103rd ILLINOIS GENERAL ASSEMBLY:
Both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly remain adjourned until the call of the presiding officer, with a January lame-duck Session tentatively scheduled for January 2 through 7. Members of the 104th General Assembly will be sworn into office on Wednesday, January 8.
Representative Bob Morgan introduced HB 5918, the Artificial Intelligence Systems Use in Health Insurance Act, which aims to regulate how health insurance companies in Illinois leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to make coverage decisions. The bill would give the Illinois Department of Insurance (IDOI) regulatory oversight of Illinois health insurance providers’ use of AI to make or support adverse determinations that affect consumers, such as care claims denials. It would effectively ban the sole use of machine-learning or generative AI to deny care or coverage, requiring any adverse decision to be reviewed by a healthcare professional. Additionally, the legislation would expand the type of information insurers would be required to share with the IDOI when using AI. It would also make changes to the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act that would give the IDOI discretion to quickly create rules for how insurers must disclose details of their AI use to consumers. Read more here.
The Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability’s Research Unit prepared biographies of new members of the 104th General Assembly. Read about the new members here.
Please note that the Illinois General Assembly website (ILGA.gov) is being redone and the new system will be launched January 8. The redesigned system is here.
Upcoming Subject Matter Hearings:
· The House Mental Health and Addiction Committee will hold a hearing on December 10 at 1pm in the Bilandic Building in Chicago to discuss psychedelics as behavioral health treatment (HB 1).
· The House Personnel and Pensions Committee will meet on December 13 at 10 am in the Bilandic Building in Chicago to discuss 2024 pension proposals.
· The House Revenue & Finance Committee will hold a subject matter hearing on December 16 at 9 am in the Bilandic Building in Chicago to discuss HB 5841 (Delgado).
2025 Spring Session Key Dates and Deadlines:
January 2 – 7: Tentative Lame Duck Session
January 8: Inauguration of the 104th General Assembly
January 24: House and Senate LRB Request Deadline (LRB Blackout Begins)
February 7: Deadline – Bill Introduction Deadline Both Chambers
February 19: Governor’s Budget and State of the State Address
March 21: Deadline – Committee Deadline Both Chambers
April 11: Deadline – Third Reading Deadline Both Chambers
May 9: Deadline – Committee Deadline Bills in Opposite Chamber
May 23: Deadline – Third Reading Deadline Bills in Opposite Chamber
May 31: Adjournment
GOVERNOR’S HIGHLIGHTS:
FY 2026 Budget Preparation: Deputy Governor Manar provided additional budget guidance to state agencies ahead of the crafting of the Governor’s FY 26 budget proposal. Manar warned agencies of the projected $3 billion budget shortfall for FY 26 and called the task of crafting a balanced budget “challenging.” Manar is asking agencies to identify programs that have increased in recent years, paying specific attention to those added in FY23, FY24, and FY25, and make suggestions for spending reductions and winding down of programs related to: line-item grants, grant programs, programs that assume increasing or additional out-year contributions, and other discretionary programs. Manar also asked agencies to identify and quantify operational efficiencies and program consolidations and potential vacancies that can be eliminated as well as develop implementation plans for proposed reductions or winding down of programs. Agencies were also advised to be mindful of the potential loss of federal funding and warned that the state would not backfill any of the associated spending pressures. The Governor will present his FY 26 budget to a joint session of the General Assembly on February 19.
Department of Early Childhood: Governor Pritzker appointed Dr. Teresa Ramos to lead the newly formed Illinois Department of Early Childhood (IDEC). Ramos currently serves as First Assistant Deputy Governor for Education in the Governor’s Office. She will begin serving as acting Secretary in January.
Prior to joining the Governor’s Office in 2022, Ramos held several roles focused on early childhood policy and advocacy. She served as Vice President of Public Policy, Research, and Advocacy at Illinois Action for Children, a nonprofit focused on child care and early education. Ramos also worked as Director of Community Engagement for Advance Illinois and assisted the Governor’s education transition team in 2018. Ramos holds a Ph.D. in Anthropology with a minor in Latina/Latino Studies from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, where she also completed her undergraduate degree.
Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant: The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Energy awarded $285,400 in the third round of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) Program. The EECBG Program supports municipalities and counties in developing or revising strategic energy/climate plans, as well as conducting energy audits and upgrading publicly owned buildings.
Receiving awards from this third round of funding are Crawford County ($108,000), City of Rochelle ($150,000), and the Village of Riverside ($27,400).
