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.  

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.

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.

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. 

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.  

 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.

For months, Illinois’ top elected officials, including Gov. JB Pritzker, House Speaker Chris Welch and Senate President Don Harmon said ethics reform was one of lawmakers’ top priorities for this year’s legislative session. Little significant action was taken until May 31, the last scheduled day of session.

Despite the new proposal, good government groups and even the sponsors of the ethics reform package said more work is needed on the issue.

This week on the CloutCast, Joel Ebert interviews Alisa Kaplan, executive director of Reform for Illinois, about the latest new ethics bill, which now heads to the governor for action.

Rep. LaShawn Ford (D-Chicago) [left] worked with Senior Cannabis Adviser Toi Hutchinson on the cannabis trailer bill.

A year after the bungled rollout of Illinois' licensing process for cannabis, a measure meant to bring equity to the state’s burgeoning legal pot industry is headed to Gov. JB Pritzker's desk. But not everyone is hailing HB 1443, sponsored by Rep. LaShawn Ford (D-Chicago) and Senate Majority Leader Kimberly Lightford (D-Maywood), as the fix the state's entrepreneurs of color need.

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.