The Illinois legislature is not coming back this year. What does that mean for the Black Lives Matter movement and the state budget?
Kim Lightford

Illinois’ Black legislators plan to capitalize on the intense focus on inequalities instigated by the killing of George Floyd to push forward this fall a robust policy agenda to root out systemic racism.

Black elected officials are demanding transformational change in the wake of George Floyd’s death and the attention it has brought to systemic racism — and they’re demanding the state provide money to back it up.

Illinois’ primary election isn’t until March, but perhaps the most consequential state race of the year has already taken place, as state senators on Sunday elected a new president: Sen. Don Harmon of Oak Park.

Senators have been scrambling since Senate President John Cullerton made a surprise announcement that he’ll resign in the new year, leaving vacant one of the most powerful positions in state politics.