State Rep. Caulkins’ attorneys motioned for Justices Elizabeth Rochford and Mary O’Brien to recuse themselves before the case was heard in May because of $1 million political donations they each received from Gov. JB Pritzker last year. The justices denied those motions. Rochford wrote the majority decision upholding the law Friday. O’Brien joined the dissent.

In response to the veto, state Sen. Sue Rezin said Gov. JB Pritzker was putting his own partisan political ambitions ahead of the best interest of Illinoisans. She said that, if we want to reach a carbon-free future, then we must take advantage of what she calls massive advancements in nuclear technology.

When students go back to school, they also will have easier access to a mental health hotline number, which will be printed on their identification cards. The chosen hotline is Safe2Help, and it is available 24/7 through a state initiative.

Senate Bill 76, removing the moratorium on new construction of nuclear power plants, was vetoed because the vague definitions in the bill, including the overly broad definition of advanced reactors, will open the door to the proliferation of large-scale nuclear reactors that are so costly to build that they will cause exorbitant ratepayer-funded bailouts. Additionally, it provides no regulatory protections or updates to address the health and safety of Illinois residents who would live and work around these new reactors.

Among them, state Sen. Steve McClure said, “This ruling went as expected, with Illinois’ very political state Supreme Court ruling to protect their allies in the majority party. There are lawsuits against this ban which are still underway in the federal system, and which have a much better chance of getting a fair ruling on the merits of the law.”

“Hopefully, this will all be fixed. But…this is all too common in Springfield. Legislators and advocates regularly pass bills that require government spending and then don’t adequately engage during the budget-making process.”

Some of these bills were a matter of mostly bipartisan agreement, including one that would protect profits made by child vloggers under the age of 16. Others, however, like one allowing but not requiring businesses to mark multiple-occupancy restrooms as all-gender were subject of testy debate.

Injustice Watch found that limits in banking regulations, loose state watchdog laws and cost-cutting at almost every level of government have played roles in hampering efforts to protect the state’s elderly. Of 8,410 reports of financial exploitation last year, the state-contracted caseworkers verified evidence of abuse in just 462, about 5.5%, down from about 19% of cases a