HJRCA 28 was filed by Illinois House Speaker Emanuel "Chris" Welch, D-Westchester, Monday. It would set in place a list of priorities that must be considered when drawing new district maps.

The proposal – if passed by the state House of Representatives – would be left up to Illinois voters in the November midterm elections.

According to the filing, the priorities in order are for all districts to have near-equal populations; to provide equal opportunity for all citizens, regardless of race; the creation of districts with racial minority influence; and for district borders to be unbroken and compact.

Rep. Ryan Spain, R-Peoria, said Democrats proposed the measure in direct response to a lawsuit over the current district map that Republicans lost last year.

Welch pushed back on Spain's claim about the lawsuit, saying the current map is legal.

“As you know, as we all know, your claims are unfounded. Our maps are constitutional, they are legal and they are representative of our state,” Welch said.

Spain said the loss was only due to a technicality on the timeliness of the lawsuit, which came nearly four years after maps had been drawn and approved by the Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

Rep. Amy Elik, R-Alton, said Pritzker hasn’t kept the promise he made as a candidate to veto such partisan district maps.

“Voters in every state should pick their representatives, not the other way around. The people of Illinois deserve fair maps, real transparency, and leaders who keep their word,” Elik said.

As the trio of lawmakers spoke to the media, Democrats on the House floor attempted to waive the posting requirements for multiple resolutions, including the redistricting amendment, at once – without discussion of the subject or explanation to lawmakers.

The waiving was challenged by Republicans, but was ultimately passed, sending the proposal to the House Executive Committee – on which Spain serves and Ugaste sat in place of another lawmaker.

Welch gave the Democrats’ first real reasoning for the proposal late Tuesday, where he said it is to preempt a potential repeal of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

“This Supreme Court is poised to dismantle these protections, and when it does, some states will quickly undertake new gerrymandering schemes aimed at stripping away Black, latino, and other minority representation” Welch said.

Spain and Ugaste grilled the speaker, but Welch often responded by referring back to the language in the proposal.

Asked about the use of vague language, Welch said the legislature would address specifics when clarity is needed. Republican legislators said the language could allow certain priorities, such as contiguity and compactness of districts, to be skipped over completely.

The new effort by state Democrats comes as many states around the nation have moved on mid-decade redistricting, as recently as this week in Virginia, where voters were given the option for the state to redistrict.

Spain said his caucus is staunchly against gerrymandering from either side of the aisle, and criticized recent national efforts from both parties.

“Whether it's done as is attempted today by Abigail Spanberger in Virginia, some of the most egregious gerrymandering that we've ever seen at the congressional level in the nation, or if it's what's happened here at home – time and time again at a state legislative level – it's wrong,” Spain said.

Welch noted this proposal is not what has happened in other states over the past year.

“What we’re proposing is vastly different than what's happening in Virginia and what’s happened in other states across the country,” Welch said.

The redistricting the lawmakers discussed is a push to redistrict states mid-cycle, kicked off when President Donald Trump suggested Republican-led states should do so, with hopes of gaining more advantage in the midterms.

Texas became the first state to answer Trump’s call, to which California voters approved a similar emergency redistricting effort to counteract Texas’ possible Republican seat gain.

North Carolina, Ohio, Missouri and Utah have all also redrawn their maps in the past year. The Illinois proposal, however, would not grant such mid-decade powers to Illinois lawmakers.

The deadline for the legislature to approve constitutional amendments is May 3, but the House is only in session through Thursday this week and the vote needs a three-fifths majority in order to pass.

When reporters asked Leehrsen and Mayor Brandon Johnson on Tuesday about the CTA laying off more than 150 unarmed private security guards while implementing a new security plan, Leehrsen said Chicago police and Cook County Sheriff’s officers would be deployed in a targeted, data-informed way.

Leehrsen said the agency has also increased cleaning resources.

FORMER CHICAGO GANG LEADER GETS LIFE SENTENCE

A former Chicago gang leader has been sentenced to life in prison after he was convicted of racketeering conspiracy, two murders in aid of racketeering, and extortion.

