* Greg Hinz…

A bill that would give Illinois taxpayers a way to work around the new $10,000-a-year federal cap on state and local tax deductions has been put on hold, caught in a dispute between Senate and House sponsors about how to deal with Internal Revenue Service concerns about the measure. […]

In a phone interview, Carroll said he was not backing off his original plan but did “not want to set up taxpayers for a bad situation” if the IRS ruled against such plan. Carroll said he’d discussed his new plan with Morrison and she “totally understands what we’re trying to do.”

But Morrison said she is not fine and in fact is “disappointed that the House has chosen not to move forward” with a bill that was carefully negotiated with both Democratic and Republican senators. She said her preference would be to enact such a bill here, following the lead of states such as New Jersey and Connecticut, and see what happens with IRS and in court. […]

Meanwhile, the General Assembly adopted a bill pushed by Enterprise and other car rental firms that is somewhat like the battle between conventional hotel operators and Airbnb. Specifically, it requires companies that are paid to connect private car owners and renters via a phone app to follow the same regulations as traditional car rental companies. The measure drew furious last-minute lobbying on both sides, and ended up clearing the Senate by a less-than-veto-proof 34-7-7 margin.

Meanwhile, that revised carjacking bill that I told you about the other day passed the House yesterday with 78 votes and will be sent to the governor.

* In other news…

Legislation that would mandate a 72-hour “cooling” period following the purchase of any gun heads to Gov. Bruce Rauner’s desk after clearing the Illinois Senate Thursday evening.

The vote was 40-10. Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, voted for it, while Sens. Sam McCann, R-Plainview, and Bill Brady, R-Bloomington, voted “no.”

This will be the second attempt to enact this type of legislation in the past few months. The first, which called for a 72-hour waiting period following the purchase of an assault weapon, was bottled up by Rauner a few weeks ago.

Using his amendatory veto powers, Rauner essentially rewrote that bill, using it as a vehicle to propose a comprehensive package of public safety proposals.

* And this happened…

For much of the spring, critics have called for a major overhaul of how ethics complaints are handled in the Capitol, saying lawmakers can’t be trusted to conduct honest and transparent investigations of themselves.

Legislators took some first steps toward that goal Thursday, overwhelmingly approving a bill that would give the inspector general the freedom to investigate complaints of sexual harassment without first having to get approval from the Legislative Ethics Commission, whose members are appointed by the four House and Senate leaders.

The bill, which cleared the Senate 54-0 and the House 110-0, was a last-minute victory for women lawmakers who had said earlier this week that they were resisting an attempt by the men who run the legislative caucuses to water down the measure.

The proposed new rules would create a four-person committee of former judges and prosecutors to search for a full-time inspector general to replace the temporary watchdog who was installed in the office last year. Under the current system, it’s up to legislative leaders to recommend an inspector general, who then must be approved by the ethics commission. Before Rotheimer’s complaint, the leaders couldn’t agree on an appointee, so the post was allowed to sit empty and complaints went unanswered as a result.

Such a prolonged vacancy would be prohibited under the new legislation, which would task the Illinois auditor general’s watchdog with taking up complaints if the legislative inspector general post is vacant for more than six months.