SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – Taxpayers in Illinois will awaken New Year’s Day with nearly 300 new laws on the books. They represent resolutions by the General Assembly and Gov. J.B. Pritzker to impose higher standards of ethics on lawmakers, to get big government to back off regulating kids’ lemonade stands and to study ways to shore up weakened local journalism. One piece of a wide-ranging criminal justice overhaul takes effect – implementing a statewide police certification and decertification program. The minimum wage increases by $1 to $12 an hour, schools may not regulate ethnic hairstyles and Juneteenth becomes a state holiday.
