Illinois House OKs Zero-Carbon Power Plan, Senate Is Next
SPRINGFIELD — The Illinois House has approved a wide-ranging plan to eliminate carbon emissions by 2050. Approval came Thursday night on an 82-33 vote after a compromise allowing to coal-fired plants to remain open until 2045 but cut their emissions by nearly half in the next 14 years. The Senate will take up the proposal […]
Ethics Bill Clears House On Second Try, Will Head Back To Governor
SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois House on Thursday voted to accept changes to an ethics bill that Gov. JB Pritzker had requested, paving the way for it to become law once the governor signs it. Thursday’s vote came a little more than a week after an earlier attempt fell short in the House. That happened during […]
Reporter-Turned-State Senator Fights For Local Journalism
Gov. JB Pritzker signed a bill late last month to address what he called “local news deserts” in Illinois. The legislation’s goal is to ensure local journalism survives in Illinois’ small towns and mid-sized cities. State Sen. Steve Stadelman, D-Rockford, a former TV reporter and anchor for 25 years, says the idea of a local […]
In Court Hearing, Latino Rights Group Says New Maps Still Unfair
SPRINGFIELD – Lawyers for a Latino advocacy group told a panel of federal judges Wednesday that the new legislative district maps passed by the Illinois General Assembly the night before still dilute the vote of Hispanic citizens in the state, and they intend to proceed with a lawsuit in hopes of having them overturned. Ernest […]
Illinois Democrats OK New Legislative Maps Over Criticism
CHICAGO — Illinois Democrats were poised to set new legislative boundaries over objections from Republicans and some community groups that the process was rushed and maps were drawn behind closed doors to keep Democrats in power in the state Legislature. Lawmakers on Tuesday approved a do-over of maps that majority Democrats approved and Gov. J.B. […]
Dems Forge Ahead With Redistricting Redo While Community Advocacy Groups Claim Deja Vu And GOP Hopes
Just three months after Democrats pushed new legislative maps through the General Assembly in the waning days of spring legislative session, lawmakers are back in Springfield on Tuesday week to fix those same maps, lest a federal court take mapmaking power out of their hands one way or another. But in the days before lawmakers’ […]
Energy Bill Could See A Vote As State Lawmakers Return For Redistricting Session
SPRINGFIELD – Lawmakers will return to the Statehouse on Tuesday for what is scheduled as a one-day special session to reconsider the legislative redistricting plan they passed during the spring session. But the General Assembly might also vote on an energy regulatory overhaul bill that has stalled on numerous occasions, including at the end of […]
Governor Sends Ethics Bill Back To Lawmakers
SPRINGFIELD – An ethics bill that was hotly debated during the spring legislative session is headed back to the General Assembly with a request for a technical change, but not the technical change that many Republicans had hoped for. Gov. JB Pritzker on Friday issued an “amendatory veto” of Senate Bill 539, saying he supports the […]
Mental Health First Responder, Insurance Coverage Bills Among Latest Signed By Pritzker
SPRINGFIELD – Gov. JB Pritzker has been steadily acting on more than 660 bills sent to him by the General Assembly this year ahead of a weekend deadline for bill action. On Wednesday, he signed House Bill 2595, which beginning in 2023 requires insurers to provide coverage to all medically necessary mental health care in Illinois, […]
Ambulance Carveout Is Latest Medicaid Managed Care Battleground
SPRINGFIELD – Stakeholders are calling on Gov. JB Pritzker to sign a bill that passed the General Assembly unanimously and would remove non-emergency ambulance services from the state’s Medicaid managed care program in favor of a fee-for-service model. While an association group representing ambulance services says House Bill 684 is needed to counter arbitrary denials of claims […]
GOP Says Census Data Proves New Maps Illegal
SPRINGFIELD – Republicans in the Illinois General Assembly say new, detailed census numbers released last week show the legislative maps that Democrats pushed through in the spring are unconstitutional. The Census Bureau released the data Thursday, Aug. 12, several months later than usual due to delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and other factors. The […]
Lawmakers Approve Proposal To Allow Sex Workers To Expunge Past Felony Prostitution Convictions
SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois General Assembly this spring approved a proposal to allow sex workers’ criminal charges expunged from their records for convictions dating back to when prostitution was classified as a felony in Illinois. Back in 2013, Illinois reduced a prostitution conviction down to a Class A misdemeanor. Despite no longer being considered a felony offense, a […]
More Than 660 Bills Will Head To Pritzker After Legislative Session
SPRINGFIELD – With the first year of the 102nd General Assembly mostly wrapped up, lawmakers as of Friday had officially passed 664 bills through both houses for eventual consideration by the governor. Gov. JB Pritzker had signed 17 of them as of Friday, including the Thursday signing of the state’s operating budget and a bill making […]
Illinois Joins Midwestern States In Funding Farm Runoff Reduction Program
SPRINGFIELD — Illinois is the latest Midwestern state to earmark funding for a program to reduce nutrient runoff from farmland into waterways. It’s the first time the state has dedicated money to its Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy (NLRS). Twelve states within the Mississippi River basin have similar strategies in place, and some, like Iowa, have […]
Former GOP Rep. Seeking Back Pay For Himself, All Other Lawmakers In Class Action Suit
SPRINGFIELD — A former state lawmaker is suing the state comptroller for salary increases he claims he was entitled to while serving in the Illinois General Assembly for 12 years, even though he voted against those raises as a lawmaker. Former Rep. Mike Fortner joins two other former state senators in filing separate lawsuits against […]