* Crain’s…

The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency proposed a rule protecting federally chartered banks from the controversial swipe fee law set for implementation in Illinois this summer.

But Illinois-chartered banks remain beholden to the Illinois Interchange Fee Prohibition Act, which excludes credit card fees from the tax and tip portion of a bill. The banking industry has been fighting the law, set to take effect on July 1, since it was passed nearly two years ago and is using the OCC’s proposal to shore up support for its effort. […]

But retailers who have supported the law said the OCC’s actions fly in the face of President Donald Trump’s desire to limit fees charged by the credit card companies.

“The president himself has recognized the harm these fees do to affordability, and an agency working under his control should not be taking the opposite position,” Doug Kantor, general counsel for the National Association of Convenience Stores, said in a statement. “The OCC and the administration should be standing up for small business and consumers rather than taking the side of Wall Street banks.”

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Sponsored by Phrma

States should avoid repeating the IRA’s price‑setting mistakes

In case you missed it: Early evidence from the federal Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is offering one of the clearest warnings yet about the real-world consequences of government price-setting on prescription drugs.

As states debate new proposals to regulate drug prices, such as prescription drug affordability boards or referencing federal or foreign pricing, data from the IRA shows government price-setting is failing to deliver on its promises to patients while creating new risks to innovation, access, and affordability.

As we break down in a new PhRMA blog post, the evidence raises serious questions about whether these policies are helping patients, or whether they’re narrowly focused on list prices while ignoring the real drivers of patient costs, like insurance design, PBM practices, and hospital markups. Despite the promises made to patients, roughly 60% of Medicare Part D beneficiaries in coinsurance plans are projected to pay more for six of the medicines Medicare set prices for in 2026, while funding for early-stage small molecule research has dropped nearly 70% and new clinical trials for these medicines are down roughly 25%.

Bottom line: The IRA’s early track record underscores why states should learn from Washington’s missteps, not repeat them, and instead pursue more effective tools like sharing PBM-negotiated savings with patients at the pharmacy counter to deliver real affordability without jeopardizing access, competition, or innovation.

Read the full blog here: States should avoid repeating the IRA’s price-setting mistakes

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*** Statehouse News ***

* CNN | ‘This country needs to bring peace to its politics’: Gov. Pritzker condemns rise in political violence after WHCD shooting : Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker joins Manu Raju on combating political violence in America after a shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. “Look, it’s the job of all of us in leadership to push back on this idea that political violence is acceptable. It is not acceptable,” he says.

* Center Square | AG candidate seeks to reform SAFE-T Act: Republican Illinois Attorney General candidate Bob Fioretti announced the creation of a new Illinois Public Safety & Accountability Commission, led by retired Riverside Police Chief Thomas Weitzel. One issue Fioretti sees with current law is how it handles electronic monitored release of inmates, which has been widely expanded since the 2023 law eliminating cash bail statewide. He said the system is not working properly, and it was designed to allow low-level offenders to remain at home, instead of using taxpayer funds to keep them incarcerated full time.

* WAND | IDNR awards 108 biodiversity field trip grants to IL state parks, historic sites, museums: The grant program allows Illinois teachers to apply for funds to take students on a field trip to study Illinois’ natural resources. Learning activities must directly relate to the school’s curriculum. Funding covers expenses like transportation and substitute teachers. IDNR awarded more than $101,000 for 108 field trip grants. 34 different Illinois counties got grants this year.

* Daily Herald | Five things to know about NITA — Illinois’ new transit agency: “It’s definitely an exciting time as we begin the work of re-imagining our regional transit system,” DuPage County Board Chair Deb Conroy said. “I’m more than pleased to be part of this process.” So far, county chairs have met with the former chief of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority, who shared lessons learned from a similar transformation, Conroy said. “I’m now working with staff to move through our process as we consider appointments to the newly constituted service boards and NITA,” she said.

