On their final episode of the Under the Dome Podcast the State Journal-Register’s Bernard Schoenburg and Doug Finke take a walk down memory lane to reminisce over their 70 years of combined coverage of Illinois politics for the State Journal-Register.  

On this week’s episode of the Under the Dome Podcast the State Journal-Register’s Bernard Schoenburg and Doug Finke work remotely to bring you the latest updates from the Illinois Statehouse and Illinois' response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This week they break down the indictment of Michael McClain, one of Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s oldest and most trusted confidants, along with three others that are charged with orchestrating an elaborate bribery scheme with utility giant Commonwealth Edison. They also take a look at what this all means for his tenure as speaker as more House Democrats say that can't support Madigan for another term as speaker.

On this week’s episode of the Under the Dome Podcast the State Journal-Register’s Bernard Schoenburg and Doug Finke work remotely to bring you the latest updates from the Illinois Statehouse and Illinois' response to the COVID-19 pandemic. On this week's episode they break down the cancellation of the fall veto session and what it means for the Illinois Legislature as COVID-19 spreads across the state. 

On this week’s episode of the Under the Dome Podcast the State Journal-Register’s Bernard Schoenburg and Doug Finke work remotely to bring you the latest updates from the Illinois Statehouse and Illinois' response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Doug and Bernie have survived election night and are breaking down the results and what it all means for Illinois. The results have top Illinois Democrats, including Gov. JB Pritzker, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin and U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, saying that the party should consider replacing House Speaker Michael Madigan as chair of the Democratic Party of Illinois. They also dive into Gov. Pritzker saying that “deep and painful cuts” are coming to the Illinois budget now that his plan to bring a graduated income tax to the state has failed.

On this week’s episode of the Under the Dome Podcast the State Journal-Register’s Bernard Schoenburg and Doug Finke work remotely to bring you the latest updates from the Illinois Statehouse and Illinois' response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This week they discuss the Illinois High School Association rejecting Gov. JB Prtizker's order to move high school basketball to the Spring after the sport was reclassified as high risk for COVID-19 transmission. They also discuss that in the same week nine of the 11 regions in Illinois will have COVID-19 mitigation measures put in place as the state smashed the previous record for the number of new cases in a 24-hour period with 6,363 cases as the virus surges across the state. 

On this week’s episode of the Under the Dome Podcast the State Journal-Register’s Bernard Schoenburg and Doug Finke work remotely to bring you the latest updates from the Illinois Statehouse and Illinois' response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This week they discuss the rising numbers of COVID-19 cases across all of Illinois and mitigations being put in place by Gov. J.B. Pritzker in four regions in the state. Gov. Pritzker has also said the Illinois State Police have been alerted to be on patrol in areas with coronavirus mitigation efforts in place. They also dive into election messages heating up as political advertisements are bombarding the airwaves and mailboxes. 

On this week’s episode of the Under the Dome Podcast the State Journal-Register’s Bernard Schoenburg and Doug Finke work remotely to bring you the latest updates from the Illinois Statehouse and Illinois' response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This week they discuss Sangamon County Circuit Judge Raylene Grishow giving attorneys until Oct. 23 to submit final paperwork that could be used in her decision on arguments for three issues, the biggest being whether lawsuits filed in six counties challenging Pritzker’s authority to issue stay at home orders and other measures to fight the coronavirus pandemic should be dismissed. They also look at the issue of the graduated income tax amendment on the ballot and how that factors into the size of the state's workforce in arguments for or against the change in tax rates. 

On this week’s episode of the Under the Dome Podcast the State Journal-Register’s Bernard Schoenburg and Doug Finke work remotely to bring you the latest updates from the Illinois Statehouse and Illinois' response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This week they discuss the announcement by Rep. Emanuel “Chris" Welch, D-Hillside, delaying the hearings into House Speaker Michael Madigan until after the November election to prevent the committee from being used “as a stage for political theater.” They dive into the continuing battle for the graduated income tax amendment including this week's canceled press conference by State Treasurer Michael Frerichs to "address misinformation" about taxing retirement income. 

