* Politico…

Has this been happening? State Sen. Robert Peters advanced legislation out of the Senate on Thursday to ban employers from requiring workers to attend meetings regarding political or religious matters.

Yep. Here’s an AFL-CIO press release from February…

The Illinois AFL-CIO today laid out an agenda to build on the Illinois labor movement’s recent successes like the Workers’ Rights Amendment, the Temp Worker Fairness and Safety Act and Paid Leave for All. Among the organization’s legislative priorities is a push to protect all workers from unwanted religious and political speech in the workplace. Known as captive audience meetings, these mandatory meetings subject employees to the religious or political views of the employer during work hours. When employees decline to participate, they often face retaliation or firing. […]

Captive audience meetings are the employer-preferred method of union busting. An Economic Policy Institute analysis of National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) elections documents shows that 89% of all employers conduct captive audience meetings in response to unionization efforts. […]

Often an employer threatens, disciplines, or terminates an employee for objecting to the boss’s political views. Anti-captive audience legislation guarantees workers’ freedoms and ensures that all workers can fully exercise their rights in the workplace.

The bill is SB3649.

* HB793 was re-referred to the House Rules Committee on May 1. WAND…

Illinois workers with developmental and intellectual disabilities have been paid much less than the minimum wage since 1938, but state lawmakers could pass a plan to phase out the sub-minimum wage this month.

Rep. Theresa Mah (D-Chicago) and many other lawmakers believe it is wrong that some people are paid as low as 50 cents per hour and make only $100 per month.

A new amendment to House Bill 793 would create a special grant fund of $2 million to help community agencies transition away from the sub-minimum wages. Mah told reporters in Springfield Thursday that the funding is already available in the Department of Human Services budget. […]

House Bill 793 includes a provision stating community group home residents should receive a personal allowance of at least $100 per month. The proposal also calls for the personal needs allowance to increase annually at the same rate as the Social Security cost-of-living adjustment taking effect at the start of each year.

* Sports Betting Dime…

Just two days after Dave & Buster’s announced a new plan to allow loyalty members to digitally compete in real-money arcade contests at its locations throughout the country, an Illinois Representative has introduced legislation to block “family-friendly arcades” from knowingly advertising and facilitating wagering on amusement games at its premises.

Rep. Daniel Didech (D-59) today introduced HB 5832 to the House of Representatives, where it was referred to the rules committee.

An official press release announcing the introduction of the bill said the legislation is in response to Dave & Buster’s potential plan to allow loyalty members to compete against other customers for real money on such games as skee-ball or pop-a-shot through its app. The national restaurant and entertainment business announced this week a new partnership with Lucra Sports to use its proprietary software to allow these types of contests on the Dave & Buster’s app. […]

The bill will prohibit family-amusement establishments from facilitating wagering on amusement games, which includes, but is not limited to, “taking any action that knowingly allows any entity to facilitate gambling on amusement games on the family amusement establishment’s premises.” Additionally, establishments will be prohibited from engaging in advertising that promotes wagering on amusement games.

* WGIL…

Saying the penalties are too lenient in Illinois, some Republican lawmakers want to increase the consequences for fleeing the police. […]

Senate Minority Leader John Curran, R-Downers Grove, said anyone fleeing police in Florida is charged with a Class 3 felony and a $5,000 fine. Curran’s legislation in Senate Bill 1807 would increase the penalty in Illinois to a Class 4 felony. […]

A Class 4 felony conviction in Illinois would result in one to three years prison time. The measure allows for stricter penalties for aggravating factors and charges a person with a Class 3 felony which could come with five years behind bars. […]

The Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police support the legislation.

SB1807 has not moved out of committee.

* Capitol News Illinois…

A bill that would put more controls on certain kinds of high-cost loans to small businesses cleared the Illinois Senate Thursday.

Senate Bill 2234, known as the Small Business Financial Transparency Act, targets a relatively new kind of nontraditional lender in the credit market, online app-based financial service companies sometimes known as “fintechs.”

