Gov. JB Pritzker and President Joe Biden speak during Biden’s visit to Crystal Lake in July 2021. [Gov. JB Pritzker/Facebook]   

Gov. JB Pritzker sent a letter to President Joe Biden on Monday with a specific list of actions Pritzker wants Biden to consider as the nation’s migrant crisis puts growing pressure on Illinois and other states.  

Senate President Don Harmon (D-Oak Park), left, Paul Simon Public Policy Institute Director John Shaw, middle, and House Speaker Chris Welch (D-Hillside) participate in a discussion at the Union League Club in Chicago on Sept. 29. [Ben Szalinski/The Daily Line]

By Illinois’ standards, Senate President Don Harmon’s (D-Oak Park) nearly four years as a chamber leader and House Speaker Chris Welch’s (D-Hillside) nearly three years as a chamber leader are short. But despite their relatively brief time as leaders, both Harmon and Welch have deep perspectives of Illinois’ current health and the challenges that face the state in the future.  

Gov. JB Pritzker discusses the migrant crisis at a news conference on Thursday. [Ben Szalinski/The Daily Line]   

The state awarded new grant funding to help municipalities, chiefly Chicago, with expenses communities are bearing to care for more than 15,000 migrants who have arrived in the city since last summer.  

Gov. JB Pritzker speaks to reports following an event in Chicago on Thursday. [Ben Szalinski/The Daily Line] 

More than two dozen buses with migrants have arrived in Chicago from Texas in the last week as the city and state have had to try to find ways to house more than 15,000 migrants who have depended on city resources to start new lives in the United States.  

Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation Secretary Mario Treto speaks to the House Health Care Licenses Committee on Wednesday. [Blue Room Stream] 

More than a million people need licenses from the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR), and thousands of them wait months to hear back from the state. 

The House Health Care Licenses Committee held a hearing Wednesday with department leadership and representatives of professional associations with members that require state licenses to work, but the hearing provided few answers to resolving what the department’s head characterized as a “crisis” anytime soon.

DCFS Director Marc Smith speaks to a General Assembly committee in January 2022. [ILGA] 

The Department of Children and Families Services’ (DCFS) latest two-year audit shows many problems that have long plagued the department remain.  

Deputy Gov. Sol Flores will begin a new job outside state government next month. [Provided by Sol Flores]   

The feast of the Epiphany, also known as Three Kings Day, is an important day in the Latino community, especially in Deputy Gov. Sol Flores’ house where her family marks the day with a service project.  

On Jan. 6, 2019, it was also the day Flores received a call from then-Gov.-elect JB Pritzker asking her to be his deputy governor for health and human services.  

Supports of the state’s immigrant healthcare program hold a rally at Federal Plaza in Chicago on Friday that was organized by Healthy Illinois. [Ben Szalinski/The Daily Line]   

Hundreds of supporters and some state lawmakers organized by Healthy Illinois gathered at Federal Plaza on Friday to call on Gov. JB Pritzker’s administration to lift limits on the state's healthcare program for undocumented immigrants and back policies that move the state toward universal healthcare.  

The Cook County Jail   

Illinois’ most sweeping criminal justice system reform in decades has largely proceeded smoothly around the state with few reports of major problems implementing the system, though critics remain and attorneys are adjusting to the new process.  

Sen. Sue Rezin (R-Morris), center, speaks during the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday. [Blue Room Stream] 

It’s not uncommon to find teenagers, or even younger kids, spending hours scrolling through social media sites and shaping their world view based on the content they see on the sites. Sen. Sue Rezin (R-Morris) is worried about a lack of safeguards for minors on the sites and how the content kids are consuming is driving them into deep mental health crises.