On this week’s episode of the Under the Dome Podcast the State Journal-Register’s Bernard Schoenburg and Doug Finke work remotely to bring you the latest updates from the Illinois Statehouse and Illinois' response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This week they discuss the House committee investigating Speaker Michael Madigan showing strong partisan divisions after arguing over whether House Republican Leader Jim Durkin of Western Springs would be allowed to give an opening statement or question witnesses as it investigates Madigan's role in the bribery scandal involving Commonwealth Edison. They also discuss the announcement from Rep. Stephanie Kifowit that she will challenge Speaker Madigan for leadership of the chamber, trying to unseat the longest serving speaker in the history of the country.

On this week’s episode of the Under the Dome Podcast the State Journal-Register’s Bernard Schoenburg and Doug Finke work remotely to bring you the latest updates from the Illinois Statehouse and Illinois' response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This week they discuss Gov. Pritzker standing firm on the decision to delay fall sports that are high risk for COVID-19 to the spring despite rallies of supporters in Chicago and Springfield. They also take a look at where the state stands financially as state agencies have been ordered to identify steep budget cuts that can be made if Congress fails to come through with more COVID-19 relief money.

On this week’s episode of the Under the Dome Podcast the State Journal-Register’s Bernard Schoenburg and Doug Finke work remotely to bring you the latest updates from the Illinois Statehouse and Illinois' response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This week they take a look at the new coronavirus mitigation rules put into effect for Kankakee and Will counties by Gov. Pritzker and the controversy over why they were stricter than those put in place for the Metro East area. They also look into the conflict over prisoners with COVID-19 and the State's policy of not allowing them to be transferred from county facilities to state facilities while infected. 

On this week’s episode of the Under the Dome Podcast the State Journal-Register’s Bernard Schoenburg and Doug Finke work remotely to bring you the latest updates from the Illinois Statehouse and Illinois' response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This week they reminisce about covering former Gov. James R. Thompson, the state's longest serving governor from 1977 to 1991, who passed away last Friday. They also take a look at the decision of the board of the Office of the Architect of the Capitol to remove the statues of Stephen Douglas and Pierre Menard from the Illinois Capitol grounds and what that means for the other artwork and statues inside the Capitol. 

On this week’s episode of the Under the Dome Podcast the State Journal-Register’s Bernard Schoenburg and Doug Finke work remotely to bring you the latest updates from the Illinois Statehouse and Illinois' response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This week they take a look at Democratic lawmakers in the House and Senate proposing a nine-bill package of ethics legislation that they want the General Assembly to take up during the veto session later this year. They also break down Gov. Pritzker announcing new emergency rules for businesses to enforce rules requiring face coverings and limiting crowd sizes or they could face fines of up to $2,500 if they fail to do so. 

On this week’s episode of the Under the Dome Podcast the State Journal-Register’s Bernard Schoenburg and Doug Finke work remotely to bring you the latest updates from the Illinois Statehouse and Illinois' response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This week they break down Gov. JB Pritzker traveling across the state to sound the alarm on the resurgence of COVID-19 cases including launching a $5 million mask awareness campaign.

On this week’s episode of the Under the Dome Podcast the State Journal-Register’s Bernard Schoenburg and Doug Finke work remotely to bring you the latest updates from the Illinois Statehouse and Illinois' response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This week they break down Gov. JB Pritzker announcing the state will be "restricting youth and adult recreational organized sports," including changes to high school based sports. They also discuss members of the Illinois General Assembly calling for Illinois Speaker of the House Michael Madigan to resign in the wake of the alleged bribery scheme by ComEd.

On this week’s episode of the Under the Dome Podcast the State Journal-Register’s Bernard Schoenburg and Doug Finke work remotely to bring you the latest updates from the Illinois Statehouse and Illinois' response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This week they dive into federal prosecutors in Chicago charging utility giant Commonweath Edison with bribery. They allege that the utility awarded jobs and contracts to associates of a top state official, that was identified as Illinois Speaker of the House Michael Madigan, “with intent to influence and reward” the official.

