GOVERNOR’S HIGHLIGHTS:
Gubernatorial Appointments: The Governor appointed the following:
· Sharon Bush will serve as a member of the Illinois Board of Higher Education.
· Terrance B. McGann will continue to serve as a member of the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority.
103rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY:
The Illinois General Assembly reconvenes in the Fall Veto Session October 24 – 26 and November 7 – 9. The General Assembly could consider three amendatory vetoes and three total vetoes as well as other matters.
The House Ethics and Elections subject matter hearing on election security which was scheduled for September 27 was canceled. The hearing is expected to be rescheduled in the coming weeks.
The House Health Care Licenses Committee and the House Labor Committee will hold a joint subject matter hearing on October 3 at 10 am in the Bilandic Building in Chicago (and virtually) to discuss healthcare worker staffing ratios.
The Senate Special Committee on the Chicago Elected Representative School Board will hold a hearing on October 3 at 5 pm in Virtual Room 1 to discuss the drawing of the new Chicago elected school board districts.
The Senate Special Committee on the Chicago Elected Representative School Board will hold a hearing on October 12 at 5pm in Virtual Room 1 to discuss the fully elected representative school board transition process.
OTHER NEWS:
2024 Election Update: Two additional candidates emerged in the open 76th House District currently represented by retiring Democrat Representative Lance Yednock. DeKalb mayor Cohen Barnes and DeKalb Alderwoman Carolyn Zasada both announced their intentions to run in the Democratic primary. They will face fellow Democrat Amy “Murri” Briel, who is a long-time Yednock staffer, in the primary.
Former Quincy mayor Kyle Moore is running the open 99th House District to replace retiring Representative Randy Frese. Moore currently serves as the CEO of Great River Economic Development Foundation.
Kankakee County Board member Larry Kerkstra announced he will run as a Democrat in the 79th House District which is currently held by Republican Representative Jackie Haas. He will face former Governor Pat Quinn aide Billy Morgan and retiring Kankakee school superintendent Genevra Walters in the primary.
Two Republicans will compete in the primary to face first-term Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski in the 13th Congressional District. Thomas Clatterbuck, 3 a third-year student at the University of Illinois College of Law, will face Joshua Loyd in the Republican primary.
Democrat David Simpson is seeking the Democratic nomination to challenge Republican Representative Brad Fritts. Simpson is a lumber salesman who ran for State Senate in 2018.
Former Livingston County Board member Mike Kirkton joins a growing field of candidates in the Republican primary in the open 53rd Senate District being vacated by retiring Senator Tom Bennett.
Republican State Representative Paul Jacobs will seek reelection to the 118th House District.
UAW Strike: United Auto Workers employees in Bolingbrook and Naperville have joined the national walkout against the Big Three automakers, Ford, General Motors and Stellantis. Thus far, workers at the Ford assembly plant on Chicago’s South Side have not joined the national strike.
BIPA: Last week, the Illinois Supreme Court heard oral arguments in two class action suits brought by two suburban nurses who allege their employers violated the state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act. The nurses allege that by not requiring written releases from employees who must use fingerprint scans to access medicine cabinets, the hospitals and the company who makes the medicine cabinets, violated the provisions of BIPA. Lawyers for the defendants argued that this particular scenario falls under the BIPA exemption for “health care treatment, payment, or operations under the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.” Read more here.