The eight bills tackle consumer protections, chatbot transparency and how AI can be used in schools. Lawmakers said the lack of federal policy was part of their motivation for introducing legislation, by banding together with other states to create a standard.

The bill filed by Sen. Steve McClure, R-Springfield, was in response to an incident in Taylorville where a girl was sexually assaulted by an older, male student on the bus.

Advocates for the bill say it is rooted in compassion and will bring agency to already dying people in the last stages of life, while opponents cite religious concerns and potential harm to vulnerable populations.

Robert Gordon, a senior vice president at the American Property Casualty Insurance Association, said property losses from natural disasters are common in Illinois, and they have been growing more frequent.

Illinois’ new batch of lawmakers will face a number of challenges in 2025. Chief among them is a projected $3.2 billion budget deficit.

Despite holding 78 seats in the chamber, it took Democrats three tries to reach the 60 votes needed to approve more than $1.1 billion in revenue increases, including a tax hike on sportsbooks and businesses, to balance the $53.1 billion spending plan for fiscal year 2025.

The fiscal year 2025 spending plan, which came together over a stretch of late nights and closed-door dealmaking, spends $400 million more than what Gov. J.B. Pritzker proposed in his February budget address.

Supermajority Democrats in the Illinois House moved quickly Wednesday to push through a change to state election laws that partially limits ballot access and adds three nonbinding referendums to the 2024 general election ballot. 

The Illinois Food Safety Act passed on a 37-15 bipartisan vote and will head to the state House for consideration. The banned chemicals are used in a wide variety of food products.

Illinois is the only state that grants residents the right to sue over businesses’ improper collection and mishandling of biometric data — whether they are an employee or a customer. Business groups have been clamoring for changes as upwards of 2,000 lawsuits have been filed under the law since roughly 2018.

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.

Members of the Illinois legislature will reunite on Tuesday to take care of any unfinished business before the year’s end, including deciding the ultimate fate of measures rejected in whole or in part by Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

The appointment of Natalie Toro to represent a wide swath of Chicago’s Northwest Side in the Illinois Senate sets up a fierce battle next spring as the progressive political organizations and labor unions that helped elect Mayor Brandon Johnson push to consolidate their power.

The law expands the number of health practitioners who can provide certain types of abortions; requires Illinois public entities to cover abortion, gender-affirming and HIV-prevention drugs as part of health insurance; and establishes legal criteria for ensuring parental autonomy in reproductive technology.

Illinois’ leadership has shifted, with a fresh group of 177 lawmakers sworn in to office on Wednesday.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed the law Tuesday night , hours after it passed the legislature on the final day of the General Assembly’s session, and roughly six months since the July 4 mass shooting at the Highland Park Independence Day parade.