A federal jury convicted Labar Spann, 47, in December after finding that he committed a total of four murders in a premeditated manner between July 2000 and June 2003.

Prosecutors say Spann was a leader of the Four Corner Hustlers who terrorized Chicago’s West Side for two decades.

DEM COUNTY CHAIRS PRAISE REELECTION OF HERNANDEZ AS STATE CHAIR

The Illinois Democratic County Chairs Association is congratulating state Rep. Lisa Hernandez, D-Cicero, on her reelection as chair of the Democratic Party of Illinois.

Hernandez has served as party chair since July 2022, when she succeeded U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly. IDCCA President Mark Goethe said Hernandez has been a strong, thoughtful leader for the party.

NAPERVILLE SCHOOLS WIN FINANCIAL LITERACY COMPETITION

A student team from Naperville Central High School is slated to compete in the National Personal Finance Challenge in Atlanta next month after winning a statewide literacy contest that included 579 participants.

The four winning students each received a $1,500 Bright Start college savings scholarship for winning the 2026 Illinois Personal Finance Challenge sponsored by Illinois Treasurer Michael Frerichs. E

ach student on the second-place team from Neuqua Valley High School, also in Naperville, received a $1,000 Bright Start scholarship.

The American Legislative Exchange Council’s Rich States Poor States report ranked Illinois 45th for economic outlook and 49th for economic performance.

Joshua Meyer, director of the tax and fiscal policy task force at the ALEC, said Illinois is missing out on growth that is happening in other states.

“That's something that residents of Illinois perhaps ought to be concerned about. What opportunities for growth are their local economies missing out on because of the state's policies?” Meyer told The Center Square.

Meyer was asked about Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s statements touting the state’s growth.

“The fact is that more people are leaving Illinois than any state except California and New York. And the state is bottom 10 for GDP growth and bottom 10 for job growth,” Meyer said.

“When you look at these averages of these broad economic rankings, broad economic indicators, it's pretty clear that Illinois is among the bottom states in the country,” Meyer said.

Meyer said Illinois has not seen much improvement across the report’s 15 competitiveness variables.

“Unfortunately for people in Illinois, over 19 years, it's a state that's been stuck in the bottom 10 with little sign of moving anywhere out of that bottom ten,” Meyer said.

He said the state could drop further if it implements a graduated income tax or millionaire’s tax.

Aside from the 23rd-ranked personal income tax rate and a ranking of 17th for personal income tax progressivity, Meyer said Illinois does not have much room to fall.

“Why is the state facing fiscal troubles from declining numbers of taxpayers? It's because, well, these policies don't change,” Meyer said.

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The governor’s office says the 95 licensed social equity businesses include craft growers, dispensaries, infusers and transporters.

The state has now distributed a total of more than $55 million through the program.

REWARD OFFERED FOR SUSPECTED KILLER OF NATIONAL GUARD MEMBER

The Chicago Field Office of the FBI has announced a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of a man wanted for the fatal killing of a 19-year-old National Guard soldier in July 2021.

Investigators allege that Joseph “Troubles” Matos, 43, and a fellow gang member randomly shot and killed Chrys Carvajal when he was walking to his car following a party.

Anyone with information is asked to contact their local FBI office or the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate.

SUBURBAN TEACHER FACES SOLICITATION, BATTERY CHARGES

A former Chicago-area middle school teacher has been charged with multiple felonies after authorities said he engaged in inappropriate conduct with students and attempted to arrange a sexual encounter with someone he believed was a 14-year-old girl.

Fox 32 Chicago reports that Plainfield School District 202 administrators alerted police about Alex Buetikofer, 38, of Lisle, a physical education and health teacher at Aux Sable Middle School.

Buetikofer also worked as an assistant boys lacrosse coach at Hinsdale Central High School.

The National Weather Service says it has confirmed that two more tornadoes affected northern Illinois last Friday, bringing the state’s total to nine on that day.

The latest confirmed tornadoes were reported near Darrow in Iroquois County and near Kentland in Kendall County.

