* WAND…

Sen. Doris Turner (D-Springfield) hopes to expand the Illinois grocery initiative by allowing the state to provide grants for farmer-owned grocery stores and markets. […]

Sen. Dave Koehler (D-Peoria) is also sponsoring a measure to require the Illinois Department of Agriculture to enhance local food processing, collection and distribution through a new grant program. The local food infrastructure grants could be used for production, packaging equipment, refrigerated trucks and processing equipment among other needs. Koehler believes his plan would only cost the state $2 million. […]

A separate bill could require the state to provide free breakfast and lunch to all students attending public and private K-12 schools. Lawmakers passed a bipartisan plan to provide free school meals last year, but they did not appropriate funding for the plan in the Fiscal Year 2024 budget. Sen. Laura Ellman (D-Naperville) said she’s committed to getting $209 million approved for the program this year. […]

Another plan would establish a grant program to provide $7,500 per school to provide breakfast options after the school day has started. Sen. Christopher Belt (D-Swansea) noted that research has proven that children who eat breakfast have significantly higher scores in math, spelling and reading.

* WTVO…

A new bill circulating through the Illinois General Assembly would make it illegal for employers to require their workers to implant microchips in their bodies.

Senate Bill 3105 looks to head off implications present in the field of biotechnology. […]

In Sweden, thousands of people have had microchips inserted into their hands, according to NPR. The devices are designed to speed up users’ daily routines by swiping their hands against digital readers. […]

The Illinois law, if passed, would protect employees from being forced to implant a device beneath the skin. However, it does allow for employees to voluntarily undergo an implant.

* WAND…

Many Illinois doctors, nurses and other healthcare providers are concerned about losing their jobs due to continued delays from the state agency responsible for approving and renewing their licenses.

State lawmakers passed a bipartisan plan last fall to create a faster and more competitive bid process for software to process the licenses. Although, House Republicans argue that the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation is still failing these workers as many people have waited nearly a year without answers.

House GOP Leader Tony McCombie (R-Savanna) said most health care providers are forced to write a check to pay for their license and send it in the mail or take it directly to an IDFPR office in Springfield or Chicago. […]

[Rep. Bill Hauter (R-Morton)] has filed House Bill 1572 to allow the Secretary of Financial and Professional Regulation to issue licenses and temporary licenses to healthcare professionals on an expedited basis. Gov. JB Pritzker allowed IDFPR to issue expedited licenses throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Hauter noted that the process ended and providers now wait months for approval or renewal.

* Press release…

A coalition of business groups has issued the following statement regarding SB 2979, which contains changes to the state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act:

“We thank Senate President Pro Tempore Bill Cunningham for his tireless and patient leadership in attempting to negotiate needed changes to the state’s ambiguous and outdated Biometric Information Privacy Act. Our goal throughout this process was to provide compliance clarity for entities operating in Illinois and allow for the regulated use of modern security technologies while maintaining strong privacy protections for individuals.

Though SB 2979 will place some limits on financial exposure for companies that have yet to be targeted for business-ending judgements under the existing law, it is not retroactive and therefore fails to help the thousands of businesses still fighting against massive judgements even though there is no proof that harm ever occurred. Meanwhile, businesses will still be denied the ability to deploy proven and reliable technology for security and protection purposes, such as managing access to controlled substances, limiting entry to sensitive facilities, preventing violent crime and ensuring roadway safety. For these reasons, we are unable to support this legislation in its current form.”

The coalition includes the following organizations: the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, Illinois Chamber of Commerce, Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association, Illinois Manufacturers’ Association, Illinois Railroad Association, Illinois Retail Merchants Association, Illinois Trucking Association, and the National Federation of Independent Business Illinois.

* WBEZ…

It’s been nearly a year since Ventura hired the first incarcerated intern, Lynn Green. At the time, Green was an undergraduate student at Northwestern University and serving a 50-year sentence. Green has since earned his bachelor’s. Much of Green’s internship was spent figuring out the logistics of running such a program behind bars. Ventura, for instance, learned that using paper clips could prevent documents from getting to the interns for weeks because of security concerns. […]

Green’s work primarily focused on juvenile justice reform. Last year, Ventura filed a bill that would have shut down county juvenile detention facilities and transferred their authority to the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice. The bill was an attempt to provide oversight to county detention centers, including one that was shut down by the courts at the end of 2023 for failure to meet state standards for care of youth in custody.

Ventura wanted to take a different approach in a new juvenile justice bill, so she had Green scour through inspection reports of county youth detention facilities to catalog the most egregious breaches of state standards and identify solutions such as alternative sentencing and wraparound services. Green did his work in a parking space sized cell with the constant din of feet plodding up stairs to the upper tiers of his cell block. He often felt isolated. He kept going because, above all, he didn’t want to let the senator down. […]

Ventura also recently filed a bill Dole wrote last year that would remove a provision in the Illinois corrections code that increases sentences as a way to “deter others from committing the same crime.” Currently, that provision can be used to increase how long someone has to serve, but the way those sentences are calculated is extremely complicated and opaque, Ventura said.

* WAND…

A proposal moving in Springfield could require Illinois to establish data collection standards to save lives, promote equitable health outcomes and ensure quality healthcare for all.

Sen. Mike Simmons (D-Chicago) wants to create a new state board to review and report data on illnesses, treatments and causes of death in Illinois.

