Illinois State Representative and former University of Illinois football player Kam Bucker has turned focus on gender equity, guaranteed education benefits and more to protect student-athletes moving forward. He hopes to get his bill passed during Springfield’s November veto session.

“I think we have to be really careful with all the money that is being spent,” said Ted Dabrowski of Wirepoints. “The state, the city, has spent a lot of money on programs, and they are very difficult to measure. They are difficult to find out what the right metrics are. Are they working or are they not working? Are these groups professional, and can these groups succeed?”

The swimmer “posted signs in protest in the women’s locker room reading, ‘Women’s Rights,’ ‘Biological Women Only,’ and ‘Safe Sport.’ Because of her signs, she was kicked off the swim team.” The Illinois Freedom Caucus called it an “outrageous decision of the Springfield YMCA to put young girls in danger by allowing biological men access to their changing rooms.”

Bill Redpath, of the Libertarian Party of Illinois: “If a third party wanted to run candidates for all U.S. House and Illinois House and Senate districts in 2024, it would take about 450,000 valid signatures — probably at least 675,000 total signatures — to be gathered in 90 days to get those candidates on the ballot. Include a statewide petition to put a presidential ticket on the ballot, and that number will increase to more than 700,000 total signatures, compared with about 130,000 total for Republicans and Democrats to qualify for the ballot in all districts and place their presidential

Tom Weitzel, former Riverside’s chief of police: “I had personal experience with the process as police chief in Riverside. We trained and designated one individual to oversee expungements. We complied with all court orders and notified the FBI — but the FBI often did not expunge the charge.”

Requests by parents to ask trans individuals to use the private bathrooms and send out an email informing the swim team of the policy were denied by the YMCA according to the young swimmer’s father. In a statement, the Illinois Freedom Caucus said they were proud of the high school student’s courage to share her experience with the public.

FY19 held the previous record for hotel revenues with $296 billion. FY23 holds a new record of $308 billion in hotel revenue. Gov. JB Pritzker said Illinois welcomed 111 million visitors who spent $44 billion in 2022.

The change will only apply to any new public buildings with an occupancy of over 100 people and properties that are 5,000 square feet or larger.

The hotel tax revenue number is still below pre-pandemic levels when factoring in inflation, but remains an important financial boost for a state that has leaned more heavily in recent years on taxes tied to tourism and the convention industry.

The delay was not unexpected — the Illinois secretary of state’s office said at the time the measure took effect that it would need until 2024 to accommodate the additional gender marker on IDs. But while the office now says it’s “ready to launch,” other entities affected by the change – including crime and healthcare databases – have expressed the need for more time.