*** Chicago ***

* WTTW | Johnson Taps Former Federal Prosecutor Brought in to Clean Up After ComEd Scandal as Chicago’s Inspector General: Glockner was one of the three finalists picked by a five-member search committee charged with selecting the city’s sixth inspector general. “The Office of the Inspector General plays a vital role in ensuring the integrity and efficiency of city government for the benefit of all Chicago residents,” Glockner said, adding that he was “grateful” to be nominated to serve as the city’s watchdog. Glockner worked for Exelon, ComEd’s parent company, from March 2020 until December 2025, and oversaw the firm’s efforts to comply with a deferred prosecution agreement with federal prosecutors that resulted from the scandal that sent former House Speaker Michael Madigan to prison after being convicted of 10 charges of bribery, conspiracy and wire fraud. Madigan is appealing his conviction

* Sun-Times | Man admits opening fire near border agents during Operation Midway Blitz: There were no reports of anyone hit by gunfire in the Nov. 8 incident. Still, federal prosecutors in Chicago now have their second guilty plea for a nonimmigration crime tied to Operation Midway Blitz. The feds charged 32 known defendants with such crimes. Twenty of them have been cleared, and four others are on track to have their cases dismissed.

* Tribune | Man allegedly hid gun under a blanket before weekend hospital shooting of two police officers: That order to detain Talley extended to other warrants out for Talley. One was for an alleged a lapse in his pretrial electronic monitoring at the time of the alleged crime, Cook County court records show. Judge John F. Lyke had issued a warrant for Talley’s arrest March 11 while he was on pretrial release for a previous armed robbery case, according to court records. That warrant was still active as of Sunday evening.

* Crain’s | Water Tower Place owner launching $170 million makeover of Mag Mile mall: It’s a major capital investment on North Michigan Avenue as the retail corridor regains momentum after years of challenges with vacancy, and one that comes about four years after the mall changed hands via a deed in lieu of foreclosure. “It’s an expression of confidence, and the market has come to us,” said Stone Real Estate founder and principal David Stone, who is leading the property’s retail leasing efforts.

* Axios | Fox 32 political reporter Paris Schutz is leaving: His departure comes as local newsrooms continue to shift. NBC Chicago hired sports anchor Lou Cannelis from Fox 32 earlier this year and WGN-TV laid off several personalities, including Dean Richards, in February. It’s unclear what Schutz’s next career move will be. Sources say he’s expected to remain in broadcast television.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* PJ Star | German manufacturer to close Illinois plant and move production overseas: A German manufacturing company is closing an Illinois facility and will lay off 172 workers this fall. Gerresheimer Glass Inc. is slated to close its facility in Chicago Heights this year, with the layoffs happening on Sept. 30, according to a notice sent to the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity on April 13. […] A Gerresheimer spokesperson said the closure of the Chicago Heights facility is aimed at reducing costs and improving performance as part of its global transformation program. The company intends to transfer business from the Chicago Heights plant to three glass plants in Italy and India, according to a news release.

* Chicago Reader | On a Saturday in April, families of the missing came to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office with binders, DNA swabs, and 30 years of questions: About ten families attended the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office’s sixth Missing Persons Day event last Saturday, April 18, where a mix of medical examiner personnel, law enforcement, and the family and friends of missing people shared DNA swabs, medical records, and other information in an effort to identify missing and unidentified people. Representatives from the medical examiner’s office, the Chicago Police Department (CPD), the Bureau of Detectives, and the Cook County Sheriff’s Office attended. The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, or NamUs, also had representatives available to help families submit their loved ones’ information to the database.

* Daily Southtown | Cook County collects online feedback on Oak Forest Hospital site: The 150-acre, county-owned property at 159th Street and Cicero Avenue, close to Oak Forest’s Metra stop, is in the midst of a multiyear demolition project planned to take until 2028. In addition to adjoining Oak Forest, the property is also close to Midlothian, Markham, Tinley Park and Country Club Hills. The survey is targeted at nearby residents, business owners and people who commute through the area.