To date, the Illinois EPA has awarded a total of $1,837,082 through the EECBG Program, benefiting fourteen municipalities and counties across the state. A fourth and likely final round of EECBG funding is forthcoming, allowing the state to invest its remaining funds in energy efficiency projects identified in municipal and county plans.
Smart Manufacturing Lighthouse Program: Governor JB Pritzker, the Illinois Manufacturing Excellence Center (IMEC), and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) announced that the State has been awarded a $2 million federal grant for the Smart Manufacturing Lighthouse Program (SMLP). This funding will be provided by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains’ (MESC) State Manufacturing Leadership Program.
Through the Smart Manufacturing Lighthouse Program (SMLP), IMEC and DCEO will collaborate with local community and labor groups to provide resources, outreach, technical assistance, financial support, and workforce training to small and medium-sized manufacturers (SMMs). The SMLP will advance the goals of the Illinois Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA) by supporting technology adoption, reducing the energy burden for SMMs, and developing the workforce in underserved communities across the state. Read more here.
Clean Construction Materials: The Illinois Department of Transportation secured $31.6 million in federal funding to develop a program promoting the use of clean construction materials that lower greenhouse gas emissions. This award aims to support domestic manufacturing of eco-friendly concrete, steel, asphalt, and other building materials, thereby reducing pollution. Read more here.
Illinois Invent2Prevent Program: The Illinois Invent2Prevent (I2P) school safety and prevention program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, is inviting Illinois high schools to register for the free program running from January to May 2025. Managed by Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) and EdVenture Partners, in partnership with the Illinois Emergency Management Agency and Office of Homeland Security (IEMA-OHS), the I2P program empowers students to take an active role in creating safer school environments.
This initiative challenges high school students to design and implement peer-developed projects, tools, and strategies aimed at preventing targeted violence and hate within their schools and communities, using approaches they believe will be most effective. Students will receive mentorship and guidance throughout the project period, culminating in a competition and summit at SIUE, where each participating high school will receive a $1,000 budget to implement their project. Selected teams may also have the opportunity to compete in the national I2P competition in Washington, D.C., with all expenses paid by DHS.
For the January to May 2025 session, there are 5 spots available for Illinois high schools on a first-come, first-served basis. An additional 20 spots will be open for the October 2025 to March 2026 session.
Invasive Aquatic Weed Found in Second Illinois Waterway: Illinois officials are investigating after “one of the world’s worst aquatic weeds” was discovered in a suburban waterway. According to an alert from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, naturalists discovered Hydrilla growing in a waterway in suburban DuPage County. The reported cluster of Hydrilla is only the second known instance in the state of Illinois. The weed is illegal to buy, sell or transport in the state of Illinois, and may have inadvertently been released from a homeowner’s aquarium or water garden.
OTHER NEWS:
Illinois Supreme Court Rules on Smell of Cannabis in Vehicle: The Illinois Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that the smell of raw cannabis in a vehicle provides grounds for police to conduct a search, a decision that contrasts with the court’s previous ruling that the mere odor of burnt cannabis is insufficient justification for a vehicle search.
This new ruling creates a legal discrepancy, wherein drivers are protected from searches based solely on the smell of consumed cannabis, but not from searches based on the scent of raw marijuana. As the court explained in the Molina case, “the odor of raw cannabis strongly suggests that the cannabis is not being possessed within the parameters of Illinois law” and “reliably points to when, where, and how the cannabis is possessed — namely, currently, in the vehicle, and not in an odor-proof container.” Read more here. The full ruling is here.
Vision 2030: Five statewide education organizations collaborated to release “Vision 2030,” a comprehensive blueprint outlining their plan for the future of education in Illinois. The vision rests on three key pillars: future-focused learning, shared accountability, and predictable funding. Read the plan here.
Labor Alliance for Public Transit: The Illinois AFL-CIO and Chicago Federation of Labor (CFL) launched the Labor Alliance for Public Transit, a historic coalition of over thirty local unions working together to preserve and expand access to public transit across Illinois.
The Labor Alliance aims to address the $730 million fiscal cliff facing the Northeastern Illinois transit systems under the RTA in 2026. Without a solution, the CTA, Metra and Pace could face devastating cuts, including major layoffs, route or line eliminations, service reductions, station closures, and the cancellation of capital improvement projects. These drastic measures would jeopardize communities, further damage the region’s transit systems, and cause massive disruptions to Illinois’ economy and workforce.
New Detention Policy in Cook County: Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke announced a policy change regarding the implementation of the SAFE-T Act. Prosecutors in the county will now be required to seek pre-trial detention for individuals accused of violent crimes, domestic violence, sex offenses, and crimes against children. Read more here.