Illinois Public Media News

For crop farmers, winter is the offseason. But that doesn’t mean they take the winter off. It’s meeting season — going to endless seminars or having discussions about better ways to farm — and planning season.

For the first time in more than two decades, the Illinois House of Representatives has a new majority leader. And the appointment is breaking new ground.

Today on the 21st: Yesterday, your representatives convened in Springfield to take their oaths of office. And on Monday, Governor Pritzker will take a similar oath. But what will they do as your elected officials? And what are different stakeholders in the process thinking? We speak with Illinois Public Radio statehouse reporter Brian Mackey and WTTW Politics reporter Amanda Vinicky. Plus, a new study finds that fake news is shared most by older Americans. We speak with someone very interested in this topic, journalism professor Nikki Usher. Also, an Illinois researcher shares how her work with natural disasters, like Hurricane Maria, is now being used to help children overcome other trauma.

Gov.-elect J.B. Pritzker takes office next week on the heels of the most decisive election victory in a generation. And he’ll be working to pass his agenda through the biggest Democratic majorities in the General Assembly since the 1960s.

The Illinois General Assembly began a new legislative session Wednesday—with both new and familiar faces. Though the legislative leaders remain the same, making what was old “new” again,  Democrats have expanded their veto-proof majority, known as a “supermajority."