On this week’s episode of the Under the Dome Podcast the State Journal-Register’s Bernard Schoenburg and Doug Finke work remotely to bring you the latest updates from the Illinois Statehouse and Illinois' response to the COVID-19 pandemic. On this episode they breakdown Gov. Pritzker's announcement that Illinois will be divided into 11 regions rather than the four in the original Restore Illinois plan so that mitigation efforts can be focused on areas where the virus is spreading the fastest.

On this week’s episode of the Under the Dome Podcast the State Journal-Register’s Bernard Schoenburg and Doug Finke work remotely to bring you the latest updates from the Illinois Statehouse and Illinois' response to the COVID-19 pandemic. On this episode they dive into Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan calling for the removal of statues and portraits of the 19th century U.S. Senator Stephen A. Douglas from the Statehouse, they discuss Kristin Richards, the current Chief of Staff to the Senate President, being named the new director of the Illinois Department of Employment Security and lastly they dive into the Vote No on the Progressive Tax Coalition an organization representing small businesses and farmers that added their voices to the fight to defeat Gov. JB Pritzker’s plan to bring a progressive income tax to the state.

On this week’s episode of the Under the Dome podcast the State Journal-Register’s Bernard Schoenburg and Doug Finke work remotely to bring you the latest updates on Illinois' response to the COVID-19 pandemic. On this episode they breakdown the guidelines announced by Gov. JB Pritzker for schools resuming operations in the fall, particularly K-12 schools, where the emphasis will be on once again bringing students into the same space as their teachers, but schools are being advised to prepare for a return to remote learning if there are signs COVID-19 is again surging in the state.

On this week’s episode of the Under the Dome podcast the State Journal-Register’s Bernard Schoenburg and Doug Finke work remotely to bring you the latest updates on Illinois' response to the COVID-19 pandemic. On this week's episode they breakdown the latest announcement that the Illinois State Fair and the DuQuoin State Fair have been canceled for 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic and what that means economically for the communities that host the events. They also look at the hotel industry’s push for larger gatherings in the next phase of reopening as well as news that the Bank of Springfield Center employee who was thought to have COVID-19 during the special session of the Illinois House of Representatives actually tested negative for the virus.

On this week’s episode of the Under the Dome podcast the State Journal-Register’s Bernard Schoenburg and Doug Finke work remotely to bring you the latest updates on Illinois' response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This week they talk about Gov. Pritzker signing the $43B Illinois budget which includes borrowing $5 billion from from a federal reserve program designed to help states during the pandemic and Pritzker calls for police accountability, more community investment at a roundtable in Springfield while visiting young organizers of Black Lives Matter protests.

On this week’s episode of the Under the Dome podcast the State Journal-Register’s Bernard Schoenburg and Doug Finke work remotely to bring you the latest updates on Illinois' response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This week they they talk about Gov. JB Pritzker's response to the protests throughout the state in response to the death of George Floyd by law enforcement and they also try break down what the Illinois General Assembly managed to pass in the budget while they were in session during the COVID-19 pandemic.

On this week’s episode of the Under the Dome podcast the State Journal-Register’s Bernard Schoenburg and Doug Finke work remotely to bring you the latest updates on Illinois' response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This week they talk about how Gov. JB Pritzker and his Chicago office staff will be working from home after a senior staff member in the governor’s office tested positive for COVID-19 and they also break down what it means economically for Springfield after the governor announced that it was 'highly unlikely' that the Illinois State Fair would happen this year.

On this week’s episode of the Under the Dome podcast the State Journal-Register’s Bernard Schoenburg and Doug Finke work remotely to bring you the latest updates on Illinois' response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This week they breakdown Gov. JB Pritzker's five-phase regional plan to reopen the state for business, education and recreational activities.

