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House Democrats expected to vote on $53.1B budget as Republicans complains of overspending

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House Democrats expected to vote on .1B budget as Republicans complains of overspending


SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The Illinois House geared up Tuesday night to vote on a $53.1 billion state budget but planned to work into Wednesday to get the job done.

Legislative leaders expected that the House would adopt the plan which the Senate OK’d Sunday night. It’s $400 million more than Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker proposed in February and raises taxes and makes other tax code changes to generate $1.2 billion to fund it.

“This budget is balanced, responsible and fair,” House Speaker Pro Tempore Jehan Gordon-Booth, a Peoria Democrat, told the Executive Committee. “It invests in children, it invests in infrastructure, it also invests in our most vulnerable.”

Even though the Legislature has gone beyond its self-imposed adjournment deadline of May 24, lawmakers don’t expect conclusion until early Wednesday because of constitutional requirements on the number of days that legislation must be read publicly.

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Republicans complained that Democrats, who control the Legislature, are spending beyond their means and not preparing for what many predict are lean years ahead. Deputy House Republican Leader Norine Hammond of Macomb said she found at least $1 billion in spending that would be pushed off to the following fiscal year.

There’s a $350 million increase for elementary and secondary education, as prescribed by a 2017 school-funding overhaul, but a reduction from what was requested by the state education board in federally mandated school operations. The budget puts an additional $75 million for early childhood education, meaning 5,000 more seats, Gordon-Booth said.

The proposal to provide $182 million to fund services for tens of thousands of migrants seeking asylum in the U.S., largely bused from Texas, where they cross the border. And it provides $440 million for health care for noncitizens.

It also pays the state’s full obligation to its woefully underfunded pension funds and chips in an additional $198 million to the so-called rainy day fund to for an economic downturn.

Gordon-Booth said the proposal is just 1.6% more than what will be spent this year. Rep. C.D. Davidsmeyer, a Jacksonville Republican, noted that the budget is now $20 billion more than a decade ago. He criticized the transfer of dedicated funds, such as $150 million from the road fund and $50 million from a fund to clean up leaking underground storage tanks to shore up public transit.

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“I have a concerns that there are gimmicks in this budget that put us on a path to a giant collision in the future,” Davidsmeyer told Gordon-Booth. “I hope I don’t have to say, ‘I told you so’ when it happens.”

The business tax hikes in particular pushed the General Assembly past its adjournment deadline as lobbyists scrambled to limit the impact. But the spending plan raises $526 million by extending a cap on tax-deductible business losses at $500,000. There’s also a cap of $1,000 per month on the amount retail stores may keep for their expenses in holding back state sale taxes. That would bring in about $101 million.

And there would be $235 million more from increased sports wagering taxes and on video gambling. Pritzker wanted the tax, paid by casino sportsbooks, to jump from 15% to 35%, but it was set on a sliding scale from 20% to 40%.

Another Pritzker victory comes in the form of the elimination of the 1% tax on groceries, another of the governor’s inflation-fighting proposals. But because the tax directly benefits local communities, the budget plan would allow any municipality to create its own grocery tax up to 1% without state oversight.

And those with home-rule authority — generally, any city or county with a population exceeding $25,000, would be authorized to implement a sales tax up to 1% without submitting the question to voters for approval.

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2025 FCS football championship: Bracket, schedule, scores

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2025 FCS football championship: Bracket, schedule, scores


The 2025-26 FCS playoffs consist of a 24-team bracket with play starting on Saturday, Nov. 29 and concluding on Monday, Jan. 5. The top 16 teams seeded and the top eight seeds receive automatic byes to the second round, while the rest of the 24-team field (the remaining 16 teams) play in the first round.

Here’s everything you need to know for the Division I Football Championship postseason.

FCS championship bracket

Click or tap here to view the bracket

FCS bracket

 

FCS championship schedule

All times Eastern

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Quarterfinals

  • Friday, December 12
  • Saturday, December 13

Semifinals

  • Saturday, December 20
    • Semifinal 1 | 4 p.m. ET | ABC
    • Semifinal 2 | 7:30 p.m. ET | ESPN2

National Championship 

FCS championship rounds, dates

  • Selection show: 12 p.m. ET Sunday, Nov. 23 on ESPNU
  • First round: Saturday, Nov. 29
  • Second round: Saturday, Dec. 6
  • Quarterfinals: Friday, Dec. 12 through Saturday, Dec. 13
  • Semifinals: Saturday, Dec. 20 
  • National championship: Monday, Jan. 5 on ESPN at 7:30 p.m. ET

FCS selections

The bracket selections for the 2025-26 FCS Championship was on Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025. The bracket was be revealed via a selection show on ESPNU at 12 p.m. ET and a selections release

Eleven conferences (or conference partnerships/alliances) earn automatic bids to the playoffs. The FCS Championship Committee selects the remaining 13 at-large bids.

