Olivia Olander

Olivia Olander is the Chicago-based state government reporter at the Tribune, covering Gov. JB Pritzker, the Illinois General Assembly and state agencies. She previously covered labor and employment policy for POLITICO in Washington. Olivia is a graduate of Northwestern University and grew up in the suburbs of San Diego.

Gov. JB Pritzker signs Illinois Senate Bill 2427 banning cellphones in schools from bell-to-bell at Elgin High School on July 28, 2026. (Rick West/Daily Herald)

Illinois cellphone ban signed by Gov. JB Pritzker with ‘bell-to-bell’ law affecting public and charter schools

July 28, 2026 at 3:57 p.m.

Illinois public and charter school students will be barred from using cellphones during the school day starting in fall 2027, under a law Gov. JB Pritzker signed Tuesday.

Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center in Anna, July 24, 2026. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)

Pritzker administration to lay off workers and reduce operations at downstate Choate facility

July 24, 2026 at 5:26 p.m.

Gov. JB Pritzker’s administration is significantly reducing staffing at a long-troubled downstate center for people with mental health issues and developmental disabilities, state and union officials said Thursday.

Marvel Parker, former executive director of the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley Institute, speaks before Gov. JB Pritzker, left, signs a law to designate Emmett Till Day in Illinois at the Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ in Chicago on July 23, 2026. Parker is married to the Rev. Wheeler Parker, Emmett Till's cousin. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)

Illinois to annually honor Emmett Till, Chicago teen whose 1955 murder galvanized Civil Rights Movement

July 23, 2026 at 3:47 p.m.

Illinois will annually honor Emmett Till, the Black teenager from Chicago whose 1955 murder galvanized the Civil Rights Movement and became a glaring example of failures in the justice system,...

Mayra Macías, an independent candidate for the 4th Congressional District seat, speaks at a Board of Elections hearing in Chicago on July 21, 2026, where Macías and Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez were ordered off the ballot. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)

Two trying to challenge US Rep. Jesús ‘Chuy’ García’s handpicked successor ordered off the ballot

July 21, 2026 at 4:13 p.m.

Two independent candidates for the 4th Congressional District should not appear on the General Election ballot in November, the Illinois State Board of Elections voted Tuesday.

Frozen vegetables are on display at Fresh Market Place in Chicago on July 16, 2026. Recent cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, have increased the threat of food insecurity. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)

Illinois SNAP costs: State wins one-year delay on food aid penalty, but major costs still loom

July 21, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

Illinois will get an extra year, until October 2028, before it must begin sharing the cost of food assistance benefits with the federal government, after the state's own payment error...

State Rep. Harry Benton, D-Plainfield, sits in the House chamber as lawmakers discuss bills at the Illinois State Capitol on April 8, 2026. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)

Pritzker says Illinois ethics panel should release Harry Benton harassment report amid Welch office scrutiny

July 20, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s call for the report’s release came as the Illinois House Democratic majority, particularly women within the caucus, deliberated details revealed in a Tribune investigation over how...

Republican nominee for governor Darren Bailey speaks during the public comment portion of a Chicago City Council meeting on May 20, 2026. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)

Republican Darren Bailey treads water in governor’s race as GOP candidates struggle to raise campaign cash

July 16, 2026 at 8:37 p.m.

GOP candidates across Illinois struggle to raise campaign cash as U.S Senate Republican nominee Don Tracy raised about $133,000 to Democratic nominee Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton's $1.1 million.

State Rep. Carol Ammons speaks with the media outside the Urbana federal courthouse on July 16, 2026. She and her husband, Champaign County Clerk Aaron Ammons, right, pleaded not guilty to federal charges. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)

Illinois state Rep. Carol Ammons and husband, Champaign Clerk Aaron Ammons, plead not guilty to federal charges

July 16, 2026 at 3:40 p.m.

Six-term Democratic state Rep. Carol Ammons and her husband, Champaign County Clerk Aaron Ammons, each pleaded not guilty Thursday to federal charges handed up earlier this month by a grand...

Jimmy Soto is embraced by his cousin, David Ayala, during a celebration of his 63rd birthday at his sister Marta’s home in Deerfield on April 13, 2024. Soto and Ayala, co-defendants in the crime for which they were wrongfully convicted, were both sentenced to natural life without the possibility of parole in 1982. (Vincent Alban/Chicago Tribune)

Illinois raises limits on wrongful conviction payouts under new law Gov. JB Pritzker has signed

July 14, 2026 at 6:13 p.m.

The new law marks “a major stride in criminal legal reform and accountability to those who are wrongfully convicted and imprisoned,” Gov. JB Pritzker said in a video statement.

A “250” American flag is displayed atop the Arlington Heights Park District float during the Frontier Days Fourth of July Parade on July 4, 2026, in Arlington Heights. (Joe Lewnard/Daily Herald)

State-funded America 250 commemorations kept mellow as federal funding cuts still sting in Illinois

July 12, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

By almost any measure Illinois’ celebrations to commemorate the United States’ 250th birthday have been decidedly low-key.

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