Montgomery Democratic State Rep. Matt Hanson says the recently signed transit bill provides significant benefits beyond the Chicago transit system. Governor J.B. Pritzker signed Senate Bill 2111 into law last week, which will create $1.5 billion in annual revenue to help fund key infrastructure for Chicago area transit and provide about $169 million in additional funding for downstate transit programs.
"I think about the out-of-RTA area first and municipalities and other entities have had to grab money wherever they could to fund their respective public transit and especially their ride on demand that many of those that are seniors are in the disabled community rely on. So it’s absolutely a lifeline for them."
Hanson says that necessary road infrastructure projects throughout the state will not be impacted by the redirection of funds from motor fuel sales taxes and interest accrued in the state’s road fund to transit funding as Republican lawmakers have claimed would happen. He also says the appointment of representatives to oversight boards through the newly established Northern Illinois Transit Authority will be made appropriately with qualified candidates.
With his experience in transit as an engineer, Hanson was added as a co-sponsor of Senate Bill 2111, which was approved during the fall veto session and takes effect on June 1, 2026.
ROCKFORD, Ill. — A state transportation reform bill was passed with support from a local politician.
State Representative Dave Vella (D-Rockford) supported Senate Bill 2111, which he said will expand access to "affordable, reliable" public transit in the Rockford area. The bill includes almost $150 million in new funds for downstate communities.
Rep. Vella said that while a lot of the focus is on Chicago area transit, attention should be called to underfunded public transportation systems, including Rockford Mass Transit District.
"Transit is not just a convenience, it’s a lifeline for workers, families, and local economies," said Vella. "By prioritizing safety and modernizing service, we’re building a system where riders feel secure, workers feel supported, and communities stay connected."
Senate Bill 2111 was said to invest in statewide transit systems by using existing state funds and the state’s Transportation Fund interest, not higher fares or taxes on delivery services, tickets, or rideshares, according to Vella.
The new law will also create an IDOT committee to better study different transit systems.
Plainfield-Oswego Democratic State Rep. Harry Benton says he did not appreciate comments made by Chicago Bears President and Chief Executive Officer Kevin Warren this week about expanding the search for a new Bears stadium site after lawmakers reportedly told the team that any stadium legislation would not be heard in 2026. Benton says lawmakers have been working with the Bears on policy involving their Arlington Heights proposal for years but want to make sure things are done effectively.
"The Arlington Heights deal seemed like it was kind of a done deal that they were going to leave Chicago, but we did work on a kind of a tax freeze. So it wasn’t costing anything. They just were essentially freezing their property taxes, which would stem new development and also create a whole new economy there in Arlington Heights. Now they’re putting out the letter that they wanna go to northwest Indiana, and it seems like a power play that they’ve played with for a while now."
In the letter, which was sent to Bears season ticket holders this week, Warren says since lawmakers do not seem to share the "sense of urgency and appreciation for public partnership" that the Bears do, their stadium search continues across the Chicagoland area, including northwest Indiana. Benton says those comments have been used as threats to negotiate before but come off as false promises.
Benton believes that the Bears and lawmakers will come to an agreement on the original Arlington Heights proposal at some point this year but says there are other options.
State representative Stephanie Kifowit is voicing strong support for Aurora Firefighters Local 99 and raising serious concerns about staffing reductions proposed in the 2026 Aurora city government budget.
City officials have claimed that eliminating 18 firefighters, three Battalion Chiefs, one Training Officer, and two frontline fire trucks will not compromise public safety. Representative Kifowit joined Local 99 in rejecting those assertions as misleading and dangerous.
“Eliminating critical frontline personnel and equipment cannot happen without impacting public safety,” said representative Kifowit. “If we expect firefighters to save lives, we must ensure they have the staff and resources required to do so safely.”
Although the City emphasizes an overall $1.5 million budget increase for the Fire Department, these targeted cuts will directly affect response times, emergency readiness, and the safety of both residents and firefighters.
“These are not abstract numbers,” representative Kifowit continued. “Every firefighter removed from a shift and every truck taken out of service slows response and increases risk. Suggesting otherwise is simply irresponsible.”
Local 99 has also warned that these reductions will lead to higher long-term costs through forced overtime, injury leave, workers’ compensation, and preventable operational failures — concerns representative Kifowit echoed.
