* Associated Press…

The Supreme Court’s conservative majority sounds skeptical of state laws that allow the counting of late-arriving mail ballots, a persistent target of President Donald Trump.

The court was hearing arguments Monday in a case from Mississippi that also could affect voters in 13 other states and the District of Columbia, which have grace periods for ballots cast by mail. An additional 15 states that have more forgiving deadlines for ballots from military and overseas voters also could be impacted.

A ruling is expected by late June, early enough to govern the counting of ballots in the 2026 midterm congressional elections. […]

California, Texas, New York and Illinois are among the states with post-Election Day deadlines. Rural Alaska, with its vast distances and often unpredictable weather, also counts late-arriving ballots.

* Attorney General Kwame Raoul…

Attorney General Kwame Raoul, with California Attorney General Rob Bonta, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell and Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul, led a coalition of 21 attorneys general in suing the Trump administration over its unconstitutional and unlawful attempt to impose conditions on U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs, grants, cooperative agreements and mutual interest agreements.

In their lawsuit, Raoul and the coalition assert that USDA has threatened harsh penalties if states do not comply with the agency’s vague and expansive funding conditions relating to immigration, diversity, equity and inclusion, and gender identity, which are unrelated to the purpose of USDA funding. The lawsuit asks the court to block USDA from imposing these illegal funding conditions, including on critical USDA programs such as the school lunch program; Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC); the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP); The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP); and the Volunteer Fire Capacity Program. The programs provide basic, essential services for millions of Illinois’ most vulnerable children, working families, senior citizens and rural communities. […]

In Illinois, one in 20 residents receive TEFAP food, which delivers nutritious, locally sourced, minimally modified foods across the state, including in rural areas where farmers and agricultural workers supply a large volume of Illinois’ agricultural products, yet too often have no access to nutritious food to feed their families.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Axios | Pritzker tries to put past donations to AIPAC behind him: Pritzker and aides have said publicly in recent weeks that he previously supported AIPAC, but Pritzker’s team declined to tell Axios how much he gave to the group. […] The foundation gave to the group until at least 2020, but Pritzker’s team told Axios he stepped away from the foundation in 2017.

* WBEZ | Can replacing Illinois’ toxic lead pipes lead to a workforce boom?: A recent report proposes a plan to replace the state’s staggering inventory of toxic lead pipes and create tens of thousands of jobs. To do so, the analysis calls on state and local officials to fast-track pipe replacements for communities that have suffered from the most lead exposure and to use the projects to build a more diverse local workforce. It also urges the Illinois General Assembly to help plug a multibillion-dollar budget gap for lead pipe replacements.

* Crain’s | AI data center boom drives surge in Great Lakes water use: Part of that collaboration involves sharing insights across jurisdictions. Last year Minnesota passed a law that establishes a framework for data center developments, including mandating that proposed projects route through a state-level clearinghouse instead of proceeding directly to local governments. Now other regional leaders are considering Minnesota’s legislation as they debate similar regulations. In February, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker proposed suspending the state’s data center tax incentives, a move intended to slow development and give the state time to flesh out its regulatory approach. Last year’s Ohio budget includes a similar suspension of tax incentives, but Gov. Mike DeWine vetoed the provision. State legislators are now considering a push for an override.

* Crain’s | Six years on, Illinois builds defenses for the next pandemic amid federal retreat: Illinois is stockpiling medical supplies, joining international disease-tracking networks and forming alliances with other states to prepare for the next pandemic — steps driven by what public health officials describe as a hostile and hollowed-out federal public health infrastructure under President Donald Trump. The state’s go-it-alone planning comes six years after Illinois shut down to battle COVID-19, which, between 2020 and 2023, killed nearly 42,000 Illinoisans.

*** Chicago ***

* Center Square | Judge declines CTU’s motion to dismiss financial audit lawsuit: A Cook County judge on Monday denied a Chicago Teachers’ Union motion for summary judgment and granted plaintiffs’ request to compel discovery in a case over the union’s lack of releasing financial audits to its members. “The court saw through CTU’s effort to avoid scrutiny,” Sara Albrecht, chair of Liberty Justice Center, the nonprofit law firm representing union members who filed the lawsuit, said in a statement. “Simply posting documents after being sued doesn’t erase legal obligations. With discovery now moving forward, we intend to get a full accounting of whether CTU has complied with its duties to its own members.”

* Crain’s | WBBM vows to fill the void from CBS News Radio closure: When CBS News Radio shuts down for good in two months, local Chicago affiliate WBBM Newsradio will continue broadcasting diligently, just with less national material from its longtime and storied partner. WBBM’s two local stations — 780 AM and 105.9 FM — will broadcast that much more local material from Chicago-area journalists, the station said in a press release. “CBS News Radio service is shutting down, but WBBM Newsradio is here to stay,” the station posted March 20 on X, in response to the CBS news.

