Ricardo Diaz, a spokesperson for the CU Immigration Forum, said Title 42 has had a local impact in central Illinois. He said Champaign-Urbana could be getting some migrants from the border. “There’s a high possibility that people will come. People were coming from Chicago, they found this place to be friendly.”

The legislation was filed by Sen. Suzy Glowiak Hilton and Rep. Maurice West II in response to an incident last year when a Native American student at Evanston Township High School was told he couldn’t wear an eagle feather with his graduation cap.

State Rep. Amy Grant argued against the measure, saying if it was to pass, women would be at risk of missing out on important health care information. “Expecting mothers deserve to know about these risks associated with abortions. Pregnancy centers shouldn’t be afraid to share these truths so women can be fully informed and empowered to make the appropriate decision for themselves…”

The House passed Senate Bill 218 Wednesday, which will allow for firearms manufacturers to be sued for what policy makers deem deceptive practices. Another measure, House Bill 676, would do several things, including increasing the limits of where people can fire a gun from 300 yards to 1,000 yards from a residential area.

A recent report by Health Care and Family Services shows nearly $1 billion will be needed next year to provide taxpayer-subsidized health care for an expected influx of migrants to Illinois. State Rep. C.D. Davidsmeyer said that as a result, some Illinoisans are being left out. “We’re not helping children that are in harm’s way. We’re not providing the services needed for the developmentally disabled. We’re not providing a number of services on a number of levels.”

Gov. JB Pritzker said DeSantis’ career of “punching down and othering anyone” who stands against his so-called “petty tyranny” makes him a natural fit for the Lincoln Day Dinner co-hosted by the Peoria and Tazewell County Republican Central Committees. The Tazewell County Republican Party called Pritzker a “progressively liberal Marxist Governor,” and said the Democrat’s agenda is exactly why they’ve invited DeSantis to speak.

On Thursday, the governor gave suggestions for solutions that he said were made possible by the flexibility the state has since the healthcare program is not subject to the same regulation as Medicaid. “It is possible, for example, that there could be – for some people at certain income levels – copays that would defray the costs of the program,” he said. Another example would be to reexamine reimbursement rates.

“The fact that we’re asking people to wait in their countries for refuge . . . They are seeking refuge or asylum seekers for a reason. They shouldn’t have to wait there for asylum,” the representative said. “They’re going to die there. And that’s going to be on our backs. Right?”

Illinois Treasurer Michael Frerichs, a Democrat whose office manages an approximately $52 billion investment portfolio, said ESG is about looking at a wider range of risks and value opportunities that can have a material financial impact on investment performance. “Frankly, I’m deeply concerned by the highly orchestrated attacks on the investment profession and the focus on restricting investors’ freedom to exercise their professional discretion and fiduciary duty. To ask investment professionals to ignore material risks and investment opportunities is asking us to stop doing our jobs.”

Linda Moore acknowledged that the stock market had been down in the past two years, but said that if her office was handling the funds, there would not have been such a loss. Moore told the Council that the levy may have to increase next year, to cover the loss.

“…(N)either Naperville nor Illinois argue or present evidence that the banned firearms and magazines, which obviously help ‘facilitate armed self-defense'” and which are essential components of modern semiautomatic firearms (both handguns and rifles), are not in common use by Americans for lawful purposes. Yet the district court invented a test that they may be banned because they are ‘unusually dangerous,’ perverting the rule that only arms that are both ‘dangerous and unusual’ may be banned.”

Proponents say it will create thousands of clean energy jobs and put Illinois one step closer to meeting goals set out in the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act. Those jobs would be offered to underserved residents.

With Legal Aid Chicago now representing more than 30 clients whose benefits have been stolen, the measure now moves to the full state Senate for further consideration.

Gov. JB Pritzker said the General Assembly has committees and hearings and has addressed ethics concerns over time, but Ethics and Elections Committee member Ryan Spain said, “”What did we do in that committee yesterday? We took subject matter testimony on voting by jail, allowing convicted felons to vote while they’re serving their sentence in prison. This is the keep Mike Madigan voting program, essentially, that must be important as a priority to the Democratic leaders here in the General Assembly.”

“There’s an understanding that youth require more support and more compassion than our system gives them,” Madeleine Behr, CAASE’s policy director, said. Behr also said the bill is part of an ongoing movement toward racial justice in the criminal legal system. “This is going to be really important for Black and brown girls in particular.”

Jim Dey: “So it is that nearly two years after Urbana Democratic state Rep. Carol Ammons was dismissed from her leadership post in the Illinois House, her partner in collegiality breaches — Chicago state Rep. Mary Flowers — was dismissed as a deputy majority leader.”

It expands the Smoke Free Illinois Act, which forbade smoking in public buildings and within 15 feet of entrances.

“The program’s benefit reaches far beyond participating families. When kids in long-neglected neighborhoods get access to a strong, well-rounded education, those neighborhoods are better off, as is Chicago as a whole…For so long, Invest in Kids has been one of the General Assembly’s prized initiatives. Its demise would constitute one of Springfield’s biggest legislative blunders.”

The grants would be available to new or exiting grocery stores that are organized as independently owned for-profits, co-ops and nonprofit organizations as well as grocery stores owned by units of local government. Rep. Martin McLaughlin compared the idea to socialist nations that formerly made up the Soviet Union. “This is unbelievable to me that we are going to suddenly be the financiers of the private capital market, which should be driving the decision.”

The governor said the state is prepared to fulfill what he called “our obligation as Americans” to assist the migrants. He noted the migrants are all in the U.S. legally to seek asylum, and added the federal government is obligated to help states make sure the migrants are treated appropriately. “It’s a humanitarian crisis,” Pritzker said. “No doubt about it.”

“What’s been so frustrating is the lack of responsiveness – especially to the most impacted people,” craft grow license holder Akele Parnell said. “We’ve been asking for that for several years, and so really, all we need them to do is just act.”