Among them, House Bill 3247, also known as The Safe Schools for All Act, will ensure that Illinois students will be guaranteed a public education regardless of their immigration status or their parents’ immigration status. Schools will not be permitted to discourage students from going to school based on their real or perceived immigration status, such as asking for Social Security Numbers.

“…(I)n 2019, we created a cocktails to go statute with a sunset,” said Rep. Bob Rita. “Senate Bill 618 removes that sunset and makes that a permanent program. It clarifies what cocktails are to go.”

There are customers in Illinois paying $75 before they even use a drop of water. Now new legislation targets those extra charges.

After announcing grants to address homelessness in Springfield Monday, Gov. JB Pritzker said Illinois would be hurt if that money was not in state government coffers. “The decoupling is an effort to try and hold back the onslaught from the federal government to make sure that we can support programs like the one we’re announcing today,” he said. “So that’s what the purpose is.”

“So, the bottom line overall is that without notable growth expected in the state’s primary resources, and with no significant one-time revenue streams on the horizon, … a relatively stagnant revenue outlook probably should be anticipated this fiscal year,” the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability’s revenue manager Eric Noggle said. “So it’s not the best news for fiscal year ’27.”

The information section was a bright spot in Illinois. It grew at 6.49 percent and created 5,800 jobs during the past 12 months.

The revisions to the incentive program, which does not have an annual spend cap but does limit per-person compensation, include increasing the credit value for hiring Illinois residents and engaging Illinois vendors from 30 percent to 35 percent. Lawmakers have also added a 5 percent additional stackable bonus incentive for productions filmed outside of Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will counties.

“Our state is tough and resilient and forward-looking. Far from heading toward the abyss, as some predicted, we are on the verge of delivering a world class transportation network,” Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat, said. “This new law not only averts the ‘cliff,’ but preserves affordability and makes transit safer and more reliable.”

A new law aims to bolster Illinois’ response to trafficking cases by enabling faster victim identification and enhancing survivor support through improved coordination, training and services.

“Do as you have, because, frankly, I’m very proud of the way that Illinoisans have reacted to [Customs and Border Patrol] and [Immigration and Customs Enforcement], and that’s in pulling out your whistles and your phones, video everything, post it online,” Gov. JB Pritzker said.

Companies are eyeing areas like downstate Illinois because land is cheaper. The locations are even better if energy sources are more readily available. The data center boom has generated concern in some communities about the high water requirements for cooling and the loss of farmland in rural communities.

“If people have been surprised by costs going up recently, just you wait,” said a local expert.