On this week’s episode of the Under the Dome Podcast the State Journal-Register’s Bernard Schoenburg and Doug Finke work remotely to bring you the latest updates on Illinois' response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This week they the dive into the ruling from Clay County Circuit Court Judge Michael McHaney issuing a temporary injunction allowing Illinois State Rep. Darren Bailey, and only Bailey, to ignore the governor’s stay-at-home order and Gov. Pritzker's response to the ruling. The also take a look at the Workers' Compensation Commission repealing the emergency COVID-19 rule after a Sangamon County judge granted a temporary restraining order against the new rule that would have made benefits available to essential employees who contracted COVID-19 without having to prove the illness was contracted at the workplace. 

On this week’s episode of the Under the Dome podcast the State Journal-Register’s Bernard Schoenburg and Doug Finke work remotely to bring you the latest updates on Illinois' response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This week they discuss Gov. JB Pritzker considering a regional approach to reopening the state during the pandemic while weighing factors like hospital capacity in the area and Illinois Senate President Don Harmon sends a letter to Illinois' Congressional Delegation requesting $41 billion to help the state recover from the damage done to Illinois' economy during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

On this week’s episode of the Under the Dome podcast the State Journal-Register’s Bernard Schoenburg and Doug Finke work remotely to bring you the latest updates on Illinois' response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This week they take a look at Gov. Pritzker's announcement that the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission has approved new rules that will provide automatic workers’ compensation benefits to some essential workers, House minority leader Jim Durkin spoke on behalf of lawmakers receiving daily constituent calls about difficulties applying for unemployment benefits and lastly Comptroller Susana Mendoza issued a list of what the state has been spending on the COVID-19 pandemic that currently totals $174 million.  

On this week’s episode of the Under the Dome podcast the State Journal-Register’s Bernard Schoenburg and Doug Finke work remotely to bring you the latest updates on Illinois' response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This week they dive into Gov. Pritzker's announcement that the state has acquired the former Vibra Hospital for an alternative COVID-19 care facility, Pritzker scoffs at the suggestion that the best way to fight the virus is to let people contract it and build up a herd immunity and lastly they jump into what the legislature might be able to accomplish and when they might actually come back in for session. 

On this week’s episode of the Under the Dome podcast the State Journal-Register’s Bernard Schoenburg and Doug Finke work remotely to bring you the latest updates on Illinois' response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This week they dive into Gov. Pritzker extending the stay at home order to the end of April, he acknowledges his budget proposal is out the window at this point and the projected spending plan will need revisions, what will legislators focus on when they are able to come back to the Statehouse including the budget and ethics reforms, a US bankruptcy judge rules against Bill Brady and his brothers and lastly how is the COVID-19 pandemic going to effect the Census in 2020.</

On this week’s episode of the Under the Dome podcast the State Journal-Register’s Bernard Schoenburg and Doug Finke work remotely to bring you the latest updates on Illinois' response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This week they dive in to the latest numbers for Illinois cases of COVID-19,  Gov. Prtizker's announcement that the state is extending the income tax filing and payment deadline and a new package of emergency assistance programs to benefit small businesses in need, totaling more than $90 million. 

On this week’s episode of the Under the Dome podcast the State Journal-Register’s Bernard Schoenburg and Doug Finke work remotely to bring you the latest updates on Illinois' response to the COVID-19 pandemic. They dive into how Gov. Pritzker and the state have responded to the crisis as well as how this is effecting the operations of state government and what this means fiscally for the state's budget with the possible losses in sales tax revenue. Lastly, they dive into the results from the Illinois Primary Election, which at this point feels like it was a year ago. 

On this week’s episode of the Under the Dome podcast the State Journal-Register’s Bernard Schoenburg and Doug Finke discuss the ongoing efforts to combat the coronavirus across Illinois; Rep. Tim Butler and Rep. Avery Bourne are calling for an outside audit and suspension of the state’s automatic voter registration program, following another system glitch; four Illinois sheriffs have filed suit in federal court to overturn the state’s Trust Act they believe interferes with law enforcement’s ability to deal with undocumented immigrants.