Illinois v. National Guard lawsuit dismissed

U.S. District Court Judge April Perry has dismissed Illinois’ lawsuit against President Donald Trump over his deployment of National Guard troops to the state.

The judge ruled on Monday that she granted the Trump administration’s motion to dismiss because the matter is “moot” after the president announced the removal of the troops in December.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker said in a statement that the order to conclude the case confirmed that Trump’s deployment was a reckless and illegal abuse of power.

CPS sub charged with battery of autistic boy

A substitute classroom aide at a Chicago elementary school is facing felony charges after prosecutors said a Chicago Public Schools security officer watched live on surveillance cameras as she dragged and pushed an 8-year-old nonverbal autistic boy during a three-minute struggle outside a school bathroom.

According to CWB Chicago, Melissa Monroy, 48, is charged with aggravated battery of a child younger than 13 causing great bodily harm. Prosecutors said the security officer contacted the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services and filed a report.

The boy was taken to the hospital after he complained of back pain.

The Chicago Office of Inspector General revealed the findings in its latest quarterly report. The OIG also found that city aviation department employees drank alcohol on the clock, falsified time records, stole city property and lied to investigators. Among other things, the report also detailed investigations of Paycheck Protection Program loan fraud and a “substandard” police investigation after a fatal collision involving a Chicago Fire Department vehicle.

In a statement provided to The Center Square, a spokesperson from Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s press office said the high-level employee referenced in the OIG report was a member of a previous administration and is not actively employed by the city.

“That being said, Mayor Johnson takes allegations such as these very seriously and remains committed to transparency and ethical governance. Referenced City Departments and agencies have responded in a manner necessary to uphold the highest ethical standards,” the spokesperson said.

The inspector’s report said some of the investigative work reported this quarter was hampered by the city’s withholding of information.

“The City’s compliance with its obligations to cooperate with OIG should be an area of ongoing concern; we have improved and clarified the law around OIG’s access to City records, but that law is only as good as the City’s compliance with it,” the report said.

The contractor, along with counsel, and the former employee met with the Chicago Board of Ethics at its meeting on April 13. After the meeting, the board voted 6-0 to dismiss the matter with regard to the contractor, citing “insufficient evidence” that the employee’s actions were influenced by the contractor’s offer to the employee’s child.

The board also dismissed the charge against the former employee but agreed to continue the matter at its next meeting in May of whether the former employee violated his or her fiduciary duty to the city or engaged in the unauthorized use of city property.

The OIG quarterly report outlined 10 sustained investigations into Paycheck Protection Program loan fraud. Witzburg said her office prioritized the Chicago Police Department, with nine of the 10 probes involving current or former CPD members.

Witzburg said police work involves writing reports and landing on the witness stand.

“If people are lying to the government, then they have no business writing police reports and landing on the witness stand,” Witzburg told The Center Square.

The inspector general also reported a substandard investigation by police after a person was fatally struck by a vehicle driven by a Chicago Fire Department member.

“There were all kinds of problems with that death investigation. There were body-worn cameras that were turned off prematurely. There were reports that didn't get written statements, that didn't get captured witnesses that didn't get interviewed, etc. And what that left us and everybody else with was a world where we really can't get to the bottom of what actually happened in this underlying incident because critical information never got collected,” Witzburg said.

Witzburg said police officers’ credibility is a vital concern and one of constitutional proportions. The department preliminarily agreed to discharge the individuals involved and designate them as ineligible to be rehired.

The Chicago Department of Aviation and the Chicago Department of Transportation agreed to terminate workers found by the inspector’s office to be drinking at bars while they were on the clock at O’Hare International Airport.

Witzburg said it was a sprawling investigation involving city aviation employees and some from the departments of transportation and water management.

“We had people drinking alcohol on the clock. We had supervisors drinking and sometimes buying drinks for their subordinates. We had many people who knew this was going on and didn't take appropriate steps to report the misconduct. We had people who lied to us in the course of our investigation,” Witzburg said.

