State Senator Jason Barickman

Former Congressman Tim Johnson has died. He was known as a quirky, sometimes caustic, and always energetic public servant. Johnson never lost an election. He represented Bloomington-Normal in Congress for 12 years in an older version of the 13th District before deciding not to run again in 2012

State Sen. Jason Barickman said early in the spring legislative session he expected very little productivity coming out of it. And now Barickman said his expectations have been fulfilled.

The state agency that runs Illinois prisons said it wants to cut the inmate capacity at the Pontiac Correctional Center by more than half. That comes as the aging facility in Livingston County has infrastructure needs and as the overall state prisoner population is falling.

State lawmakers are going public with concerns about the future of the prison in Pontiac and another in Vandalia in southern Illinois.

Even though this is an election year and big controversial issues are unlikely to reach passage in Springfield, there are opportunities to get things done in the state legislature. Bloomington-Normal Republican State Sen. Jason Barickman said those tend to be measures on smaller things affecting people in his district.

A Bloomington state senator is pushing back against former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's view that Illinois will not be a top-tier state next year for funding in the Republican races for governor and U.S. Senate.

Illinois State University will get $4.2 million to improve science lab safety. The Capital Development Board has released the money for fume hood exhaust…

Now that voters have rejected the income tax amendment to the State Constitution to create a progressive tax structure, Illinois faces hard choices to…

A Republican state senator from Bloomington said Tuesday that suburban Chicago candidates need to localize their elections.Jason Barickman said GOP…

Illinois Senate Republicans have introduced a package of ethics reform legislation to make lawmaker corruption easier to investigate, but it's unclear how…