The General Assembly canceled its Jan. 4 and 6 session dates, and will likely call the session off the following week as well “amid the ongoing global pandemic.”

Because of the pandemic, in 2020 the legislature was thrown a bit off course, so there weren't a ton of laws that took effect at the start of 2021. Not so for 2022. Dozens of measures will kick in starting Saturday.

“This extension is necessary as my office continues to address the heavy customer volume caused by the COVID-19 pandemic through expanded online services and the introduction of appointments at select Driver Services facilities,” Secretary of State Jesse White said in a statement Friday.

Illinois House Majority Leader Greg Harris, the highest-ranking openly gay lawmaker in Illinois history, said after 15 years, he’s ready to move on. His current term ends in 2023.

While both parties have gerrymandered, these days Republicans have more opportunities. The GOP controls the line-drawing process in states representing 187 House seats compared with 75 for Democrats. The rest of the states use either independent commissions, have split government control or only one congressional seat.

The former member of the Illinois House told a federal judge Wednesday that he offered a member of the Illinois Senate monthly payments of $2,500 to support a bill supported by a sweepstakes firm that he worked for as a lobbyist.

Their final product, which still needs Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s signoff, is designed to send 14 Democrats and three Republicans to Congress from Illinois. If the strategy works, Democrats will gain a seat from Illinois while the GOP will lose two.

Late Wednesday, the Illinois House of Representatives approved a measure that would repeal a law requiring parents and guardians be notified before their minor child can have an abortion. The measure now heads to Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

Spurred in part by Texas’ new restrictions on abortions, Illinois legislators on Tuesday took a step toward moving in the other direction, when the Illinois Senate voted to roll back a law that requires parents and guardians be notified before their minor child can have an abortion.

The state’s gigantic new energy law will change the source of Illinois’ power. The package aims to move Illinois to carbon-free energy by 2045, but it also serves to tip the scales in terms of who makes up the transforming energy industry.

Extolling redrawn state legislative districts as reflective of Illinois’ diversity, Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Friday signed into law a new set of maps that will come into play in next year’s election and elections over the next decade. 

A massive energy bill became law this week and among other things, it aims to get Illinois carbon-free by 2045. Meanwhile, Illinois COVID vaccination rates slow as the delta variant surges. And the legislature’s veto session is coming up in a month.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday signed into law a pledge to eliminate the state’s climate-damaging carbon emissions within a quarter-century, including money to keep clean-power nuclear plants running while shuttering coal-fired plants.

An ambitious – and controversial – energy package that aims to move Illinois to 100% clean energy within the next several decades is on the path to becoming law. 

The Illinois House is reconvening Thursday for what lawmakers hope will be the penultimate chapter of yearslong energy negotiations. And now it’s truly down to the wire for a far-reaching omnibus package.

Democrats have submitted new redistricting maps. Maps are redrawn every 10 years after the census, but because of late census numbers, this year’s process has been more contentious than others.