Get the latest news from around Illinois.
The Center Square: More than 250 new laws take effect in Illinois New Year’s Day
On Jan. 1, the new recreational cannabis law is just one of the scores of new laws that will take effect.
In Illinois, more than 250 new laws take effect Jan. 1 that will affect parents, employers, drivers, students and those in the criminal justice system.
Daily Herald: Illinois spent $8.5 billion to cut its pension debt. It wasn't enough.
Trying to get pension funding back on track, state officials designated $8.5 billion last year to five state-funded retirement systems.
It wasn’t enough, and the pension programs for Illinois employees, state university workers, judges, legislators and educators outside Chicago fell $3.8 billion further in debt.
State Journal-Register: IDOT reclassifying jobs to protect them from patronage
Twenty jobs at the Illinois Department of Transportation are being reclassified to bring them under anti-patronage protections.
Persons now working in those jobs will be terminated effective Feb. 20, the department said in a statement issued this week.