House Speaker Chris Welch listens to Gov. JB Pritzker during a May news conference in Springfield (Joel Ebert/The Daily Line)

As lawmakers prepare to return to Springfield Tuesday, House Speaker Chris Welch (D-Hillside) reflected in an interview with The Daily Line on lawmakers’ work throughout the spring legislative session while saying has no “personal agenda” for this week’s brief return.  

Prairie State Energy Campus and other power plants in Illinois would be shuttered by 2035 under Gov. JB Pritzker’s latest energy proposal. [Bechtel]

Gov. JB Pritzker released a draft and summary of his latest version of his omnibus energy bill proposal late Thursday, mere days before lawmakers are set to return to Springfield.  

In a memo to lawmakers, Pritzker’s office highlighted portions of the 866-page draft of the bill, which includes significant portions of his original energy bill but with notable changes. As of Sunday, the bill had not been published on the legislature’s website.  

A March 30 redistricting hearing. The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund became the latest group to sue over the legislative redistricting process.

A second lawsuit was filed late Thursday challenging the state’s newly signed legislative maps on the grounds that they are unconstitutional because they relied on alternate data.  

The lawsuit was filed by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) on behalf of five registered voters in Illinois.  

Gov. JB Pritzker addressing reporters during a May 2021 news conference in Springfield [Joel Ebert/The Daily Line]

Marking what officials hope is the effective end of the COVID-19 pandemic, Illinois will eliminate all capacity limits on businesses Friday and fully reopen.  

The state’s reopening comes nearly 17 months after Illinois recorded its first case of the novel coronavirus and 15 months after its first COVID-19 death. Since then, Illinois health officials have logged 1.3 million total cases of COVID-19 and more than 23,000 deaths. 

Leadership Council of Southwestern Illinois executive director Rhonda Sauget (left) and small business owner Brenda Whitaker told lawmakers Thursday that a worker shortage is the largest issue facing Southern Illinois businesses that are looking to recover from the pandemic. 

Lawmakers turned their attention to Southern Illinois Thursday to seek input from business owners and others on how best to help the region recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.  

During a two-hour subject matter hearing, members of the Senate Tourism and Hospitality Committee listened to ideas from witnesses ranging from a state official to a vineyard owner about how lawmakers can help their struggling industries. They offered a range of ideas including cutting off expanded unemployment benefits, boosting government hiring and loosening business regulations. 

Gov. JB Pritzker signed a bill Thursday that requires casino applicants to enter into a labor agreement when seeking a new casino license or renewal. 

Gov. JB Pritzker on Thursday signed SB 1360, a bipartisan-supported bill that requires casino applicants to enter into a labor agreement when seeking any new casino license or renewal. 

Under the new law, which immediately takes effect, casino owners must provide evidence that they have entered project labor agreements that conform to state law. Such agreements must include goals for apprenticeship hours dedicated to minorities and women, procedures for addressing labor disputes and guarantees against strikes and lockouts. The agreements almost must allow the lowest qualified bidder to be selected.  

Senate Republican Leader Dan McConchie (R-Lake Zurich) (left) and House Republican Leader Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs) filed a lawsuit Wednesday challenging the new legislative redistricting maps.  

Illinois’ top Republican legislators on Wednesday filed the first federal lawsuit challenging Democrats’ recently approved and enacted legislative redistricting maps. 

In a 39-page complaint filed in the Northern District of Illinois, Senate Republican Leader Dan McConchie (R-Lake Zurich) and House Republican Leader Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs) are “challenging the constitutionality of the apportionment of state legislative districts.” 

Secretary of State Jesse White renewed his call to replace a statue of Martin Luther King Jr. On the Capitol grounds, which he said resembles a sharecropper. And the Illinois Gaming Board signed off on various casino plans.  

Illinois lawmakers will head back to Springfield next week to vote on energy legislation. And an advocacy group is urging Gov. JB Pritzker to veto the new ethics bill approved by lawmakers last month.

The debut of the Chicago Veterans’ Home will take a little longer after the Capital Development Board on Tuesday approved additional construction changes. [Terra Engineering Ltd.]

The Capital Development Board on Tuesday approved a request to tweak plans for the Chicago Veterans’ Home in response to final construction hurdles that must be cleared before the facility can open.  

The board approved an order to spend $160,000 to address “life safety requirements” as identified by the Illinois Department of Public Health. The unaddressed issues, which were left out the original architect and engineer’s designs, included a need to connect stairways to fire alarms.

