(SPRINGFIELD) The U.S. Supreme Court says the Illinois Attorney’s General Office and the
Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office will not be able to end the appeal from a group of gun owners who say state and local bans on concealed carry on public transit violates their rights, at least without first telling the court why it should reject the petition. It was last Wednesday that the high court directed the State of Illinois and Cook County to file responses to the petition filed by the gun owners asking the Supreme Court to take up the Second Amendment rights case. The Supreme Court gave the state and county until January 16th, 2026 to respond, indicating it is not going to just reject the appeal out of hand or without any further information and/or details.
(SPRINGFIELD) A sweeping Medicaid and maternal-care overhaul taking effect January 1st, a week from Thursday, continues to draw sharp criticism from statewide lawmakers, especially downstate Republicans. Critics of Senate Bill 2437 say it simply crams too many major policy changes into one bill and opens the door to costly new mandates across the board. While the bill was pushed through as an end-of-session edition of previous bills with little transparency and no input from many lawmakers, critics say the most controversial change creates a new category of noncitizens eligible for Medicaid-style benefits, all to be paid for by statewide taxpayers, who are residents of Illinois and not in the state illegally.
(SPRINGFIELD) The Illinois State Fire Marshall says there are steps that consumers can take to lower the risk of fire and/or electric shock injury related to charging electric vehicles. The U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) says that before consumers purchase an electric vehicle, they should have a qualified electrician install a new, dedicated circuit for the EV’s charging device, which should be certified by a nationally-recognized testing laboratory, plus all charging components must be kept out of reach of children. Additional tips and resources are online at usfa.fema.gov.