ComEd’s four-year proposal would increase the average Chicago-area residential electric bill by about $6.72 next year and raise it by a cumulative $17 by 2027. That’s about an 18% jump from today’s average $93 bill. The utility maintains that’s the price of beefing up the electric grid in a statewide effort to roll out a million electric vehicles by 2030 and phase out carbon emissions from power plants by 2050, as outlined in landmark state legislation signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker in 2021.

House Bill 2878 and House Joint Resolution 23 both include provisions that would expand the scope of public-private infrastructure partnerships, in effect ceding a portion of control over planning and development to private entities, opponents said. The infrastructure most immediately in question is I-55, specifically a plan to expand the highway by adding express toll lanes that would be managed by a private party.

Before adjourning Friday, state Rep. Steven Reick said he’s ashamed of the legislature. “We’ll probably be here until 3 o’clock on some morning just in order to pass a budget because that’s the tradition,” Reick said. “The tradition is dropping it at 3 in the morning so nobody sees what we do under the cover of darkness.”

In the month before essential movement went into effect, Sheriff Tom Dart said 73% of people on electronic monitoring in Cook County who asked to leave home for a specific reason were allowed to do so, with the reasons ranging from regularly scheduled doctor appointments, job interviews and laundry runs. But from Jan. 1, 2022 until May 1, 129 people in Cook County have been arrested while on such passes; 29 of them were gun-related charges.

“This bill will prohibit out-of-state law enforcement from utilizing automatic license plate data gathered in Illinois to prosecute people seeking legal reproductive health in Illinois,” state Sen. Sara Feigenholtz said. The measure also would prohibit the use of such camera data by out-of-state law enforcement for tracking down undocumented migrants in Illinois.

“I understand the intent, we want to help those that need to be served, however, there are much better ways to do it than putting the future taxpayer on the hook of Illinois, and having the government run grocery stores is an absolute, horrendous idea,” state Rep. Martin McLaughlin said.

The unions claim the program strips money from public schools, but that’s nonsense. The scholarships are privately funded, and the Invest in Kids Act was part of a bipartisan bill that created an evidence-based funding model and provided $350 million a year to Illinois public schools. Since the scholarship program started, Illinois has funneled an extra $1.3 billion into public education.

The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation may soon be unable to require criminal background information from certain applicants for licensure. Under current law, the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation may consider mitigating factors and evidence of rehabilitation contained in an applicant’s record after finding that the applicant for a license, certificate, or registration was previously convicted of a felony or misdemeanor.

Multiple trade organizations and the Chicago and Illinois Chambers of Commerce noted that potential negligence damages would increase by 50% and expressed concerns about the electronic signature provisions.

“The automatic underfunding of pensions in the state budget has severe consequences for the overall fiscal health of Illinois. Despite claims of passing a balanced budget, inadequate pension contributions automatically tip the scales towards imbalance. The failure to address this issue not only exacerbates the pension crisis but also undermines the long-term financial stability of the state.”

There’s too much at stake, says U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, for Republicans to dig in on the debt ceiling crisis.

Said Pastor Corey Brooks, CEO of Project HOOD – a well-known nonprofit community development organization in Woodlawn, “Sometimes I think, in our community, we fail to make the tough decisions until things just die.”

“We believe that children with special needs only get one chance at a quality education. It is alarming and unacceptable that Governor Pritzker, Speaker Chris Welch, and Senate President Don Harmon would even consider terminating this program…The Invest in Kids Act is set to expire unless these political leaders quickly become education champions and save the program by removing the sunset. It’s that simple.”

HB2245, if signed by Gov. JB Pritzker, will force any car manufacturer which sells its vehicles in the state to create a 24/7 hotline for use by law enforcement to obtain a stolen car’s location to the best of a manufacturer’s technical abilities. Cook County Sheriff Thomas Dart helped to craft the bill and he wants to see similar legislation at the federal level.

The Farm to Food Bank pilot program has been administered by Feeding Illinois and was launched in 2021 with grant funding from USDA. The program connects food banks with Illinois farmers to establish a pipeline of fresh food for food pantries throughout the state. It also provides a secondary market for products that might be left in the field or trees, or blemished products.

Jim Dey: “This is Illinois — the state where financial prudence goes to die. There’s always a caveat. Even as Mendoza applauded another step toward fiscal probity, Gov. J.B. Pritzker and his legislative supermajority are preparing to pass new budget that shortchanges the state’s five public pension systems by $4.4 billion.”

While the economy has proved resilient in many places, it has had an uneven effect on cities. The pressures facing municipalities include the imminent end of federal pandemic aid, uncertainty around the economic condition of downtowns, inflation, and increased demand for social services and other city services.

Passing a budget is arguably the single must-happen task for lawmakers and it was supposed to have been done by Friday, but that self-imposed deadline came and went without any budget action. Other proposals remain in flux, including significant packages to do with elections, cannabis and red light cameras.