medicaid Working Group, said on the House floor Saturday.

The Illinois Medicaid program currently costs about $33.7 billion a year, according to the Department of Healthcare and Family Services. Of that, $20.9 billion, or about 62%, comes from the federal government while much of the state’s share comes from taxes levied on hospitals, nursing homes and managed care organizations – money the state uses to draw down federal matching funds.

The program covers nearly 3.5 million people in Illinois, or about a quarter of the state’s population. According to the nonpartisan health policy think tank KFF, the program pays for 40% of all child births in Illinois while covering 69% of all nursing home residents.

This year’s Medicaid omnibus bill, a 231-page amendment inserted into Senate Bill 2437, contains items that could be hugely beneficial to many Medicaid enrollees, but which don’t carry large price tags. In fact, the entire package is estimated to cost just under $1 million.

One of this year’s additions would make it easier for family members of medically fragile children who qualify for in-home nursing care to receive training to become certified family health aides, a designation that would enable them to administer medications, help with feeding and perform many of the same tasks as a certified nursing assistant.

Another provision would require all hospitals with licensed obstetric beds and birthing centers to adopt written policies that permit patients to have an Illinois Medicaid certified doula of their choosing to accompany them and provide support before, during and after labor and delivery.

Although those provisions enjoyed bipartisan support, another provision that extends coverage to certain categories of noncitizens drew Republican opposition Saturday, resulting in a partisan roll call vote.

The program covers noncitizens who meet the income requirements for Medicaid and have pending applications for asylum in the United States or for special visas as victims of trafficking, torture or other serious crimes. Those individuals can receive coverage for up to 24 months, provided they continue to meet the eligibility requirements.

Moeller said the language was not a new extension of health care benefits to noncitizens, but instead a “technical and administrative fix” to an existing program that had been requested by the Department of Healthcare and Family Services.

But for Republicans, the programs sounded too similar to the more controversial programs, Health Benefits for Immigrant Seniors and Health Benefits for Immigrant Adults, that extend health care to a large category of people who are not U.S. citizens, including some who are in the country illegally.

“For us on this side of the aisle, that is the poison pill,” said Rep. Norine Hammond, R-Macomb, the deputy House minority leader. “So in spite of the fact that we have article after article in here, that is very worthy of a yes vote, I would urge a no vote.”

At Gov. JB Pritzker’s request, the budget bill lawmakers passed Saturday night cancels the program for immigrant adults, which had covered about 31,000 noncitizens age 42-64. But it provides $110 million over the next year, all in state funds, for the immigrant seniors program, which covers about 8,900 noncitizens age 65 and over.

The Medicaid bill passed the House late Saturday night, 76-39. It then passed the Senate shortly after midnight, 36-19.

It next goes to Pritzker’s desk for his consideration.

Illinois lawmakers pass bill to raise age of senior driving tests

New bill would allow a spouse, parent, grandparent, sibling or child of any Illinois driver to submit medical information about the driver to the secretary of state if they think the person’s medical condition interferes with their driving abilities.

Older driver on the road during a light rain — Drivers 87 and older will have to take an annual driver’s test says new bill waiting for the Illinois governor's signature.

by Jade Aubrey
Capitol News Illinois

SPRINGFIELD - A bill unanimously passed by the Senate on Thursday and on its way to Gov. JB Pritzker’s desk will increase the age that senior drivers in Illinois are required to take an annual driver’s test.

Currently, if a driver renews their driver’s license between the ages of 79 and 80, they are required to take a driving test. Drivers between 81 and 86 are required to take a driving test every two years, and drivers 87 and older have to take the test annually.

If Pritzker signs House Bill 1226, sponsored by Sen. Ram Villivalam, D-Chicago, only drivers 87 and older will have to take an annual driver’s test. Illinois drivers between 79 and 86 won’t be required to take a driver’s test to renew their license; instead, they’ll only have to take a vision test, and if they have a driving violation, a written test.

The bill would also allow a spouse, parent, grandparent, sibling or child of any Illinois driver to submit medical information about the driver to the secretary of state if they think the person’s medical condition interferes with their driving abilities. Currently, only medical officials, police officers and state’s attorneys can submit such information.

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HB 1226, also called the Road Safety and Fairness Act, has garnered bipartisan support. Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias announced his support for the bill in January alongside lawmakers from both sides of the aisle. The bill was conceived by a constituent of Rep. Jeff Keicher, R-Sycamore, last year.

The bill has 86 cosponsors in the House and 35 in the Senate.

Illinois is the only state that requires seniors to pass a driving test solely due to their age. But state data indicates that older drivers tend to have lower crash rates.

In 2023, the crash rate for drivers aged 75 and older was 24.61 per 1,000 drivers, which was lower than any other age group, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation. The low crash rate has been consistent since at least 2018, according to the Secretary of State’s Office’s 2023 Study on Age-Related Driving Abilities.

The crash rate is more than double for many of the other age groups.

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