Chicago Bears CEO Kevin Warren speaks at a news conference at Soldier Field on Wednesday. [Ben Szalinski/The Daily Line]  

The Chicago Bears want $2.4 billion from the state of Illinois to build a new stadium and reimagine the current Chicago museum campus and Soldier Field property. But the plan was immediately met with little interest from Springfield’s top policy makers.

Sen. Steve Stadelman (D-Caledonia) speaks at a news conference in January. The graphic on the right shows which counties in Illinois are most deprived of local news, according to the task force report. [Ben Szalinski/The Daily Line]   

The Illinois Senate approved a bill last week that is designed to spark interest from the next group of young journalists and keep newsroom ownership local, though the bill was watered down from a more aggressive version that would have created tax credits for newsrooms.

Rep. Bob Morgan (D-Deerfield) speaks on the House floor on Thursday. [Blue Room Stream]

Small extra fees are everywhere — from credit card processing fees to surcharges on a restaurant check to the various fees that appear when buying airline or event tickets. It’s time to bring those out into the open, Rep. Bob Morgan (D-Deerfield) said.

Members representing pharmacies, pharmacy benefits managers, consumers and state departments participate in the House Healthcare Availability & Accessibility Committee on Monday. [Blue Room Stream]

Health insurance reform has been the dominant issue in Springfield this session and lawmakers are toying with more changes to further regulate pharmacy benefits managers (PBM).

Members of the House are slowing down the process on legislation that had been moving forward from Rep. Thaddeus Jones (D-Calumet City) and spent Monday trying to learn what PBMs do. But the hearing often left more questions than answers about the complex branch of the health insurance industry and was largely missing a key voice on the topic — the PBMs.

The Illinois Capitol   

The House concluded their deadline week to pass bills to the Senate on Friday after passing 324 bills during the week. Measures advanced toward the end of the week included a bill to criminalize AI-generated child pornography, criminalizing sexual acts with an 18-year-old student and a ban on certain large cats and Australian animals as pets.  

Gov. JB Pritzker suggested Thursday night he would favor a leadership change at the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA). The House voted to pass a bill cracking down on drivers who park alongside the expressway waiting to pick up travelers at O’Hare. And the federal government recognized the Shab-eh-nay Reservation land in DeKalb County.

Rep. Margaret Croke (D-Chicago) speaks on the House floor on Thursday. [Ben Szalinski/The Daily Line] 

A bill to pause school closures in the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) made it through the House Thursday as accusations of racism were lobbed at the sponsor of the bill — a message most House Democrats rejected. 

Gov. JB Pritzker and Rep. Anna Moeller (D-Elgin) speak at a news conference on Thursday on the passage of the Healthcare Protection Act. [Ben Szalinski/The Daily Line] 

The House voted 81-25, with two voting present, on Thursday night to pass Gov. JB Pritzker’s plan to make major changes to health insurance regulations in Illinois with new limits on step therapy and prior authorization.  

Rep. Margaret Croke (D-Chicago) presents a bill in the House in 2023. [Ben Szalinski/The Daily Line]   

The House passed 71 bills on Wednesday as they move toward their Friday deadline to pass legislation to the Senate, including a bill cracking down on “ghost networks” referenced by Gov. JB Pritzker in his State of the State address.  

The Senate is set to take up a bill that would ban certain food additives. And thousands rallied at the Illinois Capitol in opposition to abortion at the annual Illinois March for Life, including Republican lawmakers who condemned Democrats’ recent pro-abortion policies.