* Naperville Sun | Naperville Park Board ready to OK $9.58 million contract for Frontier activity center: Plans are moving forward on the Frontier Sports Complex activity center, with a $9.58 million construction management contract expected to be approved by the Naperville Park Board at its next meeting. Wight & Co. has been recommended by staff to oversee construction of the $119.75 million building that will house an eight-lane lap pool, a warm-water therapy pool, an activity pool with water slide, play features and lap lanes, gymnasiums, exercise space, and a walking and jogging track. Funding for the south side project was approved by voters in a March election referendum.

*** Downstate ***

* Center Square | Deferred maintenance blamed in I-64 bridge hole: According to Paul Wappel, a public information officer with the Illinois Department of Transportation, the agency first became aware of the issue April 17. “Concrete has been poured so the temporary steel plate is no longer there,” Wappel said in an email. “We hope to have this section open midweek, weather permitting.” Wappel added that the bridge’s main structural components were not considered deficient.

* BND | 20 St. Clair County sirens failed to sound before March tornado; review underway: St. Clair County EMA Director Herb Simmons said 20 sirens in the southern part of the county did not sound when that area was under a tornado warning, which started at 5:19 p.m. on March 15. It was about half an hour before a tornado touched down in New Athens at 5:47 p.m. […] Manually activating the individual sirens in the affected areas also did not work. So St. Clair County EMA leaders decided to sound all 122 sirens across the county, which finally activated the malfunctioning ones.

* Illinois Times | EMT takes plea deal: “Families feel they have to accept something rather than risk getting nothing”: Peter J. Cadigan, 53, a former emergency medical technician with LifeStar Ambulance, pleaded guilty April 24 to involuntary manslaughter in Sangamon County court, just weeks before his scheduled trial. He had originally been charged with first-degree murder in connection with Moore’s Dec. 18, 2022 death. Cadigan now faces a sentence ranging from probation to five years in prison, with sentencing set for June 23 before Judge Robin Schmidt. Moore died after being transported face down on a gurney — a position medical experts say can restrict breathing. A forensic pathologist ruled the cause of death as compression and positional asphyxia.

* WREX | Family Peace Center in Rockford receives $700K grant: According to the press release, the grant will fund enhanced co-location of key partners at the center. The Winnebago County State’s Attorney’s Office will place a full-time victim services provider at the facility to work directly with survivors involved in criminal cases, providing case updates, court date information, and legal guidance. The Winnebago County Probation Department will add a part-time probation officer to strengthen coordination for individuals involved in the justice system.

* WAND | Urbana going on a ‘road diet’ on North Lincoln Avenue: Urbana will be testing a new “road diet” on North Lincoln Avenue. The goal is to make the corridor safer for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians. The city has restriped a stretch between King Park and I-74, reducing traffic to one lane each way and added a center turn lane.

*** National ***

* Crain’s | United CEO lays out the case for the American deal that never was: “I was hoping to pitch that story to American, but they declined to engage and instead responded by publicly closing the door. And without a willing partner, something this big simply can’t get done. . . .While our pursuit of talks with American have ended, our mission to build the greatest airline in the history of aviation at United is well underway.”

* Bloomberg | Lumen CEO Says AI Bots Are Taking Over the Internet: Over half of the planet’s internet traffic is now made up of AI bots, according to Kate Johnson, chief executive officer of enterprise network giant Lumen Technologies Inc., forcing executives across sectors to rethink how their companies handle everything from customer-service requests to hidden network threats. On Monday, Johnson penned an open letter to fellow company heads, warning that they must prepare for the seismic shift in AI-driven traffic patterns at volumes and speeds that are harder to predict.

* NYT | Thanks to GLP-1s, Obesity Experts Are Trying to Understand ‘Food Noise’: Researchers studying and developing drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro and Zepbound analyzed doses, side effects, weight loss and improvements in conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and sleep apnea. Incessant thoughts about food and internal dialogues about what to eat, what not to eat, when to eat, how to resist eating — these were not on the research agenda. But if the obesity-drug researchers weren’t talking about food noise, people taking GLP-1s had a lot to say about it. For as long as they could remember, users of the drugs said, they had been plagued by food noise. But they thought it was just a normal part of life. They thought everyone had it.