Proposed Law Would Ban All Illinois Minors from Tanning Beds

Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno (R-Lemont) introduced legislation Friday that would prohibit teens 17 and younger from tanning in sunless tanning beds.

New legislation introduced Friday would prohibit all Illinois minors from using sunless tanning beds. Senate Bill 2244, introduced by Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno (R-Lemont), would ban Illinois minors age 17 and younger from sunless tanning. Currently, minors ages 14 to 17 are allowed to tan if they provide a parent's signature. Radogno said in a press release that lawmakers need to take more serious action to prevent the "potentially deadly effects" of tanning. “Just as we don’t give children the option to smoke, they shouldn’t be allowed to tan indoors—which medical studies show is a dangerous, and even deadly, practice,” Radogno said in a statement. “The light from indoor tanning beds is considered a Class 1 carcinogen, and …

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Illinois Senate Approves Gay Marriage: How Hinsdale, Burr Ridge Reps Voted

See how the state senators who represent Hinsdale, Clarendon Hills and Burr Ridge voted on the Illinois Senate's same-sex marriage bill.

The Illinois Senate approved legislation Thursday that would allow same-sex marriage in Illinois, according to the Chicago Tribune.  The Senate voted 34-21. The bill provides "equal opportunity for the same federal marriage benefits to same-sex couples that are currently awarded to other couples," according to a release from Illinois Sen. Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant.  Here's how Bolingbrook's state senators voted:  See how each member of the Illinois Senate voted.  The measure will now go to the Illinois House, where the fight to pass the bill is expected to be tougher, according to the Trib.  Gov. Pat Quinn is expected to sign the bill if it makes it to his desk.  Bertino-Tarrant had this comment:  "I believe in equal protection under the …

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We're No. 1 — Illinois Has Nation's Worst Credit Rating

Despite 2011's 67 percent state income tax hike — which took a week's pay away from you — the state's financial problems have worsened.

State's Fiscal Woes Expected to Mount as Fitch Puts Illinois on 'Negative Watch'

The next step might mean the state's credit rating is downgraded.

With the Illinois General Assembly failing to act on pension reform earlier this week, the State of Illinois’ bond rating took a hit on Friday as Fitch Ratings put Illinois’ bond obligations on negative watch. The next step could mean Fitch's downgrading of Illinois' credit rating, which would only add to the state’s financial woes. “The Rating Watch Negative reflects the ongoing inability of the state to address its large and growing unfunded pension liability, most recently through the failure to pass pension reform in the 'lame duck' portion of the 97th general assembly legislature that ended on Jan. 8,” Fitch Ratings said in a news release Friday. Illinois State Treasurer Dan Rutherford reacted Friday to the negative watch announcement…

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Madigan Seeks Full Appellate Court Review of Concealed Carry Ruling

No determination of when the 10-judge panel will decide whether to look at last year's decision.

Illinois' attorney general Lisa Madigan has asked the entire 7th Circuit Court of Appeals to review a December ruling that overturned the state's ban on the concealed carry of handguns in public. The Chicago Tribune reports that the move is aimed at challenging the decision by a three-judge panel of the court, which ruled 2-1 that the state's longtime ban violated the Second Amendment. If the court accepts the petition, the case would be reviewed by all 10 appellate judges. If the court rejects the petition, Madigan would have to decide whether to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. "In ruling that Illinois must allow individuals to carry ready-to-use firearms in public, the 7th Circuit Court’s decision goes beyond what the U.S. Supreme …

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