One bill would require facilities that store electric vehicle batteries to register with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency by 2026. The state’s Pollution Control Board would set the regulations for the proper storage of EV batteries.
General Assembly
At least two sitting members of the Illinois state legislature – including the longest-serving member of the General Assembly – won’t be returning to Springfield next year after losing their primary races Tuesday.
While the office of circuit court clerk might not be as well-known as other county offices up for grabs Tuesday, it is a powerful perch. The clerk controls more than 1,400 jobs and handles everything from evictions to traffic tickets to child support.
The law passed last year came in response to the large number of constitutional challenges that were filed in multiple jurisdictions challenging Pritzker’s COVID-19 mitigation orders, as well as a law ending cash bail in Illinois and the state’s 2021 assault weapons ban.
Under the new law, voters will elect 10 members in Novembers while Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson will appoint 10 members of his choosing, plus the board president. That leaves the board under mayoral control until 2027, when the city would move to a fully-elected school board.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s proposed spending plan anticipates $52.9 billion in revenue, with new funds raised by increasing certain corporate tax rates, lowering personal and business income tax deductions and making other tax changes.
Illinois has laws to protect against gender discrimination in pay, but it can be difficult for workers to know whether there’s a pay discrepancy. That may be easier to figure out starting next year.
State Rep. Bob Morgan said banning guns at polling places is necessary given rising security concerns surrounding elections. Gun rights advocates said the proposal is an answer in search of a problem.
A plan headed to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s desk will allow voters in November to choose half of the Chicago Board of Education. Johnson will appoint the other half, plus its president.
Chicago is on the path to getting the hybrid school board preferred by Mayor Brandon Johnson, with the Illinois Senate’s begrudging approval of legislation Tuesday finalizing the transition to an elected school board.
A Republican proposal that would give citizens the ability to propose ethics-related constitutional amendments on the ballot received a bipartisan boost Tuesday when former Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn endorsed it.
More money for migrants, increased access to preschool, a break on grocery bills and a prescription for how the state could wipe out medical debt — those are some of the spending plans in Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s nearly $53 billion state budget.
Statewide, 88% of judicial and state legislative primaries feature either a single candidate or no one running at all. This is the highest number of uncompetitive primaries for those seats in at least 20 years, according to a Capitol News Illinois analysis of data going back to 2004.
A new bill in the General Assembly would seek to remove the roughly $200,000 cap on payments to exonerees that maxes out at the 14-year mark, replacing it with a payout of $50,000 per year, capped at just over $2 million.
A bill pending in the General Assembly would give back roughly 1,500 acres of park land in DeKalb County to the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation. That tribe once occupied much of the Great Lakes region but was forcibly removed in the 19th century.
Illinois’ insurance code prohibits discrimination, but state Rep. Will Guzzardi said there’s a difference between impact and intent. Even if insurance agents aren’t doing it maliciously, Guzzardi said, algorithms end up perpetuating inequities and punishing people of color and low-income drivers.