* Sen. Darby Hills…

Just days after being sworn in as the new State Senator for Illinois’ 26th District, Senator Darby Hills (R-Barrington Hills) is already hard at work in Springfield. Sworn in on Friday, February 28, 2025, she wasted no time diving into legislative business, setting up her offices, and taking on key committee assignments.

Reflecting her deep commitment to children and families, Senator Hills has been named the Minority Spokesperson for the Child Welfare Committee, where she will advocate for policies that protect and support children across Illinois.

“I’m excited to be in Springfield, rolling up my sleeves and getting to work for the 26th District,” said Senator Hills. “As a mother and the founder of a charity that helps hundreds of kids each week with meals, medical care, and social services, I’ve seen firsthand what it takes to support children and families. It’s an honor to serve as Minority Spokesperson for the Child Welfare Committee, and I’m committed to making sure every child has the safety, support, and opportunities they need to thrive.”

In addition to her leadership on child welfare issues, Senator Hills will serve on the Commerce, Consumer Protection, Judiciary, and Transportation committees, focusing on economic growth, public safety, and infrastructure improvements. As a former Cook County prosecutor, attorney, Barrington Hills Village Board trustee, and founder of Barrington Children’s Charities, she brings a wealth of experience and a unique perspective to her new role.

With both her Springfield and District offices up and running, Senator Hills encourages constituents to reach out with questions, concerns, or issues affecting their communities. She is committed to being accessible and responsive to the people she represents.

*** Statehouse News ***

* WICS | Republicans push for special master in Illinois redistricting lawsuit: Republican lawmakers provided an update on their lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Illinois’ legislative map. The lawsuit, originally filed on January 28, argues that the current state map is a product of partisan gerrymandering. Republicans have requested that the Illinois Supreme Court appoint a special master to redraw the map. They emphasize the urgency of addressing the district boundaries before the next election cycle.

* Bond Buyer | Illinois returns to market with Build Illinois bonds: Fitch Ratings rates the bonds A-plus. Kroll Bond Rating Agency rates the bonds AA-plus. S&P Global Ratings assigns the bonds an A rating. The outlooks on all ratings are stable. In a rating report, Fitch said the ratings reflect an expectation that pledged state sales tax deposits will rise with inflation, as well as a debt structure that can survive significant decline while preserving debt service coverage and pledged deposits that are differentiated from the general operations of the state.

*** Chicago ***

* WTTW | CTU Delivers 5 ‘Must Haves,’ Ramping Up Pressure to Finalize New Teachers Contract: The union on Wednesday said it has been petitioning its members in recent days and has learned they have significant support for five final items to be settled at the negotiating table. Those issues are: fair pay for educators; an improved elementary school day that includes additional prep time; enforceable class sizes; revisions to what the union feels are “racially discriminatory practices” in the district’s teacher evaluation system; and an increase in the number of librarians, counselors, nurses, clinicians and teacher assistants.

* Crain’s | Former Illinois Medical District CEO departs Sterling Bay: Suzet McKinney, who has served as principal and director of life sciences at Chicago-based Sterling Bay since 2021, ended her tenure with the developer last month, according to an unrelated news release and McKinney’s LinkedIn profile. McKinney had spent five years running the IMD prior to joining Sterling Bay, a hire that punctuated the developer’s intention to build lab space for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.

* Sun-Times | New Uber Shuttle service to offer fans leaving the United Center $5 rides: Riders will be able to reserve a seat on a shuttle using the Uber app up to two days before an event, an Uber spokesperson said. Riders can book up to four seats at a time on 23-passenger buses to the Magnificent Mile, Ogilvie Transportation Center and Union Station. […] Uber did not comment on how long the introductory rate would last.

* Tribune | Visually impaired students learn to navigate Chicago streets without audible warning signals: On a recent rainy morning in Chicago’s Loop, a group of visually impaired students made their way along a sidewalk, sweeping their white canes back and forth to feel curbs and planters. They stopped at a corner to listen. A CTA train roared overhead. Cars rushed in front of them. They waited. When they could hear the traffic move parallel to them, the group began venturing through the crosswalk, safely reaching the opposite corner. The suburban students ranged from sixth grade to high school, and their vision varied from pretty good to almost none. Guided by teachers, their crossing was another little victory in a journey to make their way in a world built for sighted people.