On this week’s episode of the Under the Dome podcast the State Journal-Register’s Bernard Schoenburg and Doug Finke discuss the upcoming Illinois primary in the wake of Super Tuesday, the Illinois House GOP believes efforts to enact property tax relief have stalled in the General Assembly, how Illinois and Gov. Pritzker are responding to the novel coronavirus with public health officials in Illinois reporting that a fifth person in the state has been infected and lastly the Illinois Municipal League voices their concerns over Gov. Pritzker's plan to hold 5% of income tax revenues for local governments in reserve in case the graduated income tax isn't approved by voters in November.

On this week’s episode of the Under the Dome podcast the State Journal-Register’s Bernard Schoenburg and Doug Finke discuss the results of an early poll showing which candidate is leading going into the Illinois primary, Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich skips a hearing dealing with his law license and what that means for his future practicing law, Illinois Sheriffs go the Statehouse to make their case about a new policy that they say "aids and abets" undocumented immigrants.

On this week’s episode of the Under the Dome podcast the State Journal-Register’s Bernard Schoenburg and Doug Finke get into Gov. JB Pritzker's budget address including a large portion of spending increases that could be reduced or outright disappear if voters don’t approve the graduated income tax proposal in November. They also touch on President Trump commuting the prison sentence of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

On this week’s episode of the Under the Dome podcast the State Journal-Register’s Bernard Schoenburg and Doug Finke discuss what to expect from Gov. JB Pritzker's upcoming budget address, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is scheduled to meet with Illinois House Republicans in regards to the tax structure for a Chicago casino, Illinois lawmakers push for a "Fair Maps" redistricting amendment, how the field for the primary election for the democratic presidential nominee is shaping up in Illinois and Illinois Supreme Court Justice and former Chicago Bears kicker Robert R. Thomas announces his retirement.

On this week’s episode of the Under the Dome podcast the State Journal-Register’s Bernard Schoenburg is solo as Doug Finke has the day off, so he breaks down the week that was in Illinois politics starting with Gov. JB Pritzker making the case that Illinois should take the spot as the nation's first primary election in the wake of vote-counting debacle around the Iowa caucuses. He also dives into the current legislative session with hearings being held on the problems with the automatic voter registration system and the announcement that the state logged $39.2 million of adult-use recreational marijuana sales in January.

On this week’s episode of the Under the Dome podcast the State Journal-Register’s Doug Finke and Bernard Schoenburg discuss the resignation of Illinois Director of Agriculture John Sullivan after it was revealed he had received the controversial 2012 email from former top lobbyist Mike McClain, who are the front runners going into Sunday's election for a new Illinois Senate President and why former U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, and former Republican member of Congress, says he will "absolutely not" vote for President Donald Trump in 2020.

On this week’s episode of the Under the Dome podcast the State Journal-Register’s Doug Finke and Bernard Schoenburg discuss the programming error the occurred in the Secretary of State’s office that inadvertently led to more than 500 possible non-U.S. citizens being registered to vote, Senator Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, was elected as the 39th president of the Illinois Senate on Sunday after hours of behind-the-scenes negotiations, Gov. JB Pritzker to sign bill capping insulin costs and his upcoming State of the State address. 

On this week’s episode of Under the Dome the State Journal-Register’s Doug Finke and Bernard Schoenburg discuss lawmakers from both parties calling for an investigation of a 2012 email exchange between a government insider and then-Gov. Pat Quinn’s staff regarding a possible cover-up of rape and other criminal activity, the draft report prepared by the property tax relief task force formed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, how the rollout for the sale of legal marijuana went in Illinois and where the current race for Senate President stands going into a vote on January 19th.

On the final episode of Under the Dome for 2019 the State Journal-Register’s Doug Finke and Bernard Schoenburg discus Gov. J.B. Pritzker signing the bill consolidating downstate police and fire pensions, the new laws, taxes and fees that are coming on to the books in 2020, the Food-A-Rama at the Illinois State Fairgrounds is getting a facelift and a new name thanks to a big donation and the results from the initial report on the structural integrity of the Capitol's dome are in. 

