Peter Hancock
Reporter | Capitol News IllinoisPeter Hancock joined the Capitol News Illinois team as a reporter in January 2019.
Before that, Hancock covered Kansas state government for much of the past two decades. For the previous 4 years, Hancock had been the statehouse reporter for the Lawrence Journal-World. He provided year-round daily coverage of the Kansas Statehouse, state government, appellate courts, elections and Kansas’ congressional delegation. He previously worked for 8 years as a statehouse reporter for Kansas Public Radio, and with the Kansas Health Policy Authority and the Kansas Education Policy Report.
“As a longtime veteran of statehouse reporting in Kansas, I know how challenging it is for individual newspapers to make that kind of commitment,” Hancock said. “Capitol News Illinois offers a unique opportunity for newspapers throughout the state to pool their resources and enable a small team of reporters to deliver critical news and information about state government to communities throughout the state.
“ I covered state politics and government in Kansas for the better part of the past 20 years, working in both print and broadcast journalism. I graduated from the University of Kansas with bachelor’s degrees in political science and secondary education. Although I was born and raised in the Kansas City area, I have deep family roots in central and southern Illinois, and so coming to Springfield is a bit like coming back home.”
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The governor intends to soften the effect of inflation on Illinoisans by suspending the grocery tax, increases in the motor fuel tax and providing a 5% property tax rebate to some owners. -
Gov. Pritzker said the state is bolstering its health care workforce by deploying more workers and allowing out-of-state health care providers to continue practicing in Illinois with expanded permissions to care for all patients. -
The session was originally scheduled to start this week with three meeting days, but leaders announced last week they will meet only one day this week and likely will cancel all in-person meetings the following week, Jan. 11-13. -
The minimum wage will increase to $12 an hour, FOID card renewals will be streamlined and public colleges and universities won’t be able to require standardized tests for admission. -
The panel announced during a status hearing Friday that it will go ahead with in-person oral arguments, even though two sets of plaintiffs had said earlier in the week that the case could be decided solely on the briefs and written testimony that have already been filed. -
The proposals were submitted as a part of the lawsuits challenging the state's new legislative district maps and would create more majority Latino and Black districts.
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“Masks, vaccines, and testing requirements are life-saving measures that keep our workplaces and communities safe," the governor said. -
But the three-judge federal court panel in Chicago declined to order a bipartisan redistricting commission be formed to redraw the maps. -
The vaccine mandate applies to state employees, contractors and vendors who work in congregate facilities and certain health care workers, school personnel and higher education employees. -
A lack of public input marked redistricting hearings. -
“Guidance is guidance. Guidance is not a rule. A rule is enforceable. A statute is enforceable,” one Republican representative said. -
The plan adopted Tuesday night was the third draft of a redistricting plan that had been introduced in the span of 48 hours. Voting rights advocates say they didn’t have enough time to review the new maps.
