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“While policies can favor one class of technology over another, neither political rhetoric nor financial largesse can make the impossible possible. … Delivering reliable 24–7 electricity using episodic power sources (wind and solar) unavoidably necessitates both over-building (to supply extra energy) and some kind of energy-storage system. The combination of these two requirements leads to a doubling or tripling of delivered energy costs compared with the ‘spontaneous’ cost of one machine operating.”

House Republican leader Tony McCombie, who chose not to vote on the bill, questioned why workers from the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services weren’t part of the measure. She referred to DCFS employees, Pamela Sue Knight and Deidre Silas, who were killed during the performance of their duties at home visits in recent years.

U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski has introduced a bill that would prevent the U.S. Postal Service from making major changes to processing and distribution centers — such as Champaign’s Mattis Avenue facility — based in regions with poor delivery rates.

Right now, Illinois sports books pay 15 percent tax on their revenue. But Gov. JB Pritzker’s latest budget proposal would spike the tax to 35 percent. Sports betting companies warn the tax hike may drive all but the top three sportsbooks out of Illinois.

State Rep. Kam Buckner explained his plan could allow athletes to earn Name Image and Likeness compensation directly from their universities as permitted by the NCAA. The proposal would also block press or the public from requesting how much athletes make from their private NIL deals.

Two points of contention are landowner protections and safety regulations around the pipelines.

State Sen. Jason Plummer argued the bill could actually backfire, crippling local media.  A local media owner “has to go out and disclose to the world four months in advance that he’s thinking about selling it. He has to open up his employees and his advertisers to being poached, and it destroys the value of his business,” Plummer said.

In response to the state legislative proposals to ban certain FDA-approved food additives, the National Confectioners Association said states shouldn’t get ahead of the federal government.

Richard Porter, National Committeeman to the RNC from Illinois: “The closest precedent is probably Anne Boleyn’s trial for adultery in 1536. It was about sex, the trial was in a hostile jurisdiction controlled by her accuser, and the whole point of the exercise was to lop off the head of someone who stood in the way of the regime’s continuity.”

A new Electronic Notary system administered by the Illinois Secretary of State’s office allows both the customer and notary to sign with an electronic signature and to electronically attach both the notarial certificate and notary seal to a document.

The justices agreed with the appellate panel’s assertion that “Illinois courts have recognized that an employee of a corporation can be a third party for purposes of finding a defamatory statement was published.” Among those examples are interoffice reports and other communications that don’t constitute “the corporation talking to itself.”

Sponsors of the bill believe students in 6th through 8th grade should learn the differences between synthetic and non-synthetic opioids and illicit drugs as well as the variations of fentanyl. Local school boards would be able to decide content that is age appropriate for students to learn about the drug.

“Right now, (the governor) is leaving vacant four positions that are, that have to be non-Democrats and he is artificially weighting this board towards his favor, what he wants to see which is more releases, a higher release rate and obviously we’re seeing some pretty bad results because of that,” state Sen. John Curran said.

Unions are marshaling resources at the statehouse, where Democratic House Floor Leader Jay Hoffman, a labor ally, is pushing a measure that would require the Illinois Commerce Commission to consider the impact to union jobs when it decides rate cases or other utility orders.

The Anti-Defamation League’s Audit of Antisemitic Incidents reported that Illinois saw 211 separate antisemitic incidents of assault, harassment or vandalism last year, up 74 percent from 2022. Out of that total, 68 percent took place following the Hamas attack that began an ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.

The Deerfield-based company has been cutting jobs every few months over the last year. In May of last year, Walgreens said it was eliminating 504 corporate jobs, representing about 10 percent of its corporate workforce at the time. Then, in July, Walgreens said it planned to cut 393 jobs at a southern Illinois distribution center. This January, Walgreens said it was eliminating 145 mostly corporate positions across the company, following a cut of 267 positions just months earlier.

The company told the state the cuts will start in mid-June. In a bankruptcy filing last week, Oberweis said it has more than $4 million in debt.

Jim Dey: “There was no definitive quid pro quo — you do this and I’ll do that — shown. But it was clear from the evidence that ComEd felt dispensing favors was necessary to keep (former House Speaker Mike) Madigan ‘happy’ and friendly to their proposals, including rate hikes.”

The states have signed a Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) that will ensure state attorneys general and the DOT’s Office of Aviation Consumer Protection are collaborating on consumer complaints of unfair or deceptive practices being used by airlines.

Those voting against the resolution included Illinois Reps. Danny Davis (D-IL), Chuy Garcia (D-IL), Jonathan Jackson (D-IL), Delia Ramirez (D-IL), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and Lauren Underwood (D-IL).

Illinois has already helped in a myriad ways. The state’s National Guard deployed to Poland to help Ukrainians seeking refuge, while the state and private businesses have sent a combination of body armor, face shields, helmets, ambulances and fire trucks.