Monday, November 27

8:00 a.m. - Doors open at the State Board of Elections as state candidates and their surrogates line up for a shot at the top of the ballot. The board is located in the Town and Country Shopping Center in Springfield, 2329 S MacArthur Blvd.

1:00 p.m. - The Business Enterprise Program Council’s Certification Subcommittee will meet in room 4-404 of the Thompson Center in Chicago. The public is also invited to join the meeting via teleconference by dialing (888) 494-4032, and using access number 2587213722. The body is expected to hold an appeal hearing for D.C. Excavation Services of Springfield. Agenda.

Tuesday, November 28

10:00 a.m. - Five House and Senate committees will hold a joint subject matter hearing on SB316 and HB2353, the twin bills containing the Cannabis Regulation and Taxation Act. Senate committees to appear include Appropriations I, and Commerce and Economic Development. The three House committees slated to appear: Appropriations-Public Safety Committee, Economic Opportunity Committee, and the Committee on Tourism, Hospitality & Craft Industries. The body will convene in room C-600 of the Bilandic Building in Chicago. SB316 is currently in the Senate Assignments Committee, while HB2553 remains in House Rules. Lawmakers are not expected to vote on either bill at this time.

10:00 a.m. - The Illinois Racing Board will meet in room 9-040 of the Thompson Center in Chicago. The group will consider renewal requests from six licensees in the state. The body recently announced its annual $750,000 charity program funding grant for non-profit organizations that provide health and wellness services to persons working or residing on the backstretch of Illinois’ pari-mutuel race tracks. The deadline to apply for the grant is Dec. 4. Grant application and description.  Agenda.

2:00 p.m. - The Institutional Review Board of the Department of Children and Family Services is scheduled to meet in suite -100, the Southwest Conference Room, of the Thompson Center in Chicago. The meeting will also be open to the public via teleconference by dialing (888) 806-4788, and using access code 9447161737#. The group’s chosen topic is anyone’s guess: No agenda or meeting minutes have been posted on the board’s official website since June of this year. Contact Chair Janet Ahern at (312) 633-3415 for more information.  

3:00 p.m. - The Working Group Regarding Treatment and Coverage of Substance Abuse Disorders and Mental Illness will meet in both Chicago and Springfield at the state’s Department of Public Health Offices. In Springfield, the public can attend in Conference Room, 535 W. Jefferson Street. In Chicago, the meeting will be held on the 35th floor conference room at 69 W. Washington Street.

Wednesday, November 29

8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. - The Illinois Chamber of Commerce will hold its fourth annual New Laws Forum in conjunction with the Illinois State Council’s Society for Human Resource Management. The all-day event will be held at the Hilton Lisle, 3003 Corporate West Drive, in Lisle, Illinois 60532. Government and legislative updates will start at 1:00 p.m. Panelists include: Sen. Mike Connelly (R-Wheaton), Sen. Heather Steans (D-Chicago), and Rep. Mark Batinick (R-Plainfield). Program.

1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. - The state’s Fire Advisory Commission will meet at the Springfield office of the State Fire Marshal, 1035 Stevenson Drive, in the auditorium. The commission will handle an intergovernmental agency agreement, and discuss their preliminary legislative and regulatory agendas. Agenda.

Thursday, November 30

1:00 p.m. - The House Appropriations-Human Services Committee will meet in C-600 of the Bilandic Building in Chicago for a subject matter hearing on Illinois Health and Family Services’ $12.5 million no-bid contract with consulting firm McKinsey and Company. The McKinsey contract is part of Gov. Bruce Rauner’s recent Medicaid overhaul deal worth $63 billion, the largest vendor contract in the state’s history. The body is not expected to vote on any legislation at this time.

Friday, December 1

9:00 a.m. - The Illinois Community College Board will meet at the Harry L. Crisp II Community College Center in Springfield. The group has not yet posted an agenda for the meeting. For more information, the board can be reached in their Springfield offices at (217) 785-0123.

09:30 a.m. - The Affordable Housing Trust Fund Advisory Commission of the Illinois Housing Development Authority will meet in the IHDA Board Room on the 11th floor at 111 E. Wacker Dr., in Chicago. No agenda has yet been made public.

The Eastern Illinois Economic Development Authority is scheduled to meet  at the EIEDA Office, 1817 South Neil Street, Suite 100, in Champaign. The board has posted neither a time, nor agenda for the upcoming meeting but Executive Director Andrew Hamilton can be reached for more information at (217) 359-6261, (866) 325-7525, or via email at [email protected].