First week of Veto Session left many issues unaddressed After the first week of veto session in the Illinois House concluded last week, there are still a number of priorities that House…
Veto Session Starts Next Tuesday The first week of our two-week veto session will begin on Tuesday, October 24. Lawmakers will consider not only Governor Pritzker’s vetoes of bills enacted…
DCFS Director is Out on December 31st https://chicago.suntimes.com/politics/2023/10/4/23903234/dcfs-director-marc-smith-resignation-illinois This announced resignation is overdue and is a step in the right direction. But make no mistake, much more than a new…
Week 1 Without Cash Bail Under a new law that went into effect on Monday, Illinois courts can no longer impose cash bail on defendants after a due-process hearing. The Prairie State…
Elimination of Cash Bail Officially Takes Effect in September By a vote of 5-2 the Illinois Supreme Court has sided with legislative Democrats supporting the elimination of cash bail for…
Grocery/Gas Taxes rising July 1 The temporary pause in state taxes on groceries put in place last year will be over at the end of this month, so, unfortunately, families…
The Budget is Now Signed into Law Governor Pritzker this week signed the $50.6 billion state budget passed by the majority party in the final hours of our spring session…
More Spending, More Budget “Losers” In the early morning hours today we got our first look at the Democrats’ Fiscal Year 2024 “Budget Agreement” that was announced with much fanfare…
5 Days and Counting We have five scheduled session days left in our spring session and still no budget draft from the majority party. House Republicans have not been included in the…
Ensuring Group Homes are Safe This week was a busy week on the House floor, and also in a State Audit Commission hearing, where I and others called for a…