Illinois Quick Hits: Pritzker signs three youth-oriented bills
(The Center Square) – Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed three bills he says will keep Illinois children from falling through the cracks in systems that are meant to support them.
Senate Bill 3196 requires the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services to consult with the Statewide Youth Advisory Board to develop transition planning rules for youth aging out of foster care.
Senate Bill 3510 strengthens child abuse investigation protocols and expands data sharing amongst law enforcement and medical professionals.
House Bill 4534 reinforces professional boundaries between educators and students, increases transparency regarding school misconduct policies and defines grooming as a form of abuse. All three bills take effect Jan. 1
NEW CHICAGO CFO IS FORMER SENIOR DIRECTOR AT FITCH
Former Fitch Ratings Senior Director and Mid-Central Region Manager Ashlee Gabrysch is the city of Chicago’s new chief financial officer.
Mayor Brandon Johnson said Gabrysch brings an extraordinary depth of knowledge of Chicago’s finances and the fiscal challenges facing cities across Illinois and the country.
Fitch Ratings and another credit ratings agency, KBRA, downgraded Chicago’s general obligations bond rating in February of this year.
SPARTA MAN ACCUSED OF PROSTITUTION FOLLOWING ALLEGED VICTIM’S DEATH
A Sparta, Illinois man has been accused of of promoting and facilitating the prostitution of a woman found dead of an overdose in Missouri last year.
Jared Anders, 30, pleaded not guilty to charges of sex trafficking, use of interstate commerce with intent to distribute prostitution and use of interstate facilities to promote prostitution.
A motion seeking to have Anders held in jail until trial said the investigation began on May 22, 2025, when the victim was found dead of an overdose at a hotel in Edmundson, Missouri, near St. Louis Lambert International Airport.
WILD GAME, PHEASANT-HUNTING APPLICATION PERIOD OPENS
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources says applications are now being accepted for the 2026 upland game hunting permit lottery and the controlled pheasant hunting program.
The free upland game hunting permit program offers lottery-assigned, no-cost hunting opportunities for wild upland game, including bobwhite quail, ring-necked pheasants and cottontail rabbits.
The controlled pheasant hunting program is a fee-based program that offers opportunities to hunt pen-reared ring-necked pheasants released at participating state sites.
Slight Chance Showers And Thunderstorms
