Illinois governor agrees to allow Medicaid for abortions

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner ended months of speculation Thursday and signed legislation allowing state health insurance and Medicaid coverage for abortions, as the first-term Republican reversed his stance on the proposal from last spring. The General Assembly controlled by Democrats approved the measure in May but delayed sending it to Rauner until Monday, in part because he has changed his mind about support of the plan.

Illinois Left panics over Graham-Cassidy; ignores state’s shrinking insurer numbers

Tossing control of federal health care dollars back to the states is something the Left stands firmly against - and exactly what the Republican U.S. Senate majority's latest attempt at reforming ObamaCare would do. Illinois' Left had nothing to fear from the state's two elected U.S. Senators.

Editorial: It’s time to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment

This Saturday in Normal is the Rally to Ratify, a rally to ask Illinois legislators to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment . The event will have numerous speakers, from state representatives to McLean County officials to Illinois Wesleyan University and Illinois State University students.

Byron York: Where is Trump popular? And what does that mean for 2018?

President Trump's job approval rating in the RealClearPolitics average of polls is 39.9 percent. That's actually up a bit from Trump's low of 37.4 percent, reached on August 14. The RCP average, made up of results from the most recent surveys, is a national measure.

15 states, DC sue Trump administration over ending DACA

Fifteen states and the District of Columbia sued Wednesday to block President Donald Trump's plan to end a program protecting young immigrants from deportation -- an act Washington state's attorney general called "a dark time for our country." The lawsuit was filed in the Eastern District of New York.

Fifteen states, D.C. sue Trump administration over plan to end DACA

Fifteen states and the District of Columbia on sued Wednesday to block President Donald Trump's plan to end a program protecting young immigrants from deportation - an act Washington state's attorney general called "a dark time for our country." The lawsuit was filed in the Eastern District of New York.

Private school tax credit surprises, riles some in Illinois

AP photo Gov. Bruce Rauner signs education funding reform bill SB 1947 on Aug. 31 at Ebinger Elementary School in Chicago. Democratic-leaning Illinois is the latest state to direct taxpayer money to private schools, a move that's caught some by surprise and drawn condemnation from politically powerful teacher unions and Democrats looking to defeat GOP Gov. Rauner in 2018.

Labor activists target Midwest politicians opposing wage increases

U.S. activists plan protests in up to 400 cities across the United States on Monday's Labor Day holiday to demand a minimum wage of $15 an hour, and are targeting politicians in Midwestern battleground states who have blocked such salary increases. The demonstrations, backed by the Service Employees International Union, will focus on hospital and home care workers, joining the fast-food and janitorial staffers who have protested since the "Fight for $15" movement started in 2012.

In wake of Foxconn deal, Wisconsin and Illinois vie for jobs

The pledge by Taiwan's Foxconn to build a US$10 billion factory in southern Wisconsin has ignited cross-border competition with Illinois over which state's residents will get the jobs created by the project. FILE PHOTO: Employees work inside a Foxconn factory in the township of Longhua in the southern Guangdong province, China, May 26, 2010.

Navy confirms downstate sailor among those missing from USS McCain

The U.S. Navy has identified a sailor from the USS McCain whose remains were recovered after a crash earlier this week, and it has released the names of nine other sailors still missing, including a man from downstate Illinois. The Illinois man, Logan Stephen Palmer, 23, a Third Class Interior Communications Electrician, went missing after the McCain crashed into an oil tanker near Singapore earlier this week, according to a news release from the Navy.