During their May meeting, the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) approved unified standards for determining student proficiency and heard policy recommendations from Illinois students.

Illinois is joining two lawsuits to preemptively stop the Trump administration from ceasing emergency response and infrastructure funding for states who do not assist with federal immigration enforcement. 

Already facing decreased revenue in recent years, federal trade policies present a threat to Illinois farmers trying to stay afloat. 

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell and California Attorney General Rob Bonta speak at a webinar in support of DEI programs Monday. [Zoom]

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul joined a panel Monday to push the legality of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in the face of federal action attempting to outlaw them. 

A measure to prohibit law enforcement from detaining someone based solely on the smell of cannabis passed the House Judiciary Criminal Committee Friday [Chmee2, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons]

The Illinois House Judiciary Criminal Committee passed bills to add a veterinary drug to the controlled substance list and prohibit law enforcement from stopping or detaining someone based solely on the smell of cannabis in their car. 

Ahead of a Friday deadline, the Illinois Senate voted Thursday to pass measures to streamline road construction land acquisition and ban “junk” fees. 

The Illinois House Gun Violence Prevention Committee met Wednesday to hear subject matter on a bill to expand gun storage requirements. 

The Illinois House Education Policy Committee on Wednesday approved an initiative of the governor to ban cell phones in Illinois classrooms.  

The Illinois House Judiciary Criminal Committee meets Tuesday in Springfield. 

The Illinois House Judiciary Criminal Committee met Tuesday to discuss a proposal to remove mandatory minimum sentencing for some crimes. 

The Illinois House is discussing a bill to find incentives to help young farmers. [Jonathan Babb, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons]

The Illinois House Agriculture and Conservation Committee approved measures Tuesday to improve the number of young farmers in the state, clarify state grant programs and create an exception to the rabies vaccine for pets.