(The Center Square) – People with disabilities would no longer be overtaxed for adaptive vehicle equipment with a bill from Illinois state Sen. Don DeWitte, R-St. Charles.

According to Illinois statute, consumers should pay a 1% tax on medically-required equipment and the customary 6.25% or more on the rest of the vehicle.

DeWitte told members of the Illinois Senate Revenue Committee Thursday that the law is applied when people add the equipment after they receive their vehicle, but they get charged 6.25% or more on the equipment when it comes with the car from the factory.

Turnout in this week’s municipal elections across Cook County was low. That’s nothing new. 

A measly 286,301 out of 1.7 million suburban Cook County registered voters — 17% — cast a ballot in their local elections, which arguably have more impact on regular people’s lives than what comes out of Washington and Springfield. That this is to be expected in local elections is a sad fact.

Amid a standout season last year, University of Illinois men’s basketball stars found themselves in high demand as they reached the Elite Eight in the 2024 NCAA Tournament.

Three players appeared in a commercial for a local BMW dealership.

One did an Instagram post for TurboTax.

Another promoted an apartment complex near the Urbana-Champaign campus.

But not one of those endorsements — which are allowed now that student-athletes can profit from their personal brands — was reported to the university, as state law requires.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) – A State Senate Democrat plan would add a database showing all scholarships available in higher education.

It would show all the scholarships on one website. Students starting in the seventh grade would be taught to create an account and how to access the website. Students 18 or older would also be allowed to access the site.

(The Center Square) – A measure that could allow for the recall of countywide elected officials in Illinois outside of Cook County is advancing. 

State Sen. Doris Turner, D-Springfield, said local voters wanted to recall the sheriff after the police-involved shooting of Sonya Massey in Springfield last year, but the Sangamon County Board sought clarity from legislators on whether it had that ability. 

(The Center Square) – There is another push to expand nuclear energy in Illinois.

Senate Republicans have introduced Senate Bill 1527 that would allow for the expansion of nuclear power beyond small modular reactors. The measure removes provisions prohibiting the construction of new nuclear power reactors with a nameplate capacity of more than 300 megawatts of electricity.

Eighty-one Illinois teen drivers and passengers died in car crashes in 2023, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation.

Tragedies like these instantly change the lives of families and friends. For one mother — it led her to push for change.

Chasity Dorathy, of Tampico in northwestern Illinois, lost her 16-year-old son DJ in a car crash accident last March.

(The Center Square) – Parents and community leaders are speaking out against legislation in the Illinois House that would punish homeschool families if they don’t comply with new state government reporting mandates.

House Bill 2827 would require homeschool families to submit information to local public school administrators.

Every November, Donte Quinn grows restless. His shoulders tighten. He becomes irritable. He finds himself brooding over the nearly 15 years he spent in prison, the time lost with his eldest daughter, and the Chicago courtroom where, before his mother and a crowd of strangers, he was sentenced at age 18 to three decades behind bars for his connection to a 1992 nonfatal shooting.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (KWQC) – Illinois democrats want several changes to mental healthcare in the state.

A new bill would pay off student loans for those who want to enter the mental health profession and choose to practice in Illinois.

Bill sponsors said more than three-quarters of workers in the field were white as of 2023. They hope this inspires more people of color to enter the profession to give better care to match people’s backgrounds.