A coalition of organized labor groups and a bipartisan group of lawmakers, including Rep. Tim Butler (R-Springfield) held a news conference Friday to call for a coal plant to be exempted from decarbonization rules under a pending energy bill.

Monday marked one week since lawmakers’ targeted end of their spring session, but one of the biggest legislative fights of the year remains unresolved: a long-planned overhaul to the state’s energy sector.  

In recent days, Gov. JB Pritzker, lawmakers, advocacy groups and other interested parties have offered insights on how to move passage of an omnibus energy proposal that factors in the desires of a multitude of interests. While outstanding questions remain on how the bill should treat coal plants and the embattled utility Commonwealth Edison, legislators and lobbyists have indicated they expect a revised bill to come up for a vote in the coming weeks. 

 Reform for Illinois executive director Alisa Kaplan discussed the latest ethics reform bill on The Daily Line’s CloutCast. 

Last week, as House Speaker Chris Welch (D-Hillside), Senate President Don Harmon (D-Oak Park) and Gov. JB Pritzker reflected on their top accomplishments from the spring legislative session, they each pointed to an omnibus ethics reform measure (SB 539) that they said will move the state forward. 

In the days since it passed, leaders of good government groups have said the bill is a step in the right direction but much more is needed to regain the trust of Illinoisans.

Gov. JB Pritzker on Friday signed redistricting maps for the legislature, state Supreme Court and Cook County Board of Review. 

Gov. JB Pritzker on Friday signed redistricting maps that will change the political boundaries of the General Assembly, Illinois Supreme Court and Cook County Board of Review, setting the stage for an anticipated legal battle.  

The governor’s widely expected signature of the trio of bills (HB 2777, (SB 642 and SB 2661) came just days after he said he was still reviewing the maps while criticizing Republicans for not proposing their own maps.  

A view of the dome from inside the state Capitol in Springfield [Joel Ebert/The Daily Line]

Lawmakers approved a flurry of bills during the final days of the now open-ended spring legislative session. The General Assembly is expected to reconvene at some point in the days or weeks ahead to finish considering several significant measures that have been left unresolved. 

While many of the biggest bills, including the budget and measures on redistricting, elections and ethics have garnered the most attention, a host of other significant proposals were able to cross the finish line in recent days.

House Speaker Chris Welch (D-Hillside) and House Democrats held a news conference early Tuesday morning, touting their accomplishments this session despite several high profile issues remaining unresolved.

Shortly before 3 a.m. Tuesday, House lawmakers held a news conference to declare the legislative session over.

House Speaker Chris Welch (D-Hillside), who took over for former Speaker Mike Madigan (D-Chicago) in January, reflected on his first full session as the chamber’s leader and lawmakers’ work over the past five months.

Gov. JB Pritzker

Speaking to reporters for the first time since lawmakers approved new redistricting maps, Gov. JB Pritzker on Tuesday chastised Republicans while signaling a potential need for “adjustments” after decennial Census data is released in August.

Lawmakers approved an omnibus bill on Monday that would make a host of changes to the state’s election laws, including delaying next year’s primary to June, requiring all Illinois counties to institute “voting centers,” permitting voting in jails and designating the November 2022 general election as a state holiday.

Sen. Ann Gillespie (D-Arlington Heights) and several Republican lawmakers outlined a new bill during a Monday news conference that would revamp the state’s ethics laws.

After months of delay, lawmakers on Monday introduced and approved a proposal that will revamp the state’s ethics laws. While Democrats and some Republicans touted the measure as a necessary step to move the state past a recent string of corruption scandals, critics said the provisions included in the bill did not go far enough.

House Majority Leader Greg Harris (D-Chicago) outlined Democrats’ latest version of the state budget before a House committee on Monday afternoon.

Lawmakers on Monday introduced an approved a $42 billion budget for the upcoming fiscal year that included notable changes from what Gov. JB Pritzker proposed in February.

When Pritzker outlined his recommended $41.6 billion budget for Fiscal Year 2022, it relied on diverting revenues, closing so-called corporate loopholes and reducing payouts to local governments.

Gov. JB Pritzker on Friday signed off on two bills lawmakers approved earlier this year.

Gov. JB Pritzker signed two bills into law over the weekend, including an updated version of a legal measure that he previously vetoed.