* Daily Herald…

The Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition introduced a hefty legislative package Tuesday outlining potential solutions in the power, buildings and transportation sectors. […]

In targeting Illinois’ electric grid, one of the bills seeks to speed up the approval and connection of clean energy projects, update state energy efficiency policies, reduce barriers to building transmission lines and require transparent energy planning by municipal utilities and rural electric cooperatives. […]

A second bill would look to tighten up energy efficiency and move buildings away from gas. […]

The legislative package also zeros in on Illinois’ largest greenhouse gas emissions source: transportation. A third bill looks to address vehicle pollution and to go “beyond electrifying vehicles to include comprehensive solutions” such as improving transit, according to the release.

* Sen. Rachel Ventura…

In an effort to expand clean energy infrastructure across Illinois, State Senator Rachel Ventura is leading an initiative that would allow local governments to apply for loans through the Illinois Finance Authority Climate Bank. […]

Senate Bill 3597 would allow units of local government to apply and obtain a loan from the Illinois Finance Authority Climate Bank to build, purchase, remodel or improve clean energy infrastructure.

After the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act passed in 2021, cities in Illinois were allowed to borrow funds from the Climate Bank. Between 2022 and 2023, the IFA/Climate Bank has mobilized approximately $627 million in private capital for climate finance projects, including water quality infrastructure, solid waste management and Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy projects.

Currently, units of local government borrows from the bond market, but by borrowing from the Climate Bank, they will receive a lower interest rate, saving all taxpayers money.

In 2023, the first full year of IFA’s designation as the Climate Bank, it mobilized $256 million for climate finance purposes. In early April, IFA/Climate Bank became a sub awardee of a $5 billion national federal award to the Coalition for Green Capital through the USEPA Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) of the Inflation Reduction Act. Additionally, IFA/Climate Bank submitted/participated in at least nine federal funding applications/awards. To date, they have received $60 million in federal funding awards, with more anticipated. […]

Senate Bill 3597 passed the House Financial Institutions and Licensing Committee on Tuesday and now heads to the full House for further consideration.

* SJ-R…

Under Illinois state law, to purchase delta-8 users must be at least 21, but a recently released Keck School of Medicine study found more than 11% of U.S. 12th graders used psychoactive delta-8 THC in 2023.

It is with these lack of regulations that the state legislature is considering a crackdown on the sale of these products. Through Senate Bill 3926, businesses that sell delta-8 or other unregulated hemp-derived products would face a $10,000 fine. […]

How quickly lawmakers act on the legislation remains unclear, but it has been met with mixed reception among Democrats.

Rep. LaShawn Ford, D-Chicago, tried to advance legislation last year regulating delta-8 products, outlawing the sale to those 21 and younger while also taxing them and similarly adding a new class of licenses for hemp businesses. He and Sen. Lakesia Collins, D-Chicago, said an outright ban does not make sense.

SB3926, filed April 10, has not made it out of committee and has no extension.

* Executive director of the Cannabis Business Association of Illinois Tiffany Chappell Ingram…

While synthetic THC intoxicants like delta-8 products are derived from hemp, they are altered with additives and chemicals to heighten their intoxicating effect, and yet face no oversight or testing.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration warns that delta-8 can contain unsafe chemicals and harmful substances. There are no age requirements for buying these products and no rules for where stores selling Delta-8 can be located, meaning products containing intoxicants are being sold in gas stations, smoke shops, bakeries and mini-marts near schools. There are no packaging requirements, so products containing delta-8 can look nearly identical to a package of candy or a bag of chips.

To protect children and consumers of all ages, Illinois lawmakers must pass the bipartisan Hemp Consumer Products Act to pause the sale of synthetic THC intoxicants and create a regulatory structure for other consumer hemp products, such as CBD. This will allow businesses to continue to sell the safe hemp products many consumers rely on, while preventing access to synthetic THC intoxicants that pose a danger to our communities, until further study. […]

This unregulated market directly undermines social equity license holders who worked for so long to establish their dispensaries as legal, well-regulated businesses. Newly-opened dispensaries are particularly disadvantaged when it comes to competing with retailers that sell synthesized THC intoxicants due to the expensive nature of licensing and taxes.

* WGEM…

Illinois lawmakers are one step closer to banning corporal punishment in private schools and home-school settings.

The state Senate Education Committee passed a bill Tuesday with bipartisan support banning the practice in non-public schools. The bill would ban school employees and volunteers from deliberately inflicting pain on a student in response to their behavior. It’s already illegal in public schools. […]

The bill would not ban the use of physical restraints to prevent a student from harming themselves or someone else or causing damage to physical property. […]

State Sen. Terri Bryant, R-Murphysboro, and state Sen. Tom Bennett, R-Gibson City, voted against the bill. They cited concerns about the legislation potentially infringing on parental rights as it does not exempt home school settings.

* Press release…

A major amendment to a bill designed to increase employment opportunities and phase out Illinois’ practice of paying some workers with disabilities less than the state’s minimum wage has the unprecedented support of a broad industry, advocacy, cross-disability coalition of legislators and advocates, who will discuss their revised proposal at a May 2 news conference.

The Dignity in Pay Act, as outlined in Amendment 3 to House Bill 793, proposes ending the subminimum wage for workers with disabilities later this decade (in July 2029) and creates a state fund to help employers who hire disabled workers to transition to more cost-effective supported employment options.

