Sen. Jacqui Collins (D-Chicago) speaks at a news conference in Springfield Wednesday. [Ben Szalinski/The Daily Line]   

Lawmakers are considering taking aim at pawnbrokers in the final days of the 102nd General Assembly as a way to shore up the Legislative Black Caucus’ 2021 economic access pillar.  

Illinois State Capitol 

Lawmakers are set to return to Springfield Wednesday for five scheduled days of session to conclude the 102nd General Assembly with a proposal to ban semi-automatic weapons and impose new restrictions on gun ownership topping Democrats’ agenda for the week.  

Gov. JB Pritzker, top left, former House Speaker Mike Madigan (D-Chicago), top right, Sen. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia), bottom right, and debate over the SAFE-T Act, bottom left, highlighted 2022.   

With a hotly contested governor’s race, conservative billionaires attempting to leave their mark on Illinois politics and key pieces of legislation including a rehashing of 2021’s SAFE-T Act debate along with the indictment of former House Speaker Mike Madigan (D-Chicago), Illinois politics grab headlines throughout 2022.  

Here are the top 10 stories of 2022 in no order: 

House Majority Leader Greg Harris (D-Chicago) speaks at a news conference in April at the Capitol. [Ben Szalinski/The Daily Line]  

House Majority Leader Greg Harris (D-Chicago) will wrap up his career as a state lawmaker next month as he prepares to retire from the Illinois House after 16 years representing Chicago’s North Side. 

House Speaker Chris Welch (D-Hillside) speaks at the City Club of Chicago in September. [City Club of Chicago]   

House Speaker Chris Welch’s (D-Hillside) rise to speaker was historic from the beginning after his colleagues selected him to be the newest Democratic speaker of the House in nearly 40 years. 

Welch will close the book next month on his first two years as speaker “proud” of the new culture he says he introduced in the House and ready to build on his accomplishments with the largest caucus of House Democrats ever.  

Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart holds up magazines seized by Cook County Sheriff’s deputies at Tuesday’s House Judiciary- Criminal Committee hearing. [Blue Room Stream] 

Police are becoming increasingly out-gunned, law enforcement officials said Thursday as the House Judiciary- Criminal Committee considers an “assault weapons” ban and magazine size limits.   

But advocates from gun organizations flipped the coin and argued the bill includes a host of constitutional issues and criminalizes law abiding citizens.  

The Illinois Supreme Court.

The Illinois Supreme Court Pretrial Fairness Implementation Task Force is updating guidance for stakeholders in the law enforcement and legal communities as the state prepares to implement new pretrial legal requirements in less than two weeks.     

Sen. Jason Barickman (R-Bloomington) speaks on the Senate floor on Dec. 1. [Blue Room Stream] 

Sen. Jason Barickman’s (R-Bloomington) announcement earlier this month that he would leave the Illinois Senate surprised many, but it had been on Barickman’s mind for a while, he told The Daily Line.  

From left to right, Rep. Kathleen Willis (D-Addison), Rep. Bob Morgan (D-Deerfield), and Rep. Justin Slaughter (D-Chicago) participate in the House Judiciary- Criminal Committee meeting in Chicago Thursday. [Blue Room Stream]   

A proposal to ban semi-automatic weapons, large capacity magazines and raise the age for owning a Firearm Owner Identification (FOID) card to 21 received a second hearing in a House committee Thursday that focused on data behind gun violence.  

Secretary of State Jesse White speaks at a get-out-the-vote rally in Chicago in October alongside Secretary of State-elect Alexi Giannoulias. [Ben Szalinski/The Daily Line]   

Much has changed in Illinois since Secretary of State Jesse White first took control of the office in 1999: Barack Obama rose from the state senate to the presidency; Rod Blagojevich served as governor and prisoner and has since been released; Mike Madigan no longer controls White’s Democratic Party, and the state even went without a budget for over two years.  

But despite shifting political winds and various triumphs and controversies in state politics, White remained the familiar face of Illinois government, but will step aside next month after decades in elected office.