The inspector general said the aviation department agreed to discharge seven workers and impose discipline against four others. CDOT agreed to discharge two employees.

Witzburg told The Center Square the investigation did not involve any federal workers at O’Hare.

On Monday, the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol began the process of returning roughly $151 billion in tariffs it collected from companies over the past year. The funds represent duties collected on imports under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, IEEPA.

Dan Anthony, Executive Director of We Pay the Tariffs, a coalition of small businesses against the tariffs, said refunds could be relieving, but uncertainty looms for businesses as the Trump administration still seeks to impose new tariffs as soon as July.

“So, you know, you're a business, you were paying a bunch of costs, they stopped, but now you've got new costs and there's the expectation of some other new cost that will be imposed without any notice,” Anthony said.

Of different imports into Illinois, machinery, electrical and communications equipment were the top three most impacted, bringing in a combined total of $1.52 billion, according to Anthony.

He noted the tariffs being refunded are only one kind, and many others remain in place for reasons of national security and strategic competition.

The Liberty Justice Center brought the legal challenge alongside multiple small business owners. Sara Albrecht, chairman of the center, said she was excited the process is beginning, but she wants to see it through.

“Once you win at the Supreme Court, that was Feb. 20, today it's April 20 and not a dollar has been paid back,” Albrecht said. “So I think that's the other part that's hard to understand. Like if these tariffs were illegal, why wouldn't they just automatically pay back?”

Her organization released the Tariff Equity Refund Resource for America, or TERRA, to guide small businesses through the refund process. She said there are a number of steps companies must take to get their money back.

Illinois Manufacturers Association President and CEO Mark Denzler said he feels there is a sense of stability compared to a year ago, when the tariffs were implemented.

“Manufacturers can compete with anyone in the world if there's a level playing field, and certainly targeted tariffs make sense against countries that, for example, cheat or dump product in the United States or steal intellectual property.”

He cautioned Illinois companies to work with their attorneys, accountants and importers of record when filing for refunds. He said he hopes the process will be smooth and refunds will come in the promised 60-90 day period.

There have been some minor bumps in the road just hours after the government opened a portal for the process, according to Albrecht.

“I know today already the system has gone down twice, at least, just because of the volume of people rushing to it. You know, it's kind of the same thing as when you buy concert tickets and the system crashes,” Albrecht said.

The same day the Supreme Court struck down the tariffs, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s campaign released a letter to President Trump, demanding tariff refunds go directly to consumers.

Cut the check, @realDonaldTrump. pic.twitter.com/NjVJ0tABme— JB Pritzker (@JBPritzker) February 20, 2026

Albrecht said Pritzker’s proposal was not the right solution, as responses to the tariffs varied business to business, and it would be unfair to those that took a hit to not receive their refund.

“Some businesses absorbed all the costs either themselves or somewhere along their supply chain. Other businesses were forced to pass on some or all of the tariffs. So really that's not fair to give money back to consumers when the businesses took the risk,” Albrecht said.

A spokesperson with the JB for Governor campaign told The Center Square he is glad to see the relief, but it doesn’t change the impacts already felt.

“This is too little, too late,” the spokesperson said. “Governor Pritzker is glad to see that Illinois businesses can get the relief they deserve, but the Trump administration still owes every family in Illinois $1,700."

Anthony said Pritzker is missing the larger issue with his cost estimate, even if the comments make for good political fodder.

“It's really not practical to do it like that, but I think it misses the bigger point here that there are a lot of costs that can't be recouped by the businesses,” Anthony said.

The judge ruled Monday that she granted the Trump administration’s motion to dismiss because the matter is “moot.”

Gov. J.B. Pritzker called the order “a win” for Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul.

“Today’s order concluding Illinois v. Trump confirms what has been clear to the people of Illinois from the beginning — Donald Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to occupy our streets was a reckless and illegal abuse of power,” Pritzker said in a statement.

Raoul filed the federal complaint last October after several hundred National Guard troops reported to the Chicago area. A few days later, Perry granted the state’s request for a temporary restraining order to block the deployment.