Legislators and advocates will discuss the compromises made in a new amendment to the bill, designed to secure passage in the spring legislative session, including an extended implementation date for the phase out, and new resources for disability service providers as the change is made. Supporters include the Illinois Department of Human Services, the Illinois Council on Developmental Disabilities, the Illinois Department of Human Rights, Lutheran Social Services of Illinois, Jewish United Fund, AFSCME Council 31, SEIU Healthcare Illinois, the Illinois AFL-CIO, and an array of groups who provide direct service and support to Illinoisans with disabilities.

* Illinois Answers Project…

Long a pipe dream of transit advocates, the idea of combining the Chicago region’s four public transportation agencies into a single super-entity is suddenly gathering momentum.

The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning urged lawmakers last year to consider the seismic move, spurred by a looming fiscal cliff and a growing crisis of confidence in the CTA’s leadership. The nonpartisan Civic Federation lent its support to the idea last week, and now some lawmakers are out with their own proposal to wind down the CTA, Metra, Pace and the Regional Transportation Authority and establish the Metropolitan Mobility Authority in their place.

The plan is hugely ambitious and would doubtlessly take years to realize — and that’s only if it survives the rigors of the Springfield legislative process and earns a signature from the governor. […]

Where does the new revenue come from?

Sponsors of the legislation say they’ll accompany their proposal with a call for $1.5 billion in new revenue to feed the new mega-agency — but they haven’t come up with sources for the money, the Chicago Tribune reports.

* Crain’s…

White Castle has reached a $9.4 million settlement of a class-action lawsuit involving Illinois’ controversial biometric information privacy law.

The deal, which received preliminary approval by a federal judge in Chicago last week, looks like a bargain, considering the $17 billion in potential damages the company could have faced if it had gone to trial and lost. The settlement comes as state lawmakers are considering a change to the law that could reduce damages in the future. […]

Legislators are considering whether to change the law to prevent fines from accumulating every time biometric information, such as a fingerprint, was collected, instead focusing on the number of individuals impacted. Proposed legislation also would allow for workers or customers to provide consent electronically.

The bill has passed the Illinois Senate, and a House of Representatives committee is scheduled to hold a hearing on the bill this morning.

“There have been a lot of BIPA reform bills introduced over the years,” says Sen. Bill Cunningham, a Chicago Democrat who sponsored the legislation. “What we’ve seen in the past is, going further than this is difficult to achieve.

* Center Square…

School support workers are asking Illinois lawmakers to address a personnel shortage in their respective fields.

Speech pathologists, counselors, nurses and social workers were among the groups represented at a recent Illinois House Higher Education Committee hearing. […]

One proposal under consideration is House Bill 5492. The measure would establish paid internship and scholarship programs, subject to appropriation, for students in school support fields.

State Rep. Katie Stuart, D-Edwardsville, said the shortage is spiraling downward.

HB5492 was re-referred to the House Rules Committee last month.

* Rep. Angie Guerrero-Cuellar…

State Rep. Angie Guerrero-Cuellar, D-Chicago, is demanding more resources to help first responders face the stresses of the job by advancing legislation to expand access to confidential counseling and mental health resources for police officers, firefighters and emergency medical technicians.

“When we support our police, paramedic and fire personnel as they respond to these life and death emergencies, we need to extend that same support as they work through on-the-job traumas in a safe, confidential setting,” Guerrero-Cuellar said. “Emergency first responders are heroes in every way, but they aren’t invulnerable to what they see and experience in their line of work. This legislation can and will positively shape the lives of our emergency responders statewide, by prioritizing their wellbeing and supporting their families.”

Currently, cities and counties that cover expenses related to the care of police officers and firefighters directly, rather than through a workers’ compensation insurer, are not required to cover costs associated with mental health counseling. Guerrero-Cuellar is working with the Cook County Sheriff’s Office to advance Senate Bill 3538, which would ensure these units of government cover counseling and other resources to meet the mental health needs of first responders. The legislation received bipartisan approval in the Senate.

* WAND…

Illinois senators could soon pass a plan to allow public and charter high schools to annually observe a week for students to learn about workers rights.

The “workplace readiness week” would include information about local, state, and federal laws and how the labor movement played a role in winning protections and benefits for workers.

Sen. Michael Halpin (D-Rock Island) said students could learn about wage and hour protections, worker safety, unemployment insurance and paid leave.

“This is not a mandate on any school district,” Halpin said. “They are free to adopt it or not. If they end up adopting it though, it does have the minimum requirements for what should be presented to students. It applies only to students in 11th and 12th grade.” […]

House Bill 4417 passed out of the Senate Education Committee on a 8-3 vote. The proposal now heads to the Senate floor for further consideration.

* Rep. La Shawn Ford…

State Rep. La Shawn K. Ford, D-Chicago, will welcome exonerated individuals Wednesday in the Capitol Blue Room at 12:30 p.m. to discuss the need for Springfield to take action and raise compensation caps for those wrongfully convicted. […]

Currently, in Illinois exonerated individuals are capped on how much money they can receive. If they are imprisoned for five or less years, they cannot receive more than $85,350. The cap rises with each year served until a hard cap is reached after 14 years imprisonment at $199,150. Regardless of additional years a person is locked away, they cannot receive more than $199,150.

Ford is advocating for legislation (House Bills 1015 and 1016) that would award a fixed amount of $50,000 per year, prorated for partial years, to individuals wrongfully incarcerated. For years that a person was wrongfully on parole or probation or required to register as a sex offender, $25,000 would be awarded per year, with the amount prorated for partial years. Payment would max out at the state’s $2 million Court of Claims award limit, which rises with inflation.

House Bill 1015 is in the Senate, and currently has a pending amendment that reflects intent of House Bill 1015 and 1016.