* Block Club | Chicago Is Hemorrhaging Breweries — Is There A Way To Stop It?: In Chicago, while overall retail sales of beer haven’t seen a huge dropoff, package sales of craft beers have plunged. While Chicago stores sold $824 million worth of beer and other alcoholic beverages like hard seltzers in the 12 months ending in early March — a 1.1 percent decrease from the same period last year — craft beer sales dropped 8.3 percent in that time, to $76.9 million, according to Circana, a market research company. Craft sales are down 17 percent from three years ago. Although the data doesn’t capture everywhere craft beer is sold at the retail level in Chicago, it’s indicative of the trend.

* WBEZ | Steppenwolf Theater receives Sondheim Foundation grant to restart program for new plays: Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre will reboot a program that supports new plays after receiving a grant from the Stephen Sondheim Foundation, an organization established under the will of the revered composer-lyricist. The foundation has announced an inaugural round of cultural grant funding. Neither Steppenwolf Theatre nor the Sondheim Foundation would disclose the amount of the grant.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Herald | Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi lost big where property taxes in city, suburbs soared: Even more stark was the 35,000-vote gap between Kaegi and Hynes in the suburbs, where property tax increases were even more pronounced, and where Hynes markedly outperformed Kaegi. In the county’s North suburbs, where homeowners picked up 60% of the new tax burden, property taxes grew by 3.7%, compared to a 3.1% increase in the south suburbs, according to the treasurer’s office.

* NBC Chicago | Court awards nearly $46k to Will County election worker in doxing case: “This verdict is important not just for Ellen Moriarty, but for anyone who has been targeted by false online attacks,” said attorney Joe Giamanco, counsel for Moriarty and managing partner of Giamanco Law Partners, Ltd. in a statement. “People cannot manufacture or spread fake content, try to destroy someone’s livelihood, and then expect to walk away without accountability. Keyboard warriors should pay attention to this verdict and think twice before they go on the attack.” The law, that took effect at the start of 2024, creates a civil cause of action for anyone harmed by doxing. Under the statute, “doxing” includes intentionally publishing another person’s identifiable information (including social media profiles) without consent with the intent to harm or harass someone and that leads to harm of that person, including economic injury, mental anguish, fear of serious bodily injury or death, or a substantial life disruption.

* Aurora Beacon-News | Batavia delays new downtown TIF district plans: At a meeting last week, the City Council opted to temporarily pause moving forward on the creation of the new TIF District 7, which is set to include a segment of Batavia’s downtown, largely west of the Fox River. The proposed redevelopment area generally includes property south of Wilson Street, north of Union Avenue, west of South River Street and east of South Lincoln Street. A TIF district is a sort of economic development tool that essentially freezes the amount of property tax revenue each taxing body receives from an area at the point at which the TIF is instituted. The extra or “increment” taxes created by the development of the property go into a special fund used to pay for costs related to improving the area.

*** Downstate ***

* WICS | Sangamon County to vote on CyrusOne data center Monday: But Monday night starting at 6pm, Sangamon County board members will finally vote on the project’s permits. Sangamon County board members, unions, and residents for and against a potential data center will flock to the BOS center in downtown Springfield. The Sangamon County data center would be located in an agricultural zone, in the southwest corner of the county.

* WCIA | What to know for spring trout fishing season in Illinois: More than 80,000 rainbow trout are being released into 58 bodies of water where fishing is permitted during the spring fishing season. The season starts on April 4, but anglers can start fishing Saturday at select sites as long as they release the fish they catch. At other sites, anglers are not allowed to fish at all before April 4, and anyone attempting to harvest fish before the legal harvest season opening will be issued citations.

* PJ Star | ‘Truly honored’: Illinois Central College names next president: Jamonica Rolle, who holds a Doctor of Education degree in higher education administration, will assume the position on July 1. “I am truly honored and excited to serve as Illinois Central College’s sixth president, and I extend my sincere gratitude to the Board of Trustees, the search committee, and the entire ICC community for this opportunity to serve,” Rolle said in a news release. “ICC is a thriving college with deep community roots and a proud record of student success. I look forward to working alongside faculty, staff, students, and community partners to advance student learning, expand life outcomes, and continue driving innovation and opportunity throughout the region.”

* Tribune | Illinois big men rediscover their nastiness in advancing to the Sweet 16: ‘That’s a recipe to win for us’: Whether it was their size advantage against the lower-seeded teams or Underwood’s challenge in the days after, the Illini, particularly their big men, showed the nastiness is still there. “I think we’ve had them,” Underwood said. “I think they’re maybe just a little refocused on the importance of being that. And that’s going to have to continue throughout.” The Illini have bigger challenges ahead against second-seeded Houston in the Sweet 16 in Houston on Thursday.

*** National ***

* The Atlantic | How the Midwest Became the Place to Move: Particularly attractive are towns that are near a big city but have much smaller price tags. Take Rockford, the most popular housing market from the Zillow report. Although it’s within easy driving distance of Chicago, the average home value is about $170,000, to Chicago’s $300,000. A hybrid worker could conceivably work from Chicago a day or two a week while paying much less for a house than if they lived in the city. The same goes for Milwaukee, which is also an hour and a half from Chicago. As more people have moved there, midwestern home values have also risen: Rockford’s home prices are up nearly 10 percent year over year, compared with 3.9 percent in 2020, for example. But because they started at a much lower price point, these homes still seem affordable compared with houses in, say, Miami or Austin.