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.  

Illinois voters cast ballots in the March 19 primary.

The 2024 primary season was marked by expensive races to unseat incumbents along with several big-spending candidates who fell short of their bids to be their party’s nominees.  

How much did candidates in top races for the General Assembly spend per vote in the first three months of 2024 and was it enough to win over voters on the March 19 primary?

The Illinois Capitol   

The House continued moving toward their Friday deadline to pass House bills to the Senate, moving 63 bills on Tuesday with more than 400 bills that could possibly be passed by the end of the week.  

Gov. JB Pritzker speaks at a news conference in Chicago on Monday. [Gov. JB Pritzker/Facebook] 

The Illinois Senate voted unanimously on Thursday to pass a bill that would prevent credit reporting agencies from using medical debt in credit reports. The bill’s passage comes as Gov. JB Pritzker prioritizes a plan in his Fiscal Year 2025 budget proposal to eliminate medical debt for thousands of Illinoisians.  

The Senate conducts business on April 12. [Blue Room Stream] 

The Senate voted to advance a pair of key measures on Friday ahead of the chamber’s deadline to pass Senate bills on to the House, including bills requiring insurance to cover in vitro fertilization (IVF) and establishing a new state department for childhood issues.  

Officials told a House committee that it’s challenging to calculate the cost of a bill that would raise the threshold for the estate tax. And the Senate passed a bill giving the Illinois Emergency Management Agency and Office of Homeland Security (IEMA-OHS) new rule-making powers. 

Sen. Bill Cunningham (D-Chicago) speaks at a news conference in Springfield in March. [Blue Room Stream] 

The Senate advanced long-awaited reform to the state’s biometric privacy law that has cost many businesses hundreds of millions, or even billions, of dollars in massive lawsuits. But despite having some concerns addressed, business groups are still opposed. 

Supporters of a plan to create hemp regulation hold a news conference in Springfield on Thursday. [Ben Szalinski/The Daily Line]   

A bipartisan group of lawmakers and top cannabis business groups are pushing to create new regulations for hemp while also banning Delta-8 products until more research is conducted and regulations are implemented.  

House Speaker Chris Welch (D-Hillside) speaks to the Illinois Chamber of Commerce annual meeting in Springfield on Wednesday. [Blue Room Stream]   

House Speaker Chris Welch (D-Hillside) has a new message for his caucus this year: play the infinite game.  

Welch gives his caucus a new book each session that is designed to impart a theme for members to follow for the spring. The books are often on leadership topics and this year it’s “The Infinite Game” by Simon Sinek. 

Senate President Don Harmon (D-Oak Park) told a business leader gathering what his message was to Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf. And Senate Minority Leader John Curran (R-Downers Grove) told business leaders they need to be more active to counter pushes by organized labor.