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.  

Gov. JB Pritzker holds a news conference in Chicago on Thursday. [Ben Szalinski/The Daily Line] 

Illinois lawmakers return to Springfield on Tuesday and could begin lining up legislative responses to proposals made by incoming President-elect Donald Trump’s administration.  

Gov. JB Pritzker speaks at a Think Big America event during the Democratic National Convention in August. [Ben Szalinski/The Daily Line]   

Democrats’ top priority of electing Vice President Kamala Harris to help preserve reproductive rights nationally was rejected by voters. But Tuesday was a strong night for Gov. JB Pritzker’s Think Big America group as voters approved new abortion laws around the country.