Illinois Public Media News

Illinois Governor J-B Pritzker is starting to act on the flurry of bills sent to his desk in the wake of this year’s spring legislative session. Among the first that he’s signed requires schools to provide a minimum of five hours of learning time.

We'll hear the story of why 200 books were removed by staff from a prison library in Central Illinois. Plus, when we say American soil, we think that means the farms are owned by Americans, right? It turns out that about 30 million acres of farmland in the US are foreign-owned. And, saving for retirement is a challenge, that’s part of the reason one in five Americans have no retirement savings at all. We’ll hear from one Illinois economist about how to save smarter.

For the second year in a row, Urbana's budget plan includes spending cuts meant to address a structural deficit. They'll be part of the discussion on Monday June 10 at 7 PM, when the Urbana City Council holds a public hearing on the budget proposal, followed by a discussion and vote in its Committee of the Whole meeting (a final city council vote is scheduled for June 17). But what's a structural deficit?

Illinoisans are likely to have to pay more sales tax when shopping online after state lawmakers made two big changes to tax rules. State tax collections are expected to increase by $288 million this year.

The Autism Program on the University of Illinois Urbana campus is a statewide network of agencies that provides resources and services for children and adults with autism. Illinois Public Media spoke with the program’s director, Linda Tortorelli, about the challenges people with autism face living in central Illinois and how The Autism Program aims to help.