In a reversal, Gov. JB Pritzker announced Wednesday members of the Illinois General Assembly would be bumped ahead and given access to receive a COVID-19 vaccine alongside seniors and “frontline” workers.

Pritzker announced the move less than three weeks after he said lawmakers should wait their turns, but members of the legislature have since called for the governor to prioritize them.

Lawmakers have already begun introducing a raft of new legislation as they prepare to hold in-person and virtual meetings starting this week. Last year, the COVID-19 pandemic and the shortened legislative session pushed the vast majority of members’ proposals off the table.

Hundreds of bills are introduced every General Assembly, and this year has proven to be no different. As of Sunday, 706 bills have been introduced in the House so far, according to the General Assembly’s website. The Senate, meanwhile, has seen the introduction of 133 bills.

News in brief: IDPH redirecting nursing home vaccines; Senate Democrats launch podcast; former Sen. Sam McCann indicted

News in brief: Senate set for virtual return; Pritzker announces central Illinois youth facility.

Illinois Department of Public Health director Ngozi Ezike on Tuesday encouraged members of Congress to widen the federal supply chain of COVID-19 vaccines to states and said the federal response to the pandemic under former President Donald Trump “hampered” states’ efforts to fight the virus.

Ezike was one of five public health experts to testify before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce in a virtual hearing, with members of the panel peppering the witnesses on a variety of topics with the aim of finding solutions to accelerate COVID-19 vaccinations.

A handful of Illinois lawmakers are calling for state officials to create a new database aimed at preventing COVID-19 vaccine doses from being wasted.

On Jan. 22, 15 state senators, all Democrats, urged Gov. JB Pritzker and Illinois Department of Public Health director Ngozi Ezike to create such a database due to concerns that local health departments may not be able to use all the vaccine doses they are given.

More than four years after Russian hackers breached it, Illinois’ voter registration database is set for a revamp. 

Last month, members of the Illinois State Board of Elections (ISBOE) voted to initiate the process to replace the statewide voter registration database, which was launched in 2009 to meet requirements set by the federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA).

News in brief: Senate to hold hearings on vaccine rollout, unemployment insurance; Rabine to run for governor; Super Bowl bets soar.

News in brief: Doris Turner picked to replace Manar; Don Tracy named IL GOP chair

As the Illinois General Assembly prepares to return to work in the coming days, some of the first bills filed include a bevy or proposed changes to state laws related to education, transportation, cannabis and guns.

As of Monday afternoon, legislators have introduced 740 bills  in the House, while 133 measures have been filed in the Senate, according to the General Assembly’s website.

This is the second part of a multiday Daily Line review of the early filed bills.

News in brief: Senate to hold hearings on vaccine rollout, unemployment insurance; Rabine to run for governor; Super Bowl bets soar.

News in brief: Doris Turner picked to replace Manar; Don Tracy named IL GOP chair

Willis, Williams become latest House speaker candidates; Pritzker expands vaccine distribution eligibility; decreased COVID-19 mitigations on the horizon; Pritzker calls for Trump’s impeachment; Miller condemned for Hitler quote.

Days from the Friday start of the General Assembly’s lame duck session, the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus offered a preview Wednesday of a multi-faceted legislative package that would license police officers, boost early childhood programs and form a commission to study reparations, among other measures.

During a nearly two-hour virtual town hall forum, members of the Black caucus, led by Senate Majority Leader Kimberly Lightford (D-Maywood), shared specific ideas that will be part of the legislative agenda, including plans to introduce bills that would create a reparations commission, implement police officer licensure requirements, establish funding formulas for early childhood and higher education and prohibit the closure of hospitals until 2023.

Most years, Jan. 1 marks the enactment of hundreds of new laws. But like with much that occurred in 2020, this year is different.

The start of the new year will initiate three new laws, all of which were originally introduced in 2019, while offering a reminder of Gov. JB Pritzker’s recently failed graduated income tax proposal, which would have taken effect on Jan.1 had voters approved it.