“Short-term budgeting that creates long-term risk is not fiscally responsible,” said representative Kifowit. “It leaves the community vulnerable and places undue strain on the firefighters we rely on during emergencies.”
Representative Kifowit emphasized that with rising call volumes and increasingly complex emergencies, Aurora must maintain a fully staffed and fully supported fire service stating, “We cannot expect our firefighters to do more with less.”
Representative Kifowit concluded: “When our firefighters tell us these cuts are unsafe, we should listen. I will continue to stand with Local 99 and with every resident who expects — and deserves — a fire department that is fully staffed, fully prepared, and fully funded.”
State Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth hosted her annual Veterans Appreciation Breakfast to honor the 84th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor and to show appreciation for veterans and their families.
By MELISSA CROCKETT MESKE Managing Editor, Illinois Business Journal macmeske@ibjonline.com
State Representative Katie Stuart (D-Edwardsville) recently shared a response via social media regarding the Trump administration’s exclusion of certain post-secondary academic degrees from “professional” classification.
The Trump administration has proposed to narrow the federal definition of a “professional degree,” a move that would exclude programs and significantly restrict graduate students’ access to federal loans. The policy shift has drawn swift criticism from national organizations and raised financial concerns among students who rely heavily on federal aid to complete advanced degrees.
Under current rules, graduate students may borrow up to the full cost of attendance through federal loan programs.
The proposed new framework, unveiled on Nov. 6 by the U.S. Department of Education as part of what President Donald Trump has described as his “one big beautiful bill,” would impose strict annual and lifetime caps.
Graduate students in programs not classified as “professional” would be limited to $20,500 per year and a total of $100,000 in federal loans. By contrast, students enrolled in designated professional degree tracks would qualify for higher borrowing thresholds—up to $50,000 annually and a lifetime limit of $200,000.
The Education Department’s approved list includes programs such as medicine, law, dentistry, pharmacy, veterinary medicine, chiropractic, optometry, osteopathic medicine, podiatry and theology.
Among those notably absent from the list is nursing and teaching, sectors already grappling with workforce shortages.
Industry leaders warn that the revised classification could diminish the pipeline of candidates for these positions by making graduate education less financially accessible, with potential downstream implications for those sectors nationwide.
“Among the degrees Donald Trump’s administration now says aren’t professional are accountants, architects, audiologists, clinical psychologists, physical therapists, social workers and—perhaps most shocking—teachers and nurses.
“The vast majority of people don’t need me to explain why this is outrageous. Teachers, nurses, and the others so casually discounted and insulted by this travesty are some of the most professional—and most critical—workers in Illinois and the nation. Their everyday contributions to our communities save lives, enrich lives, preserve health and drive our economy in more ways than any of us can list.
“This disastrous policy will decrease opportunity, increase the already crushing level of student debt and discourage talented and capable individuals from pursuing careers in critically important and impactful fields–precisely when workers in those fields are in critically short supply in many parts of Illinois and the rest of the nation.
“That’s why I’m not done fighting to shield our communities from the fallout of these troubling times.”
Region: Metro East,Feeds,Business,Metro East,City: St. Louis, MO
Lawmakers across Illinois, including Aurora Democratic State Rep. Stephanie Kifowit, are working on drafting legislation for the spring legislative session coming up in January. Kifowit says she has received ideas from constituents on pressing topics like pension reform and property tax relief.
Kifowit says a proposal on reforming the tier two pension system, which has been in place since 2011, is needed to comply with federal guidelines. The General Assembly did not take action on pension reform during the fall veto session in October. Kifowit says without an effective pension plan in place, the state has started to see less retention and recruitment success in key areas like law enforcement and education.
"We also need to recognize that we, the state as a whole, is having a huge, huge retention and recruitment issue for key positions. Whether it’s teachers, whether it’s correctional officers, even state police, anybody that works for the state. We’re having a huge crisis getting good people, and part of the reason is because our neighboring states have a better pension plan than we do. And the private sector has a better retirement plan with Social Security and a 401k than we do."
Kifowit is also providing information to property tax relief task forces and committees to help bring effective property tax relief legislation to the General Assembly and help working families and others struggling with increases in recent years.
On the northeast corner of the 25-acre site sits the old Lincoln State School Cemetery, a burial ground for former residents of the nearby Lincoln Developmental Center (LDC), which closed in 2002. The disbanded facility was a residential state school for people with developmental disabilities.