Simmons told the Senate Public Health Committee Tuesday it is important for Illinois to see health outcomes broken down by race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity and language.[…]

Senate Bill 3751 passed out of the Senate Public Health Committee on a 6-2 vote. The plan now heads to the Senate floor for further consideration.

* ABC Chicago…

Brian Beals is still getting used to walking freely on public sidewalks.

He is celebrating 90 days since being released from prison after being exonerated for a 1988 shooting that killed a 6-year-old boy and injured his mother in Englewood. […]

He walked out of the Robinson Correctional Center in December, greeted by family, carrying a box with all his worldly possessions. He could be eligible for compensation from the state, but limited to a maximum of $200,000.

Beals visited Springfield to lobby for a bill that would increase that maximum to $2 million. […]

The bill that would increase compensation already passed the House unanimously and is now in a Senate committee. Beals’ attorneys said they are waiting to see what happens with the bill before filing for his certificate of innocence.

* Sen. Robert Peters…

State Senator Robert Peters passed legislation through the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday to help more survivors of domestic and sexual violence know their rights and options for safe housing.

“This legislation will help more survivors understand their housing rights in Illinois,” said Peters (D-Chicago). “By ensuring tenants are aware of their rights, we are empowering them to access the support they need.”

Senate Bill 3652 requires the Illinois Department of Human Rights to create a summary outlining the rights and courses of action for tenants and their household members who are survivors of domestic or sexual violence. This includes their rights to end a lease early, change locks for safety reasons and to access relevant housing protections.

This summary of rights would be given to every tenant when they sign a lease, ensuring all survivors and their families have easily accessible and timely notification of their rights. Landlords who fail to provide the summary face fines up to $2,000. […]

Senate Bill 3652 now heads to the full Senate for further consideration.

* WAND…

Lawmakers approved legislation last year to require Medicaid coverage for holistic services before, during and one year after birth. Now, Sen. Lakesia Collins (D-Chicago) and Lt. Governor Juliana Stratton are advocating for a bill to require private insurance companies to cover services provided by midwives, doulas and lactation consultants. […]

Stratton told the Senate Insurance Committee Tuesday night that the governor’s birth equity initiative is a promise to women that Illinois will honor their bodies and value their lives as much as the ones they birth. […]

The Illinois Health and Life Insurance Council currently opposes the plan. Although, Laura Minzer noted that the bill is well-intended.

“Our opposition is not to the merits of the bill,” Minzer said. “It never is. When we look at holistically around eliminating the cost share for certain services, it creates cost pressures elsewhere.” […]

A House Committee approved the proposal Tuesday night, but the Senate Insurance Committee only held a subject matter on the plan.

* Sen. Mary Edly-Allen…

State Senator Mary Edly-Allen introduced new legislation that would protect artists and music labels from situations where a third-party creates music using AI and replicates their voice without permission.

“Deepfakes can falsely and convincingly portray anyone saying anything, creating confusion and eroding public trust. This raises serious implications in a world already struggling with rampant misinformation and social media manipulation,” said Edly-Allen (D-Libertyville). “We need strong regulations and protections in place to protect artists from the ever-changing world of AI that intends to steal their work and pass it off as their own.”

Last year, a song, “Heart on My Sleeve,” purportedly by Drake and The Weeknd landed on TikTok and Spotify and quickly spread across the internet. The song was created using AI by a TikTok user, who had trained AI on Drake and The Weeknd’s works and generated the new song, which perfectly mimicked the artists’ voices, lyrics, and musical styles. Within days, his video, which had gained over 9 million views, was removed from TikTok, Spotify, and other platforms in response to claims by the artists’ record label, UMG.

Under Senate Bill 3225, music studios and labels like UMG in this situation could bring a lawsuit in state court on behalf of an Illinois artist since they own the rights of their own voice, and the likeness of their voice was used for commercial purposes without permission. […]

Senate Bill 3325 passed the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday and now heads to the full Senate for further consideration.

* Illinois Hotel and Lodging Association…

The Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association (IHLA) today announced a legislative proposal that could raise much-needed revenue for the state by closing a loophole used by third-party booking websites that allows them to pay lower taxes when travelers book rooms online.

When hotels have a surplus room inventory, they sell rooms to third-party booking websites known as Online Travel Agencies (OTA) at a discounted rate. These third-party agencies then sell those surplus rooms to guests at a marked-up rate. However, the tax collected for that room is only on the original discounted rates, which can be significantly lower than the rates at which OTAs sell the room for. This loophole allows tens of millions of potential hotel tax dollars to go unrealized by the state.

SB 3496/HB 5144, led by the IHLA and sponsored by Sen. Cristina Castro and Rep. Marcus Evans, will close this loophole, allowing the state to collect tens of millions of dollars in additional revenue.

Closing this loophole will not only level the playing field between hotels and third-party websites, but it would also increase Illinois’ competitiveness. In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, states across the country have doubled down on their efforts to increase travel and tourism to their states. By closing this loophole, Illinois can generate more revenue for tourism promotion, which will help attract more business to the state, further bolstering Illinois’ economy and tax revenue.

“Until we close this online travel agency loophole, the state will continue to lose tens of millions of dollars each year that could be used to fund important state programs,” said Michael Jacobson, President and CEO of the Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association. “That includes tourism promotion, which is more important than ever as we seek to return Illinois tourism to pre-pandemic levels to grow our state’s economy.”