The state’s minimum wage will increase by $1 hourly, recreational marijuana will go on sale to those over 21 years of age, and some state taxes and licensing fees will increase when the calendar hits January.
Get the latest headlines from around Illinois.
Pantagraph: New year will bring a higher minimum wage, legalization of marijuana in Illinois
The changes are among hundreds resulting from laws passed during a busy legislative session which adjourned in early June.
Associated Press: Marijuana arrests plummet in Illinois’ 5 largest suburbs
Marijuana arrests dropped significantly in Chicago’s largest suburbs, a change many say is caused by decriminalization and a change of attitude toward the drug.
Although recreational marijuana will be legalized in Illinois starting Jan. 1, suburban police were already making far fewer arrests for crimes such as possession and manufacture of cannabis years before lawmakers signed off on legalization, police department data shows.
The Center Square: New laws, increased fines in 2020 for Illinois drivers
Several new and updated driving laws go into effect in Illinois on New Year’s Day.
Drivers will have to pay increased fines for Scott’s Law violations, reckless driving, passing a stopped school bus, speeding in a construction zone, and striking a construction worker in a work zone.
Rockford Register Star: End of ‘prohibition’ means sunny day for Rockford-area marijuana users
Get ready, ganja smokers, the moment you have awaited for years is about to arrive in Illinois.
As we usher in a new decade on Wednesday, adults 21 and older are free to leave the shadows and buy regulated, taxed and legal recreational marijuana for the first time.
Belleville News-Democrat: There’s already a marijuana shortage in Illinois just as it’s about to become legal
There is already a shortage of cannabis flower in Illinois, and in 2020, the demand for it could see a tenfold increase, according to professionals’ estimates.
Illinois Supply and Provisions in Collinsville is the only metro-east dispensary authorized to sell its products to adults when recreational weed use becomes legal Jan. 1. It operates a cultivation center in central Illinois that spokesman Chris McCloud said is “ramping up to full capacity” over the next six months to keep up with medical cannabis patients’ needs and the anticipated turnout of recreational weed customers.
Northwest Herald: Cary man refiles ethics complaints against McHenry County Board members
Dan Giallombardo of Cary said Friday that he refiled McHenry County Ethics Commission complaints against McHenry County Board members Jim Kearns and Mike Skala regarding the filing of statements of economic interest.
All elected officials and certain state employees in Illinois must file annual statements of economic interest with the Secretary of State’s Office. However, McHenry County enacted an ordinance several years ago that a county addendum to the statement of economic interest also must be filed annually.
State Journal-Register: What you need to know ahead of marijuana legalization
When the Illinois House followed the Senate and approved a bill that would legalize the possession and sale of recreational cannabis, Gov. J.B. Pritzker tweeted the monumental legislation would “have a transformational impact on our state.”
On June 25, Pritzker signed the legislation making Illinois the 11th state, along with the District of Columbia, to legalize its use beginning Wednesday. Illinois is the only state, so far, to approve use via state statute rather than by a voter referendum.
Herald-News: Joliet budget over, impact looms in coming year
The Joliet Public Library issued a statement on its plans for interior renovations on Friday, a day after funding for the project was approved in the city budget.
Funding for the downtown library project was one of many budget issues left hanging until the last full week of the year as the Joliet City Council remained divided over what it should spend and where it should get the money in 2020.
Mundelein Review: Mundelein officials say Franks for the Memories’ iconic yellow sign needs to change. The restaurant isn’t happy.
The owner of Franks for the Memories, which has served authentic buffalo wings for decades in Mundelein, is vowing to try and preserve the restaurant’s signature yellow sign that overlooks Hawley Street despite village officials recently deciding it needs to be removed.
Owner James Schultz Jr. said he still would like to prove to village officials that the 36-year-old sign at 645 E. Hawley St. is historically significant and questioned why the sign wasn’t grandfathered into the village’s updated sign ordinance, which officials revised roughly four years ago in hopes of making certain signs in town more aesthetically pleasing.