State senators participate in a Redistricting Committee hearing on March 30, 2021. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line]

Now that the General Assembly has wrapped up its redistricting process to draw new boundaries for the Illinois state legislature, congressional districts and the state Supreme Court, the immediate focus has turned to the legal challenges and the decisions candidates are making ahead of the 2022 filing deadline. 

A bill approved by Illinois lawmakers last month seeking to curb out-of-state money on judicial races is part of a larger trend, according to a national expert. 

A recent effort to restrict campaign money flowing into Illinois’ judicial elections is part of a burgeoning trend that has arisen in part because of a rapid increase in outside spending on judicial races, a national attorney told The Daily Line this week.  

Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs acting director Terry Prince on Tuesday provided lawmakers with an update on his efforts to improve the agency.  

One year ago, Gov. JB Pritzker and U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) celebrated Veterans Days by commemorating the anticipated opening of the state’s Chicago Veterans’ Home. At the time, Pritzker, who said he was the proud son and grandson of naval officers, said he had a “personal commitment” to the state’s nearly 650,000 veterans.  

Illinois Department of Human Services Secretary Grace Hou praised House lawmakers on Tuesday for their efforts to identify health care coverage gaps among the state’s veterans. 

Homelessness, high rates of suicide, a lack of dental coverage and insufficient outreach efforts are among the most pressing issues facing Illinois’ veterans, a panel of state officials and other witnesses told lawmakers on Tuesday. 

Gov. JB Pritzker on Monday participated in a panel discussion on climate change in Glasgow with the governors of three other states. 

Less than two months after signing a massive energy measure into law, Gov. JB Pritzker touted Illinois’ recent progress while expressing optimism about the ongoing effort to combat climate change during recent appearances at the United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties. 

Rep. Katie Stuart (D-Edwardsville) introduced an omnibus elections bill on the final night of the veto session that contained provisions changing how state judicial races could be funded.  

Judicial elections in Illinois will see significant new restrictions in fundraising if a measure approved by the General Assembly during veto session is signed into law. But some critics of the bill said it could run aground in court. 

Rep. La Shawn Ford (D-Chicago) presented a bill during an Oct. 28 floor session that would have restored prisoners’ ability to vote in Illinois. 

Heading into last month’s veto session, Democrats had ambitious plans to take up significant bills including measures on congressional redistricting, COVID-19, gambling, elections, abortion and financial incentives.   

Heidi Dalenberg, director of the Institutional Reform Project at the ACLU of Illinois, said during an Oct. 26 Senate hearing that additional work needs to be done to ensure LGBTQ youth in DCFS care are being treated fairly. 

Efforts to ensure LGBTQ children under the care of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) are given adequate treatment and care remain a work in progress, according to an audit that was the focus of a recent legislative hearing.  

Rep. Mark Batinick (R-Plainfield) announced that he has opted against seeking reelection. And former Rep. Luis Arroyo (D-Chicago) pleaded guilty on bribery charges. 

David Esposito, executive director of Supportive Housing Providers Association, shared recommendations with the House Housing Committee on Tuesday on how to best combat homeless in Illinois using federal funding.  

To combat homelessness in Illinois, lawmakers should consider using some of the state’s remaining American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money to invest in additional emergency rental assistance, pay for thousands of new emergency beds or improve existing facilities, housing advocates told a House committee on Tuesday.  

Gov. JB Pritzker received his COVID-19 booster shot. And Metro East Democrats endorsed Nikki Budzinski’s bid to represent the newly-drawn 13th District in Congress.  

Gov. JB Pritzker on Monday declared gun violence a public health crisis while at a news conference on Chicago's West Side. 

Gov. JB Pritzker on Monday declared gun violence a public health crisis while announcing a $250 million three-year investment and signing an executive order to implement a recently enacted law aimed at reducing gun violence throughout Illinois.  

Rep. Janet Yang Rohr (D-Naperville) on Thursday explains her bill on the House floor regarding COVID-19.  

When the dust finally settled after midnight Friday morning on the final day of last month’s two-week veto session, the Illinois General Assembly had passed 25 bills.  

Senate President Don Harmon (D-Oak Park) addresses the Senate as he closes out debate on the new congressional redistricting maps.  

Illinois lawmakers on Thursday approved new congressional boundaries expected to bolster Democrats’ advantage in the state’s delegation during a chaotic day in which lingering concern over the maps threatened to jeopardize their passage.  

Rep. Robert Rita (D-Blue Island) discusses an omnibus gambling bill on the House floor on Thursday before the chamber approved it.

The General Assembly on Thursday by approving myriad proposals ranging from congressional redistricting and incentives for electric carmakers to omnibus bills on gambling and elections during a marathon final day of the fall veto session that stretched into the early hours of Friday morning.

Sen. Bill Cunningham (D-Chicago) on Wednesday introduced a new version of an omnibus gaming bill. 

A Senate committee on Wednesday updated and advanced a previously stalled omnibus gambling bill that would allow betting for in-state college sports and allow fraternal organizations to apply for gambling machine licenses in municipalities where they’re banned.  

The House approved a bill from Rep. Kam Buckner (D-Chicago) on Wednesday that will make minor tweaks to the law creating an elected school board in Chicago. 

The General Assembly on Wednesday passed a measure that will make minor tweaks to the law enacted this spring to create an elected school board in Chicago.  

News in brief: Gov. JB Pritzker on Wednesday announced the state has fully disbursed its ‘initial tranche’ of rental assistance funds. The governor also said he will head to the United Kingdom next week to tout climate action.  

Rep. Robyn Gabel (D-Evanston) on Tuesday presented a bill to the House Executive Committee that would prohibit Illinoisans from using the state’s Health Care Right of Conscience Act to avoid COVID-19 vaccination mandates.

The House Executive Committee on Wednesday approved an amendment to a bill that would prohibit Illinoisans from using the state’s Health Care Right of Conscience Act to avoid COVID-19 vaccination mandates.  

Western Springs resident Meghann McEntee was one of several witnesses on Tuesday who told lawmakers the latest draft congressional map would splinter communities currently in the Southwest Side of Chicago. 

Illinoisans on Tuesday offered their first reactions to Democrats’ latest proposed congressional boundaries, once again reiterating concerns that the map as drafted would splinter the district currently represented by U.S. Rep. Marie Newman (D-Ill).