Get the latest news from around Illinois.
MyStateline.com: Illinois Attorney General wants to uphold school mask mandate
The Illinois Attorney General has filed new paperwork asking a court to uphold Governor Pritzker’s mask mandate in schools.
School districts across Illinois have switched to mask optional policies since two lower courts struck down the state-wide mandate, but the attorney general said that this puts students and school staff at a greater risk of exposure. He has asked for the state Supreme Court to take up his appeal as soon as possible, but it is not clear when that might happen.
WGN: IL Sen. Tom Cullerton resigns, to plead guilty in federal embezzlement case
State Senator Tom Cullerton resigned from his seat in the Illinois Senate Wednesday.
According to his attorneys, the suburban Democrat, currently under federal indictment for extortion and embezzlement, plans to plead guilty in the case.
The Center Square: Restaurant group opposes raising minimum wage for tipped workers
If a new bill becomes law, Illinois workers who get tips will receive the state’s minimum wage in addition to their tip money.
State Rep. Camille Lilly, D-Chicago, has introduced House Bill 5139, which would allow servers and bartenders to receive the state’s minimum wage starting in 2025 in addition to their tips.
Capitol News Illinois: Senate advances bill to allow online hearings for orders of protection
In a unanimous vote Wednesday, the Illinois Senate voted to pass a measure that provides domestic violence and sexual assault survivors online access for order of protection court hearings in the state’s nine largest counties.
Sponsored by Sen. Steve Stadelman, D-Rockford, Senate Bill 3667 provides survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault the option to file an order of protection online or in-person and requires counties with a population of 250,000 or more to offer a remote hearing to the petitioner for a protective order.
The Center Square: Pritzker says there is not mask conflict, just politics
There is no confusion, only politics, when it comes to the controversy over mask and other COVID-19 mandates for Illinois schools, according to Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
Pritzker has had mask and vaccine mandates for schools in place through executive orders since the fall.
Capitol News Illinois: State files appeal to Supreme Court on mask mandate ruling
The Illinois Supreme Court is being asked to review the state’s mask mandate and other COVID-19 mitigation orders for K-12 schools on an expedited schedule.
Attorney General Kwame Raoul filed a petition for appeal Tuesday, along with a motion for an emergency stay of a Sangamon County judge’s order to block enforcement of the rules.