On this week’s episode of Under the Dome the State Journal-Register’s Doug Finke and Bernard Schoenburg discuss ethics at the Statehouse as House Republicans called on Gov. J.B. Pritzker to call a special session to address the issue, State Sen. Jason Plummer, R-Edwardsville, and Senate GOP Leader Bill Brady of Bloomington clash over ethics appointment, details on the new Illinois parking excise tax set to start Jan. 1st and how it involves parking around the Illinois State Fair and the display from The Satanic Temple returns to Capitol rotunda.

On this week’s episode of Under the Dome the State Journal-Register’s Doug Finke and Bernard Schoenburg discuss Illinois Senate President John Cullerton’s announcement that he plans to retire in January after almost four decades in the General Assembly and who is in the running to be the next Senate President, a ComEd lobbyist lined up contracts for disgraced ex-aide to Madigan and why authorities are interested, Gov. Pritzker and the Illinois State Board of Education react quickly to take emergency action to end the the use of “isolated timeout” rooms in schools.

On this week’s episode of Under the Dome the State Journal-Register’s Doug Finke and Bernard Schoenburg discuss the veto session ending with bills passing involving the consolidation of downstate police and fire pension funds, capping of out-of-pocket expenses for insulin and ethics reform in lobbying issues. 

On this week’s episode of Under the Dome the State Journal-Register’s Doug Finke and Bernard Schoenburg discuss Gov. J.B. Pritzker and state road officials unveiling the details of a $23.5 billion road plan that is being fueled with higher gasoline taxes and various vehicle fees approved by lawmakers last spring, the state’s bill backlog will soar to $19 billion in five years if additional tax revenue isn’t found according to an annual report from the governor’s office and what could be coming in the upcoming veto session. 

On this week’s episode of Under the Dome the State Journal-Register’s Doug Finke and Bernard Schoenburg discuss the fallout from Illinois State Rep. Luis Arroyo, D-Chicago, being arrested on a federal public corruption charge that he sought to bribe another state lawmaker, legislation introduced for Gov. Pritzker’s plan to pool police and fire pensions, status of the bill to ban flavored vaping products during the veto session and the Illinois House passes a bill that would allow college athletes to be compensated for their names and likenesses.

On this week’s episode of Under the Dome the State Journal-Register’s Doug Finke and Bernard Schoenburg discuss the appeals court decision that says former state worker Mark Janus is not entitled to a refund of fair share fees he paid to the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, next phase of road improvements have begun on the Illinois State Fairgrounds, Illinois Sate Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, to introduce a bill to make Daylight Saving Time permanent, Illinois Supreme Court Justice Lloyd Karmeier announces he will retire next year and what’s coming up in the next round of the veto session. 

On this week’s episode of Under the Dome the State Journal-Register’s Doug Finke and Bernard Schoenburg discuss the continuing fallout from the federal investigation of Illinois State Sen. Martin Sandoval for possible bribery and fraud involving state construction, UIS Poll says 92% approval for mental health background checks for gun sales, report says funding revamp has helped Illinois’ poor school districts and Gov. Pritzker releases his tax returns. 

On this week’s episode of Under the Dome the State Journal-Register’s Doug Finke and Bernard Schoenburg discuss Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s plan to consolidate around 650 local pension funds for suburban and downstate police and firefighters, the poll by NPR Illinois and the University of Illinois Springfield showing that 67 percent of registered voters in the state favor moving to a graduated state income tax and Republican U.S. Rep. John Shimkus of Illinois denouncing President Donald Trump’s decision to remove U.S. troops in Syria. 

On this week’s episode of Under the Dome the State Journal-Register’s Doug Finke and Bernard Schoenburg discuss Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker demanding Illinois State Sen. Martin Sandoval step down as chairman of the Transportation Committee while he is under federal investigation for possible bribery and fraud involving state construction work, Legislative Inspector General releases reports on Kevin Quinn and Tim Mapes, Illinois releases social equity map to identify areas harmed by the war on drugs, will college athletes get endorsement deals in Illinois and the Illinois GOP members of the U.S. House and the impeachment of President Trump.