HB 643 will prevent the $50,000 daily cost of special sessions from rising even higher in fiscal year 2018.

Many reforms are still needed in Illinois higher education system despite credit rating affirmations and upgrades to seven Illinois universities.

The Illinois House of Representatives has lacked a quorum for two straight days, rendering it unable to vote to override Gov. Bruce Rauner’s veto of the tax hike and budget plan passed by the General Assembly. The Illinois Senate passed the budget plan and tax hike and overrode the governor’s veto on July 4.

Local state Reps. Katie Stuart, D-Edwardsville, and Daniel Beiser, D-Alton, are still getting paid even though the state still does not have a balanced budget.

Despite a fight from the union, the Illinois Department of Corrections is replacing 124 unionized nurses with private subcontractors, which could save taxpayers millions each year.

The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency is again mailing notices of vehicle-emissions-testing requirements to vehicle owners, and effective June 1, the Illinois secretary of state has resumed requiring certain drivers to pass emissions tests prior to renewing their license plates. Drivers scrambling to comply by the secretary of state’s June 1 effective date caused headline-making traffic jams throughout Chicago and its suburbs.

The Illinois House has passed a bill to prohibit charging late fees to vehicle owners who renew their registration late due to the secretary of state’s suspension of mailed reminders.