AUTOMATIC BIDS: Click or tap here to see all 11 of the clinched auto-bids

FCS championship history 

North Dakota Dakota State is the reigning national champion, winning its 10 title in 2024 with a 35-32 win over Montana State. Here’s every FCS champion and runner-up from the past decade:

Year Champion Coach Score Runner-Up Site
2024 North Dakota State Tim Polasek 35-32 Montana State Frisco, Texas
2023 South Dakota State Jimmy Rogers 23-3 Montana  Frisco, Texas
2022 South Dakota State John Stiegelmeier 45-21 North Dakota State Frisco, Texas
2021 North Dakota State Matt Entz 38-10 Montana State Frisco, Texas
2020 Sam Houston K.C. Keeler 23-21 South Dakota State Frisco, Texas
2019 North Dakota State Matt Entz 28-20 James Madison Frisco, Texas
2018 North Dakota State Chris Klieman 38-24 Eastern Washington Frisco, Texas
2017 North Dakota State Chris Klieman 17-13 James Madison Frisco, Texas
2016 James Madison Mike Houston 28-14 Youngstown State Frisco, Texas
2015 North Dakota State Chris Klieman 37-10 Jacksonville State Frisco, Texas

Click here for a full list of every champion since 1978.  

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Another Winter Storm Targets Central Illinois

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Another Winter Storm Targets Central Illinois


After a brief lull in the weather on Friday, now another winter storm is setting its sights on central Illinois. Come Saturday, our next round of Winter is set to arrive. A new weather maker sweeps across the Upper Midwest, causing more snow to develop by mid-morning on Saturday. A Winter Weather Advisory has been issued from 7AM Saturday through 8 PM Saturday evening. The snow will pick up intensity by late-morning and last through the afternoon into the early evening hours before ending. This new weather system will follow a path very similar to the previous storm system and spread a swath of moderate to locally heavy snow. Before the snow wraps up Saturday evening, expect another 2″-4″ for much of central Illinois, with afternoon high temperatures bitterly cold in the mid-teens.

But the worst blast of cold air comes in Saturday evening into Sunday. Frigid Arctic air surges down from Canada causing temperatures to really tumble, driving in the coldest weather we’ve had in a long time and certainly the coldest so far this season. A Cold Weather Advisory is issued from 8 PM Saturday through Noon on Sunday. Sunday morning will be dangerously cold with wind chills around 20 to 25 BELOW ZERO. With wind chills this extreme, it doesn’t take long to suffer from frostbite or hypothermia. Please stay inside to keep warm, but if you do need to venture out, limit the time you spend outdoors, and make sure to cover up all exposed skin by wearing a hat, scarf, and gloves. Sunday afternoon features lots of sunshine, but despite the sunshine, temperatures will be brutally cold and frigid with high temperatures stuck in the low single numbers while wind chills remain well below zero.

Expect more extremely chilly weather on Monday with wind chills still ranging from 5 to 15 BELOW ZERO in the morning and afternoon highs only reaching into the 20s. Then temperatures will finally start to warm up, and we should climb out of the deep freeze with highs in the mid to upper 30s on Tuesday.



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Illinois is newest state to allow medical assistance in dying after Pritzker signs bill

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Illinois is newest state to allow medical assistance in dying after Pritzker signs bill



Gov. JB Pritzker signed a new law Friday making Illinois the newest state allowing medically assisted dying in terminally ill residents.

Known as “Deb’s Law,” it allows eligible terminally ill adults with a prognosis to live six months or less to request a prescription from their doctor that would allow them to die on their own terms.

The legislation was narrowly approved by the Illinois Senate in October after the Illinois House passed it in May.

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People on both sides of the debate over the controversial legislation lobbied the governor up until the last minute. Medical aid in dying, also called assisted suicide or dying with dignity, is already legal in 12 states. Eight more are considering similar legislation.

“I have been deeply impacted by the stories of Illinoisans or their loved ones that have suffered from a devastating terminal illness, and I have been moved by their dedication to standing up for freedom and choice at the end of life in the midst of personal heartbreak,” Pritzker said in a news release after signing the bill.  

Pritzker’s signature makes Illinois the first state in the Midwest to allow medically assisted death.

Advocates for the law say it allows adults to die on their own terms when survival is already not an option. Opponents say the bill legalizes “state-sanctioned suicide.”

The law requires two doctors to determine a patient has a terminal disease and will die within six months. The medication provided would need to be requested both orally and in written documentation, and will have to be self-administered. The law also requires all patients opting into medical assistance in dying to have been full informed about all end-of-life care options, including comfort care, hospice, palliative care and pain control.

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The law is named for Deb Robertson, a former social worker from Lombard who had an aggressive case of neuroendocrine carcinoma. She began advocating for medical aid in dying in 2022 and has been a central figure in the movement. 

Please note: The above video is from a previous report



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