2019 session

2019 legislative session marked by last-minute push on abortion, marijuana, gambling expansion, statewide construction program

2019 legislative session marked by last-minute push on abortion, marijuana, gambling expansion, statewide construction program

Jun 4, 2019

In the final days of the 2019 legislative session, Illinois lawmakers approved legislation making abortion a fundamental right, legalizing marijuana for recreational use, switching the state's income tax from a flat rate to a graduated rate and to be put before voters in November 2020, expanding gambling with up to six new casinos that include a site in Chicago, legalizing sports betting, doubling the gas tax, hiking annual license plate fees by 50 percent, and increasing cigarette taxes by a dollar a pack. Earlier in the year, legislators OK'd a measure to increase the state's minimum wage to $15 by 2025.