(The Center Square) – The Illinois State Fair is expected to generate about $100 million of economic impact after taxpayers invested nearly $190 million for infrastructure and programming.

The fair is set to run from Thursday morning until Sunday, August 23 at the state fairgrounds in Springfield.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker said both the Illinois State Fair and the Du Quoin State Fair are important to the economy.

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(The Center Square) – State Rep. Abdelnasser Rashid, D-Bridgeview, issued a statement calling for legislation he introduced to bring further ethics reform to Springfield following the unanimous vote by the Legislative Ethics Commission to release an investigation report into former Rep. Harry Benton, who was accused of sexual harassment.

Rashid’s House Bill 3562 would bring the Legislative Inspector General’s authority in releasing publicly details of an investigation without the approval of lawmakers or a significant delay.

House Minority Leader Tony McCombie and House GOP members have continued to call for Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch to consider similar ethics reform proposals introduced by Republican members, while questioning if Welch followed ethics rules already in place.

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(The Center Square) – After reporting about a now-resigned state representative and allegations that Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch may have mishandled allegations against the lawmaker, new questions are being raised about the speaker’s own behavior, particularly toward women on staff.

The Chicago Tribune reported details last week from an unnamed former staffer of former Rep. Harry Benton, D-Plainfield, who accused the lawmaker of sexual harassment in 2023.

Questions arose as to why Welch didn’t take immediate action on the complaint made to his office until a second woman, this time a lobbyist, reached out with her own complaint about Benton earlier this year.

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(The Center Square) – An Illinois state representative faces multiple counts of wire fraud and providing a false statement, according to a federal indictment released Tuesday night.

State Rep. Carol Ammons, D-Urbana, was charged with eight counts of wire fraud surrounding an alleged kickback scheme involving campaign contributions. She was also charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice.

Her husband, Aaron Ammons, the Champaign County clerk of courts, also faces charges of conspiracy to obstruct justice and obstruction of evidence.

Neither Carol nor Aaron Ammons responded to The Center Square's request for comment.

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Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a $55.9 billion state budget for fiscal year 2027, with tens of millions of dollars included for non-governmental organizations.

The governor placed his signature on the new spending plan in Chicago on Tuesday, calling it his eighth straight balanced budget.

“This budget lowers costs for everyday Illinoisans and protects our state’s fiscal health and continues the economic progress we have worked so hard to build over the last seven-and-a-half years,” Pritzker said.

The revenue plan imposes new taxes on digital advertising, digital assets, fantasy sports and prediction contests, places new limits on income tax carryover deductions, creates a social media platform fee and raises environmental filing fees and the retail tire tax.

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