The large gravesite contains the remains of approximately 2,130 LDC residents who passed while in state custody over the institution’s 125-year history.
A House resolution sponsored by state Rep. Katie Stuart, D-Edwardsville, asks the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) to develop guidelines for visiting a cemetery located on the grounds of the center.
The IDOC inherited responsibility for the cemetery after former Gov. George Ryan ordered the LDC’s closure following decades of reported abuse, neglect, and preventable deaths. It’s a history that has followed the former LDC since its founding in 1877 as the Illinois Asylum for Feeble-Minded Children.
Sam Naftzger/NPR Illinois
The LDC campus sits behind a fence.
Dave Bakke, a historian, author, and former staff writer at The State Journal-Register, described the conditions of the former LDC in sobering detail.
“Conditions at the Lincoln State School were horrible; overcrowded and understaffed,” Bakke wrote in a 2016 article. “It was a community unto itself. The deaths of residents were not investigated, and their bodies were buried on the grounds.”
Bakke’s article blamed unsanitary conditions and understaffed management for several deaths related to the facility.
Investigations by the Illinois Department of Public Health, the Illinois Department of Human Services, and state police further detail the multitude of distressing cases surrounding the former LDC right up to its closure.
A covert investigation in 1993 led to the dismissal of 11 staff members and the conviction of another for the aggravated sexual assault of a resident.
In 1995, an LDC resident left unattended in the city of Lincoln was found drowned in a community pool.
In 1998, a resident restrained for over 30 minutes by staff died after choking on his own vomit.
In 2001, a resident who was denied access to a bathroom was forced to lick and mop up her urine with her clothing.
These incidents are among the several documented cases that led to the site’s decertification and closure, a significant economic blow to the city of Lincoln.
Estimates place the number of jobs the community lost between 428 and 700. For many, the consequences of the LDC’s closure remain a tender, unresolved issue.
The site of the Lincoln Developmental Center has sat unused since 2002. The buildings on the 114-acre campus exhibit decades of disuse and neglect.
“Nothing has happened with it,” said Lincoln resident Lynn Logan. “It’s unfortunate. I feel like they needed reform back then, but they closed everything and then left it to rot."
Future development of the site is planned. However, its ultimate future remains uncertain.
The Surplus to Success program, launched by the Illinois Department of Central Management Services, includes funds to demolish the site’s deteriorating buildings.
A total of $300 million will be allocated to the redevelopment of five state-owned properties, including the former Lincoln Developmental Center.
A new juvenile justice facility, known as the Monarch Youth Center, has already been constructed on a portion of the old LDC grounds. The facility is expected to bring nearly 100 jobs to the Lincoln area.
As for what will occupy the rest of the site, a multitude of ideas have been discussed. The construction of tiny homes for military veterans was an idea advanced by Lincoln Mayor Tracy Welch, who also serves on the Central Illinois Veterans Commission board.
A distribution center for the electric car manufacturer Rivian was also in discussion for the site, adding potential for jobs and innovation in the region. In recent years, the prison has expanded its grounds, complicating access to the cemetery.
Security concerns have made it difficult or outright impossible for families and researchers to gain access. Under the resolution, further development of the prison by the IDOC would require consideration of the cemetery and access to it.
“Families need access to the places where their loved ones have been laid to rest so they can honor and celebrate their lives,” Stuart said.
Stuart also explained IDOC’s lack of procedure for cemetery access has left families and friends of the interred to “wrangle” with on-site prison officials.
“It’s time for members of the public to have reasonable access to Lincoln Developmental Center Cemetery without undue hassle or runaround,” said Stuart.
Heather Megginson is the executive secretary at the Lincoln Correctional Center. She said inquiries about the cemetery are sparse.
“There are no inquiries on cemetery visits,” said Megginson. “It’s very rare. It’s very rare that anyone’s inquiring to come here.”
Megginson also suggested that over a period of five years, only two families have come to pay their respects.
Amanda Elliot, Illinois’ First Assistant Deputy Governor for Budget and Operations, raised skepticism over the resolution’s future
“It’s not going to happen because it’s dangerous,” said Elliot, citing the resolution’s potential risk to prison security.
As of July 1, the resolution has been re-referred to the House Rules Committee, which assigns legislation for hearings. So far, no further action has occurred
Working for Illinois Caucus 