SNAP benefits will lapse on Saturday amid the ongoing government shutdown. Gov. JB Pritzker ordered $20 million for food banks to help, as food pantries are already seeing increasing demand.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has signed an executive order direct $20 million toward food banks to mitigate the impact of the anticipated stoppage of federal funding for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits on Nov. 1 due to the government shutdown.

Two million people in Illinois rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. With the governor signing an executive order, $20 million in state funds will be directed to help food banks.

Illinois may be the 12th state to legalize physician-assisted suicide for terminally ill patients if Gov. JB Pritzker signs the bill.

Democrats said moves would eventually lower electric bills in Illinois, while Republicans noted a surcharge on consumer bills would partly back battery installations.

Harvard Corporation Senior Fellow Penny S. Pritzker ’81 said she is not expecting federal funding to return to “where it has been,” warning of lasting financial headwinds in the wake of Trump administration policies in an interview with the Harvard Gazette published Thursday.

Wednesday's order offers support for Illinois farmers and their families. His order Thursday will direct the state to work with food banks and pantries, grocers, universities and others to mitigate cuts to the federal food assistance program.

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said a proposal to tax billionaires’ assets and enact other levies to help fund the Chicago region’s transit system won’t advance in its current form. The measure seeks to tax unrealized gains from residents with $1 billion or more in net assets,