The judge said at the time that not even “the most ardent Federalist, Alexander Hamilton,” believed one state’s militia could be sent to another state for political retribution.

The case went to the Supreme Court, which ruled in December that the president could not use National Guard troops in Chicago to help federal immigration enforcement.

About a week later, Trump announced he would remove members of the National Guard from Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland, Oregon.

On Monday, Raoul reacted to the conclusion of the case and said there was no lawful explanation for the Guard’s deployment.

“This matter went all the way to U.S. Supreme Court, which denied the administration’s attempt to stay that lower court’s order. Now, several months later, the federal government has conceded that the orders for deployment are not operational,” Raoul said.

Dan McCaleb, Brett Rowland and Sarah Roderick-Fitch contributed to this story.

Leaders in Normal Township voted 31–21 to advance a BDS-related referendum, similar to efforts in other Illinois cities.

A 2015 law signed by former Gov. Bruce Rauner already restricts state investment in BDS-linked companies.

Public comment highlighted a divide between Illinois State University students and longtime residents. Chelsie Leffelman, who spoke during public comment, said her goal was to encourage constructive dialogue grounded in shared definitions.

“If we’re going to have a discussion, then we need to agree on terms,” Leffelman told The Center Square. “If we don’t agree on what a term means, then there’s no common ground to start from.”

Leffelman pushed back on claims raised during the meeting, arguing that key terms were being misapplied.

“Genocide was being used incorrectly. Apartheid was being used incorrectly,” she said. “If we’re not going to agree on what those mean, then we’re just talking past each other.”

She also voiced support for Illinois’ anti-BDS law, calling the movement discriminatory and inappropriate for public institutions to support.

“I’m a big fan of us signing that law,” Leffelman said. “We cannot be creating laws that are discriminatory or allowing taxpayer-funded entities to use their dollars in that way.”

Leffelman added that her remarks were intended to open, not shut down, conversation.

“I was there to have a good faith conversation,” she said. “The only way we’re going to fix this rift is if we do have conversations with people who disagree with us.”

The referendum’s exact language has not been publicly detailed, but similar measures in other municipalities, like Bloomington and Peoria, have asked voters to weigh in on whether local governments should align with or oppose BDS-related policies.

The debate has also raised broader questions about local decision-making, including the role of student populations in shaping policy outcomes in college communities.

The Stephenson County Sheriff’s office said the village of Lena suffered widespread damage, but there were no deaths or serious injuries reported.

The National Weather Service reported three tornadoes in Winnebago County as well as twisters in LaSalle, Livingston, Ford and Iroquois counties.

FIRM’S SPACE REDUCED BY CHICAGO LEASE EXTENSION

A Chicago consulting firm says its workforce is not affected by the company’s reduced square footage in downtown Chicago.

A spokesperson for Huron Consulting Group told The Center Square that the firm modified and extended its lease through 2037 to formalize adjustments made during the pandemic.

The spokesperson said the current agreement reflects a reduction in square footage, but the company has not occupied that square footage since 2020.

PENSION BUYOUT PROGRAM EXTENDED

A two-year extension of Illinois’ COLA pension buyout program is headed to the state Senate.

The voluntary program allows retirees in Illinois’ four statewide retirement systems to receive a lump-sum payment in exchange for forgoing future 3% compounded cost-of-living adjustments.

The House passed HB 5196 unanimously on Friday. Supporters say the buyouts have reduced Illinois’ pension liabilities by an estimated $2.6 billion.

MAN GETS 25 YEARS IN PRISON FOR PROVIDING MATERIAL SUPPORT TO ISIS

A Chicago man has been sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for conspiring to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham by using social media to encourage attacks on ISIS enemies and to recruit ISIS members.

Prosecutors said Ashraf Al Safoo, 41, was a leader of Khattab Media Foundation, an online organization that created and disseminated threats and ISIS propaganda on social media and other online platforms.

Al Safoo, 41, has been in custody since his 2018 arrest in Chicago.