Commerce nominee Penny Pritzker, a businesswoman, philanthropist and Hyatt hotel heiress, is Obama's final pick to fill vacancies among Cabinet secretaries in his second term. The Commerce post has been vacant since last summer.
An Illinois House committee approved a measure Wednesday that would change how the state pays for its severely underfunded pension systems. But the bill could face a harder vote in the state Senate.
Planned Parenthood officials say they anticipate a court challenge to a bill signed into law by Indiana Gov. Mike Pence that tightens the state's regulations on distribution of the abortion pill.
About a thousand people marched through Chicago's streets and attended a rally Wednesday in what has become an annual cry for changing the nation's immigration laws.
The Illinois House Personnel and Pensions Committee passed Speaker Michael Madigan's plan 9-1 Wednesday. It will move to the floor for a vote and needs Senate approval too.
