“To have voted in favor of the bill would have been to betray my consistent stance that I will not vote in favor of any trailer bill that I feel lessens the original purpose, intent and/or effect of the SAFE-T act. There is a very simple test for me. All of law enforcement originally opposed the bill…Each trailer bill was either supported by law enforcement or they were neutral. The only reason for them to ease their stance is because they were able to weaken the original bill.

Attorneys Michael Shakman and Paul Lurie have filed a motion in Chicago federal court, opposing Gov. JB Pritzker’s efforts to force them to repay fees the court awarded them from the state as Pritzker argued in court that continued federal oversight of state hiring practices was no longer warranted.

House Bill 4218 aims to address the lack of hygiene products in Illinois Department of Corrections facilities.

Despite the amendments lawmakers approved, still at play in the challenge are the single subject rule pertaining to legislation being passed touching on more than one subject and the separation of powers argument where the legislative branch is encroaching on the judicial branch.

The House voted 95-11 to pre-authorize 12-year renewals for eight TIF districts, including four in Chicago. But state Rep. Jeff Keicher said during floor debate last week, “That money would go along towards helping the issues financially that we see in CPS and school districts throughout this state…It’s my grave concern that I see some of these TIFs being extended to 47 and 35 years from the original guideline there.”

The board reported that 4,142,642 out of 8,115,751 registered voters cast ballots in the election, a turnout of roughly 51 percent. That’s down from a turnout of more than 57 percent in 2018, but up from a 49 percent turnout in 2014.

An “omnibus” tax bill also includes a five-year extension of tax deductions for contributions to ABLE accounts, a savings program for people with disabilities; an expansion of the Live Theater Production tax credit to make more productions eligible for the credit; and a provision stating that any student loan forgiveness that may be approved by the federal government will not count as taxable income for Illinois taxes.

Sen. Jason Barickman is retiring at the end of the legislative session Jan 10, 2023. He worked for the Illinois House of Representatives and Senate for 12 years, ending as the minority caucus chair for the Senate Republicans. He also works as a partner in a real estate company and an adjunct political science professor for Illinois State University.

While GOP members of the Senate also expressed support, one member urged caution regarding these types of sanctions in the future. “Setting a hard baseline is important,” Senator Craig Wilcox said. “We cannot allow ideological differences within the General Assembly to drive the issuance of state sanctions. I do have concerns over what this could turn into if we don’t develop a firm set of ground rules for when this kind of action is appropriate.”

“Now that we are on the tail end of COVID, COVID is over, and now the mandates have been lifted, its time to go back to substantive bills being properly vetted on the House floor and held for a vote,” state Rep. Adam Niemerg said.

“In 2021, 26,904 educators earned six-figure salaries, while 16,592 retirees pocketed $100,000 pensions. That’s as test scores dropped, with only 31 percent of students reading at grade level. There were 18 school superintendents who made $300,000, and another 18 retired school superintendents received $300,000 in retirement pensions.”

“Consider that Illinois paid off its $4.5 billion debt to the federal government from the many billions of dollars in coronavirus financial aid it received from the federal government…Under those circumstances, neither the feds nor the borrower deserve plaudits for financial management or sobriety.”

In total, 12 bills passed both chambers ranging from the state’s unemployment insurance trust fund to more local interests with the Springfield High-Speed Rail Corridor Improvement Project. Gov. JB Pritzker was in Washington D.C. Thursday for a state dinner with French President Emmanuel Macron.