* Subscribers know more. ICYMI: Citing growing list of duties, Illinois’ Raoul seeks a $15M increase in AG budge Capitol News Illinois…

- AG Kwame Raoul is asking state lawmakers for a $15 million increase in his General Revenue Fund budget for the upcoming year, saying his office needs a more “stable” system of funding as it takes on greater responsibilities.
- Raoul’s proposed increase would bring next year’s general revenue fund budget to more than $120 million.
- Since Trump was sworn into office for a second term on Jan. 20, Raoul has joined in filing 11 federal lawsuits challenging administration actions and has filed another 14 amicus briefs in support of other legal challenges.

* At 2:30 pm, Gov. Pritzker will announce grant awards to support downtown revitalization efforts across the state in Jacksonville. Click here to watch.

* BlueRoomStream.com’s coverage of today’s press conferences and committee hearings can be found here.

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Crain’s | Counties sue Illinois over delinquent tax sales that Supreme Court calls unconstitutional: Officials in seven counties are suing Illinois, claiming the state’s property tax code requires them to run sales of delinquent property taxes in a way that the U.S. Supreme Court has deemed unconstitutional. It’s a tangly issue, but one that has considerable implications for the protection of Illinoisans’ property rights under the U.S. Constitution.

* Capitol News Illinois | Illinois scrambles to boost locally produced farm products after Trump’s funding freeze: Illinois was approved for $43 million in federal reimbursement funds for two food programs designed to strengthen statewide food systems, but when the Trump administration took office it informed the stated, without explanation, that the remaining $17.8 million in federal agriculture reimbursements still owed to Illinois would cease after Jan. 19, 2025. Farmers like Ryder have asked the state to consider new models for subsidizing, planning and regulating agriculture to help them keep Illinoisans fed. Illinois lawmakers are trying to help by pushing two bills through the legislature.

*** Statehouse News ***

* WCPT | Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton talks administration’s successes, standing up to Trump: As lawmakers prepare to vote on the fiscal year 2026 budget before the legislative session ends May 31, the lieutenant governor emphasized the importance of fiscal responsibility for the state of Illinois, pointing to the six consecutive balanced budgets Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) has signed into law. “It becomes more challenging as we’re seeing chaos coming out of Washington,” Stratton said. “So our goal is to provide that steady leadership to make sure that we can keep taking care of the work of the state of Illinois, and keep caring for the people of our state who need it, and I think that’s my top priority right now.”

* Center Square | Illinois officials share concerns tariffs will impact state’s agricultural sector: Illinois soybean farmers sell much of their harvest to China. Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs said the Trump administration’s tariffs could be harmful to the state’s farming industry in general, but especially to soybean farmers. “Illinois farmers have seen how this played out before,” said Frerichs. “During Trump’s first term, his tariffs drove China to start buying soybeans from Brazil.”

*** Statewide ***

* Uptown People’s Law Center | Class Action Lawsuit Alleges Systematic Abuse of People with Mental Illness in Illinois Prisons: The lawsuit, Hilliard et al., v. Hughes, builds on legal violations previously raised in the 2007 Rasho v. Walker litigation (later renamed Daniels v. Jeffreys), which ended judicial oversight in 2022. IDOC abandoned all reform efforts made under that case after court supervision ended. Approximately 44% of all individuals in IDOC custody (approximately 12,817 people) are on the mental health caseload, with approximately one-third designated as having serious mental illness. Yet IDOC has stopped staffing mental health providers at shocking levels. As of Dec 2024, only 67 full time mental health positions filled out of 175 budgeted positions for nearly 13,000 people.

* NBC Chicago | Illinois anti-distracted driving program features new requirement for students: Under provisions of the “One Road, One Focus” campaign, student drivers in Illinois will be required to watch a video that state officials say “details the consequences of dangerous driving behaviors.” The new video requirement, along with other elements of the “One Road, One Focus” campaign, will be unveiled at a Tuesday press event in Chicago, the Illinois Secretary of State’s Office said.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Sun-Times | Federal prosecutor alleges Glenview medical journal is politically biased: The letter, signed by acting U.S. Attorney Edward Martin Jr. for the District of Columbia, was sent to Chest Journal on April 14. Martin, a Republican, echoes President Donald Trump’s baseless claims that the 2020 election was stolen and defends the work of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. “It has been brought to my attention that more and more journals and publications, like Chest Journal are conceding that they are partisans in various scientific debates,” Martin wrote in the letter.

