What to Expect in the Final Week in Springfield
The Capitol Rotunda at the Statehouse in Springfield.
As lawmakers head down the final stretch to their May 31 adjournment deadline, here’s a cheat sheet on some of the major issues still outstanding. As always, we expect some major stuff to pop up in the final hours of session next week and will keep you updated, but here’s a starting point:
BEARS/MEGAPROJECTS:
The House passed HB910 in April and the Governor, Bears, and Senate have all indicated they want major changes to the bill. Senate negotiations don’t appear to be going great, and it appears that last minute meddling from Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has complicated things even further. This is the issue that has sucked all of the oxygen out of the Capitol dome this spring and will likely continue to do so up until the final minutes of the spring session.
BUILD ILLINOIS PLAN
Governor JB Pritzker has been on a PR push to sell his home building plan that would cause a statewide standard for zoning and has led to some pushback from many mayors around the state. The Illinois Municipal League even published its own proposal, but the Pritzker administration essentially said “thanks, but no thanks.” The plan is currently split up in six senate bills, SB 4060, 4061, 4062, 4063, 4064 and 4071.
Meanwhile, the Governor’s other high profile proposal, banning cell phones in school, has cleared the House and is awaiting action in the Senate. It is SB2427. Sen. Cristina Castro (D-Elgin) has the bill in the Senate.
AI REGULATIONS:
The Senate has advanced a package of bills on AI regulation to the House. The main bill in the package is SB315, sponsored by Sen. Mary Edly-Allen (D-Libertyville). The bill requires AI companies to disclose safety policies and report “AI-related safety incidents,” whatever that means, to the state.
FY2027 BUDGET:
The House and Senate filed the Governor’s introduced budget as legislation, which was a bit of a break from standard operating procedure, but also gives us a baseline for what to expect the General Assembly to act on sometime late in the night on May 31st. HB131 and SB2512 hold that language, if you’re looking for some dry reading. There will also be a Budget Implementation, or BIMP, bill. We won’t see that until late next week, I’m sure. The major budget question will be if progressives can successfully push for more revenue, but Deputy Gov. Andy Manar basically said that isn’t on the table. All of the Bears brouhaha has really helped budget negotiations fly under the radar so far this spring.
Some other stuff worth watching:
