Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (left) and Rep. Marcus Evans Jr. (D-Chicago, right) tell reporters about a new statewide initiative to install more electric vehicle charging stations during a Monday news conference in Joliet. [Livestream / @GovPritzker]

While President-elect Donald Trump has promised to get rid of a federal program giving tax credits to electric vehicle (EV) owners, Illinois residents are about to see more EV charging stations pop up throughout the state thanks to an initiative led by state government officials.   

Gov. JB Pritzker, alongside public and private-sector officials, announced the new program during a Monday news conference in Joliet. The city is the first to receive one of the new state-issued stations funded under the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA), according to the governor.

Pictured: Illinois State Capitol in Springfield, Illinois. [Warren LeMay / CC BY 2.0]

From Illinois statehouse Republicans urging earnest discussions with Democrats to majority party leaders praising what they call a success of a newer medical debt relief bill, here’s what has happened during the Illinois General Assembly’s fall veto session so far. 

Lawmakers are set to return to Springfield for round two on Tuesday, with anticipated discussions including a proposed bill that would eliminate giving workers with disabilities less than minimum wage.

Pictured: A marijuana plant leaf. [Elsa Olofsson, CBD Oracle / CC BY 2.0]

Though their products are derived from the same plant, hemp and cannabis industry leaders remain in disagreement about proposed changes to Illinois hemp testing and licensing rules. 

The reactions come as Illinois lawmakers continue discussions regarding proposed new testing and licensing requirements following a Tuesday committee meeting in Springfield.

David Lakeman (left), cannabis and hemp manager with the IDOA, and Sam McGee (right), counsel for the IDOA, answer questions for members of the General Assembly's Joint Committee on Administrative Rules meeting on Nov. 12, 2024 in Springfield. [Livestream]

Illinois legislators postponed action for rule changes to the Industrial Hemp Act until next month so state agriculture department officials can meet with people who could be most affected by the rules, including private testing facilities, and better clarify their intent in the proposed new rules. 

Illinois State Sen. Chapin Rose (R-Mahomet) talks with reporters alongside fellow GOP colleagues during a Nov. 14, 2024 press conference. [Livestream]

Upon their return to Springfield early this week, Illinois Senate Republicans voiced concerns about the state’s looming $3.2 billion budget deficit projection. 

Former Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn talks to reporters about voters being in favor of a proposed non-binding millionaire tax referendum during a Nov. 12, 2024 press conference in Springfield. [Livestream]

Former Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn said state voters showed sizable support for a graduated income tax structure affecting millionaires that would help give homeowners property tax relief. 

A map shows where the Mahomet Aquifer traverses Central Illinois. [City of Champaign] 

After more than an hour of debate, members of an Illinois committee on Wednesday held back a bill to ban carbon capture, or carbon sequestrations, near aquifers that are primary drinking water sources within the state. 

Members of the Illinois Underground Railroad Task Force – including state legislators like Illinois Assistant Majority Leader Sen. Dave Koehler (D-Peoria, back) and renowned Underground Railroad historian Larry McClellan (center) – present the state task force’s recommendations to bring the more piecemeal history of Illinois’s part in the Freedom Fighter movement together during a Nov. 12, 2024 press conference in Springfield. [Livestream]  

What was once documented primarily in local projects across the state will now come together as one cohesive, preserved historical record of the Underground Railroad in Illinois, state legislators and historians said during a Tuesday press conference.

Following a bruising election for Democrats, the Illinois General Assembly is now shifting gears for the veto session beginning this week as the state’s top Democrats anticipate exploring options to bolster state law to counter President-elect Donald Trump’s initiatives.

House Speaker Chris Welch (D-Hillside), left, and Republican Leader Tony McCombie (R-Savanna), right, at Inauguration Day in 2023. [Ben Szalinski/The Daily Line]

A hard-fought election appears it will leave the Illinois House exactly where it has stood for the past two years with Democrats maintaining their record 78-member supermajority and Republicans preserving their 40 seats.