* Sun-Times | PPP fraud, perjury charges filed against Dolton cop: William Frederick Reed of Hazel Crest was charged Monday with providing false statements to the federal Small Business Administration, bankruptcy fraud, concealment or destruction of bankruptcy records, failure to file a tax return and perjury on tax returns. […] Prosecutors said Reed fraudulently applied for three PPP loans by falsifying the monthly payroll of his Off Duty Security private security business. They said he received $5,862 in June 2020, $5,862 in March 2021 and $5,860 in May 2021.

* Oak Park Journal | Finally official, Gertz wins 4th seat on OPRF school board: It’s been a rough month of April for Josh Gertz – waiting and wondering. Did he have enough votes to win a seat on the Oak Park and River Forest High School District 200 board of education? Turns out, he did. […] Schaafsma’s campaign netted 4,603 votes, according to unofficial results finally posted by the Cook County Clerk. While that was by far the most votes of any write- in candidate in suburban Cook County, is left Schaafsma well behind Gertz, who finished with 5,522 votes. The new board is expected to be installed May 1, according to current President Tom Cofsky.

* Daily Herald | Arlington Heights retains firm to vet Bears’ economic impact study: The contract approved unanimously by the village board is with Hunden Strategic Partners, a Chicago-based firm that’s formed a niche in advising the public and private sectors on destination real estate development projects, including mixed-use districts anchored by major league sports stadiums. The $200,000 lump sum fee — initially charged to the village — will be reimbursed by the Bears through an escrow account. That fund has $150,000 in it from the team’s initial deposit.

*** Downstate ***

* WGLT | Hearing set for Lorenz campaign complaint; local GOP omits $28K from new disclosure report: A new disclosure filed by the McLean County Republican Party failed to report the transfer of $28,000 to former Normal mayoral candidate Kathleen Lorenz – the same money that sparked a complaint against her with the State Board of Elections. […] McLean County GOP chair Dennis Grundler called it a “straightforward clerical error” that was “due to a brand-new volunteer treasurer using the online system for the first time.”

* WSPY | Conservative Group looks to form Kane DOGE: Deputy State Director Brian Costin of Americans for Prosperity‑Illinois will headline the program, outlining what organizers call a road map for creating a Department of Governmental Oversight and Ethics (DOGE) in Kane County and across the state. Costin, who oversees AFP‑Illinois policy initiatives such as the Prairie State Promise and its Watchdog Club, has earned awards for government‐transparency advocacy. THEA says his presentation will focus on “restoring integrity, transparency and accountability” and “eradicating corruption” in Illinois.

* WAND | Pre-existing grocery tax could help bring more money back into Decatur: “This is not a tax increase. It is just simply transferring who collects the tax,” said Councilwoman Lisa Gregory. […] If this ordinance does not take effect, the City of Decatur could lose $2.7 million in tax revenue. After further discussions and a vote, six members of the council were in favor of the ordinance, while one member opposed it.

* Advantage News | Former Macoupin S.A. employee accused of stealing from office: She is charged with one count of theft of government property less than $10,000, a Class 2 felony punishable by up to seven years in prison; as well as five counts of wire fraud and six counts of official misconduct, all Class 3 felonies punishable by up to five years in prison. Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office alleges Walker was employed by the Macoupin County State’s Attorney’s office when she transferred a total of $7,000 from the office’s drug asset forfeiture account between November 2023 and May 2024.

* Farm Progress | How U of I plans to boost large-animal vet numbers: Starting this spring, sophomores at the U of I with a demonstrated interest in food-animal care could apply for early acceptance into the Food Animal Veterinarian Early Acceptance Program. According to Anna Dilger, animal sciences professor, the veterinary medicine program will hold five of 160 class spots annually for these students.

