Illinois Quick Hits: Illinois lags behind nation in roads and bridges

March 20, 2026/Newspaper Staff/

By The Center Square
The Center Square

(The Center Square) – Illinois’ roads and bridges continue to lag behind most of the country, ranking 37th overall in the Reason Foundation’s 29th Annual Highway Report.

The state dropped one spot from last year. Illinois improved its capital and bridge spending ranking from 45th to 35th and its maintenance spending from 24th to 18th, but still trails most neighboring states in overall performance.

MENTAL HEALTH LEAVE

A police officer who is also a state legislator has filed a bill to ensure police are guaranteed paid mental health leave following traumatic incidents encountered in the line of duty.

House Bill 4715 from state Rep. Patrick Sheehan would establish the statewide standard granting officers five days of paid mental health leave a year, confidentially and without retaliation.

PREWORK ACTIVITIES

The Illinois Supreme Court answered an appeals court question about whether the law regulating minimum wage has exclusions involving an employee being paid for prework activities.

The court Thursday said they “answer the question in the negative.” The case Johnson v. Amazon dealt with a warehouse employee being required to complete preshift COVID-19 screenings they were not compensated for.

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