House Speaker Chris Welch (D-Hillside) presents a bill allowing his staff to unionize in October 2023. [Ben Szalinski/The Daily Line]   

Staff for House Speaker Chris Welch (D-Hillside) ripped the speaker and Senate President Don Harmon (D-Oak Park) for not advancing a bill this spring that would allow legislative staff to unionize.  

The House voted Tuesday to pass a bill to respond to recent threats made against Illinois libraries. The House also voted to pass a bill in hopes of saving local news organizations in Illinois through new regulation.  

Rep. Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago) speaks on the House floor on Monday. [Ben Szalinski/The Daily Line]

The House voted unanimously on Monday to make a series of reforms to the Prisoner Review Board two months after a decision by the board led the murder of an 11-year-old boy.

Rep. Amy Elik (R-Godfrey) speaks at a news conference in Springfield on Thursday. [Blue Room Stream] 

A bill that passed unanimously through the House in a rare move by Illinois lawmakers to create a new felony charge is hung up in the Senate.  

Parking on highway shoulders while waiting to pick travelers up from O’Hare will be prohibited under a bill passed by the General Assembly. [Google Maps] 

You may have done it, or you’ve seen many other drivers doing it. Drivers who wait alongside highway shoulders outside the entrance to O’Hare International Airport will need to find a new spot if they want to avoid a ticket under a bill going to Gov. JB Pritzker’s desk.  

Gov. JB Pritzker speaks at a news conference in Springfield on Thursday. [Ben Szalinski/The Daily Line] 

Gov. JB Pritzker reiterated the state needs to share limited available funding resources among many priorities as the governor and legislature get inundated with several high-profile funding requests at the same time they try to finalize a tight budget. 

The House advanced a critical reform demanded by businesses, though they remain opposed to the change, believing it doesn’t go far enough. The House also voted to pass a bill reforming laws behind pay for Illinois college student-athletes.  

Members of the Chicago Teachers Union speak at a news conference in Springfield. [Ben Szalinski/The Daily Line]   

The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) sent members to Springfield on Wednesday to ask state lawmakers for $1 billion of funding for Chicago Public Schools (CPS), but time is ticking toward a final version of the budget being introduced in Springfield. 

The House took a bipartisan vote Tuesday to approve a program that will allow student teachers to receive a stipend for their classroom experience that currently goes unpaid. But when the program will actually get off the ground is up in the air.  

The Illinois Capitol   

The General Assembly is in their final weeks of the spring session with the budget the main focus for legislators ahead of their self-imposed May 24 deadline. 

This spring’s session has been on the quiet side, though several important discussions loom for the fall or next spring — after the November elections. But legislators are still looking to send several important bills to Gov. JB Pritzker’s desk before the end of the month.