*** Chicago ***

* Fox Chicago | Chicago Public Schools failed to protect student with disability from sexual assault: lawsuit: Casper emphasized that the student had an individual education plan because of his disability, which required that an adult be with him at all times. The victim is “virtually” non-verbal, so his ability to defend himself “is sadly non-existent,” Casper said. He has ADHD, Autism and requires full-time teacher assistant supervision, according to the lawsuit. The attorney alleged that the school failed to abide by that requirement of the student’s education plan.

* Crain’s | Baker Tilly merging with Moss Adams to create sixth-biggest U.S. accounting firm: Baker Tilly, one of Chicago’s largest accounting and consulting firms, has agreed to merge with Seattle-based Moss Adams in a deal creating the sixth-largest U.S. CPA firm. Private-equity firms Hellman & Friedman and Valeas Capital, which took stakes in Baker Tilly in February 2024, will boost their investments as part of the deal. The merger is expected to close in early June, the companies said in a statement. The combined firm will use the Baker Tilly name.

* AP | Four White Sox pitchers - all from Massachusetts - made their Fenway mound debuts within 24 hours: And within a 24-hour span, Sean Burke, Mike Vasil, Jared Shuster and Shane Smith each pitched off Fenway’s mound as major leaguers for the first time. “It’s awesome,’’ said Burke, a 25-year-old right-hander from Sutton who started Sunday in Chicago’s 8-4 victory. “These are three guys I knew even before the White Sox, too,” he said. “To kind of all meet here to be able to do it in the same weekend is really cool.”

* Chicago Reader | The Lager Beer Riot of 1855: The name blames the beer, but the uprising that rocked Chicago 170 years ago was born from a nativist, anti-Catholic movement that swept the U.S. in the 1850s. It was the culmination of years of clashes between an increasingly militant working class desperate to assert its autonomy under a new system of industrial capitalism and an increasingly terrified business class that sought new ways to exert its control.

*** National ***

* Post-Tribune | ‘Sin tax’ looms over Indiana budget as legislators face shortfall of more than $2 billion: “Everything is on the table right now. All topics have to be discussed at this point, and we’ll kind of see how it shakes out in the next 48 hours,” [budget architect Jeffery Thompson] said. Raising cigarette taxes by $2 a pack would result in an additional $800 million over the 2-year budget, Qaddoura said. Increasing alcohol and gaming taxes would raise $250 million over the biennium, he said.

* NBC | New images could change cancer diagnostics, but ICE detained the Harvard scientist who analyzes them: Dr. Leon Peshkin, a principal research scientist at Harvard’s Department of Systems Biology and Petrova’s manager and mentor, received a call from Customs and Border Protection on Feb. 16 after agents detained Petrova at Logan International Airport in Boston for failing to declare samples of frog embryos to be used in scientific research. […] [Petrova’s Lawyer, Gregory Romanovsky,] said that CBP typically imposes two penalties for such customs violations: the forfeiture of the items and a fine, usually around $500, and that “for a first-time violation, the fine is typically reduced to $50.” Instead, officials canceled Petrova’s J-1 scholar visa.

* AP | Harvard sues Trump administration to stop the freeze of more than $2 billion in grants: For the Trump administration, Harvard presents the first major hurdle in its attempt to force change at universities that Republicans say have become hotbeds of liberalism and antisemitism. A part of that is targeting research funding which has fueled scientific breakthroughs but has become an easy source of leverage for the Trump administration. In its letter earlier this month, the administration told Harvard to impose tougher discipline on protesters and to screen international students for those who are “hostile to the American values.”

* Nieman Lab | National Science Foundation cancels research grants related to misinformation and disinformation: Elon Musk’s DOGE — the questionably constitutional initiative that shares a name with a meme coin — celebrated that the NSF had cancelled at least 402 grants as part of the cuts. The cuts were made to awards “that are not aligned with NSF’s priorities,” according to an announcement on the NSF site, “including but not limited to those on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and misinformation/disinformation.”