* AP | These Chicago Nuns Advocated for Immigrant Rights for 40 years — Now in Their 90s, They’re Not Slowing Down: The sisters initially took in one family — a single mother from Sierra Leone with five children. But the need was great. Soon after, the sisters had 17 apartments filled with 17 asylum-seeking families and a new nonprofit to fund the ongoing operation, known as Catherine’s Caring Cause. They’ve housed 25 families over the past three years — paying rent and utilities for a year, offering food assistance, providing connections to legal help.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Aurora Beacon-News | Kane County Board holds town hall meeting on sales tax referendum in advance of April vote: On Monday, the Kane County Board hosted an in-person town hall meeting in Aurora to answer questions about the sales tax referendum question being put to voters in the county on April 1. Next month, Kane County voters will be asked whether they support a 0.75% sales tax increase meant to boost funding for the county’s public safety services.

* Tribune | Niles village trustees approve water hike to align with inflation, consider TIF giveaways for project: Two major items on the agenda at the board meeting were rate changes for water and sewer service that would help Niles cover the cost of two major projects, and a resolution regarding over $2 million in tax increment financing incentives for a redevelopment project on Milwaukee Avenue Water rate increases had been discussed for years, according to a village staff memo explaining the current increase.

* Tribune | Evanston candidates Chow, Suffredin jab at each other’s ethics in Sixth Ward race: With four weeks to go until the April 1 election, Evanston City Council candidates Candance Chow, a challenger, and incumbent Tom Suffredin have thrown shots at each other, each accusing the other of unethical actions in the past or present. Chow and Suffredin, who do not have glaring policy differences in their approach to Evanston government, are vying to represent Evanston’s 6th Ward. Suffredin was elected alderman of the ward in 2017 and is running for his third term.

* Daily Herald | Batavia school board approves support for statewide ‘Vision 2030’ blueprint: The Batavia Unit District 101 board has adopted a resolution supporting Vision 2030, a road map for policy priorities that several school districts want the state to prioritize enhancing academic opportunities. “Vision 2030 provides an aspirational framework to achieve educational excellence while maintaining fiscal responsibility,” Superintendent Tom Kim said in a press release. “This approach will help us better serve our students, support our educators, and strengthen our educational programs.”

*** Downstate ***

* KSDK | US Attorney General names interim US attorney for southern Illinois: Attorney General Pam Bondi named [Steven Weinhoeft] the interim U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois last Friday, about two weeks after Rachelle Aud Crowe “departed” from the role. Weinhoeft previously served in the role from 2018 to 2022. “I am honored and excited to return to this role to serve the people of the Southern District of Illinois,” Weinhoeft said in the press release Wednesday. “I look forward to working with Attorney General Bondi, our talented team, and our law enforcement partners to uphold the rule of law with integrity and resolve.”

* WCIA | U of I Athletic Director addresses Congress, warns of potential problems with ‘patchwork’ NIL laws: University of Illinois Athletic Director Josh Whitman testified at a congressional hearing Tuesday about the future of college athletics. “Efforts underway to reform and modernize college athletics are in many ways overdue, as the NCAA has not always moved with needed urgency,” Whitman said.

* WCIA | Champaign city councilman misses 3rd meeting in a row after swastika post backlash: The last time Williams was in attendance was back at the February 4th meeting. This was when he was on the receiving end of numerous public comments denouncing his behavior toward the Jewish community. Before the meeting, Williams had made a controversial Facebook post where he changed his profile picture to a swastika and later defended the post in the comments.

*** National ***

* CNBC | Private employers added just 77,000 jobs in February, far below expectations, ADP says: Private companies added just 77,000 new workers for the month, well off the upwardly revised 186,000 in January and below the 148,000 estimate, ADP reported. The report reflected tariff concerns, as a sector that lumps together trade, transportation and utility jobs saw a loss of 33,000 positions. On the positive side, leisure and hospitality jobs jumped by 41,000, while professional and business services added 27,000 and financial activities and construction both saw gains of 25,000.

* Tribune | Trump administration plans to cut 80,000 employees from Veterans Affairs, according to internal memo: The VA’s chief of staff, Christopher Syrek, told top level officials at the agency that it had an objective to cut enough employees to return to 2019 staffing levels of just under 400,000. That would require terminating tens of thousands of employees after the VA expanded during the Biden administration, as well as to cover veterans impacted by burn pits under the 2022 PACT Act.

* NYT | Trump Officials Take Down List of Federal Properties for Possible Sale: On Tuesday, the Trump administration identified more than 440 federal properties that could be sold off, a list that included high-profile buildings like the headquarters of the F.B.I., Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services. By Wednesday morning, the entire inventory had been taken down, replaced by an agency web page that said the list of properties was “coming soon.”