The Illinois Senate Executive Committee’s Subcommittee on Procurement met Thursday to discuss bills to encourage state contracts with companies in the United States, incentivize state data to be stored in Illinois and ban the state from purchasing tropical hardwood.  

The Executive Committee wrapped up a week of subcommittee subject matter hearings, positioning them to pass measures more quickly when they return to Springfield April 1. All the measures have had their committee deadlines extended, allowing them to be called for votes.  

Members of the Generative AI and Natural Language Processing Task Force present their report Wednesday in Springfield [BlueRoomStream]

As artificial intelligence explodes across social media, workplaces and classrooms, the General Assembly is looking at a myriad of bills to protect personal data and children in Illinois. 

The Senate Executive Committee’s AI and Social Media Subcommittee met Wednesday to discuss various bills proposed this session that aim to regulate the ever-growing technology.  

Illinoisans want more investment in public schools, higher wages for teachers and school board elections without influence from national politics, according to a new poll from the Illinois Education Association (IEA). 

Dueling measures in the Illinois House look to regulate fantasy sports Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0

The Illinois Senate Executive subcommittee on Gaming, Wagering and Racing heard subject matter Tuesday on dueling legislation to regulate fantasy sports. 

Pictured: Hemp plants. [Stephen Ward, Oregon State University / CC BY-SA 2.0]

The Senate Executive Committees’ Liquor Subcommittee heard subject matter testimony Tuesday on measures to regulate intoxicating hemp-infused beverages, remove a sunset on “cocktails to go” and remove some regulations from alcohol-infused ice cream. 

Gov. JB Pritzker advocates for a measure to ban cell phones in Illinois schools Thursday at Champaign Centennial High School [BlueRoomStream]

With a little more than two months to go before the May 31 scheduled adjournment, the Illinois General Assembly has moved most of the bills they’ll pass this year through committee.

But some widely discussed topics have yet to see any legislation make it past the respective assigning committees. That includes hemp regulations, which stalled during the lame-duck session in January when a bill backed by Gov. JB Pritzker received pushback from some House Democrats.

Ethics reform has remained a top area of discussion in Illinois — especially after former House Speaker Mike Madigan was charged with and found guilty of bribery, conspiracy and wire fraud charges. But despite lawmakers from both parties proposing measures to reform Illinois’ ethics laws, very little has been done this legislative session. 

The Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) issued a dire report Friday warning that if Illinois lawmakers fail to pass a funding solution before the end of the legislative session, as much as 40 percent of public transportation service in the Chicago-area would have to be cut. 

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

A measure to prevent carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) projects from potentially tainting drinking water in Central Illinois has received approval from House and Senate committees Thursday. 

Meghann Burke, attorney for the National Women’s Soccer League Players Association, Chicago Stars forward Ally Schlegel and goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher testify at the House Revenue and Finance Committee in December [BlueRoomStream]

An Illinois House committee unanimously approved a measure aimed to increase equity for women’s sports teams on Thursday.