Sen. Chris Belt, D-Swansea, the lead sponsor of the bill, said it is based on the federal Truth in Lending Act of 1968, which governs consumer loans. It requires nontraditional lenders to calculate and express the cost of the loan in terms of a standard annual percentage rate, or APR, even if the lender bases the loan around some other type of fee structure.

“There has never, ever been anything like the Truth in Lending Act on the commercial side,” Belt said on the Senate floor. “And so what this legislation looks to do is mimic the Truth in Lending Act on the commercial side. It ensures small businesses receive consistent and transparent disclosures on the cost of small business financing.”

* WCIA…

A bill moving in the state capitol aims to lower students’ stress by encouraging school districts to have at least 20 minutes of instruction on relaxation activities each week. Suggested activities in the bill include mindful-based movements, yoga, stretching, meditation, breathing exercises, guided relaxation techniques, quiet time, walking and in-person conversation. […]

The bill allows the school district to choose how to implement the relaxation activities, including in a P.E. class, an advisory class, or creating a new class. School districts may partner with a public or private community organization for help providing the relaxation activities to students. […]

The bill passed the House of Representatives’ Elementary & Secondary Education: School Curriculum & Policies Committee on Wednesday. The proposal has already passed the Illinois Senate.

Republicans have voted against the proposal.

* Sen. Steve Stadelman…

In an effort to protect vulnerable utility customers, State Senator Steve Stadelman has introduced legislation that would establish a Disconnection Protection Program.

“Ensuring that our residents have continuous access to basic utilities like electricity and gas is not just a matter of comfort, but of public health and safety,” said Stadelman (D-Rockford). “This measure would prevent families from having to choose between paying for utilities and other essential needs like food and medicine, especially during times of financial difficulty.”

Low-income households that seek energy payment assistance do not currently have any protections from being disconnected by electric and gas utilities.

This legislation would mandate electric and gas utilities serving more than 500,000 customers to implement measures to prevent the disconnection of services for customers actively seeking energy payment assistance.

“This bill is a step forward in our ongoing efforts to support vulnerable populations and ensure that our energy policies are fair and just,” said Stadelman.

House Bill 4118 passed the Energy and Public Utilities Committee on Thursday, and heads to the House for further consideration.

* Illinois Bankers Association…

The Illinois Bankers Association (IBA) issued the following statement following House approval of HB5428, which eliminates red tape to ensure the state’s network of community banks continue to thrive while modernizing language in banking documents.

Changes include updating the term “disabled person” to “person with a disability” throughout the Illinois Banking Act to reduce stigma by putting an individual’s personhood first rather than defining them by their disabilities. The legislation also modernizes longstanding discrimination protections for loans by expanding the scope to all single “individuals,” rather than only “single females.” In addition, the measure allows banks to follow federal requirements for hiring individuals with criminal backgrounds, which would allow those with misdemeanor or years-old offenses to qualify for jobs in the banking industry.

“We applaud lawmakers, and especially our sponsor Rep. Dagmara Avelar, for passing legislation that updates the phrasing and scope of the Illinois Banking Act to foster inclusivity and fairness. All individuals should feel recognized and respected by the institutions that serve them, including financial institutions,” said Ben Jackson, Executive Vice President of Government Relations, Illinois Bankers Association. “These changes remedy some historical biases, not only making Illinois banking laws more relevant and respectful but also strengthening the legal framework to be more just and equitable.”

* [From Rich Miller] Background is here if you need it. The fallout from the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s decision to not bother to challenge the release of an accused domestic abuser who then went on to kill his spouse and himself continues. And it’s getting ludicrous. From the Daily Herald…

State Sen. John Curran of Downers Grove, minority leader for the Republicans, said at a news conference Wednesday he intends to submit a bill this week that would change the state’s cashless-bail law in regards to domestic battery charges.

The law currently says that every defendant is entitled to a presumption of release, and that prosecutors have to prove why measures such as electronic monitoring are not sufficient to ensure the safety of a specific person or the public.

Curran proposes that for misdemeanor domestic battery cases involving an injury, the burden of proof be shifted to the defendant. They would be detained automatically unless they could convince a judge they are not a threat.

“We need to flip that presumption,” Curran said. “The next tragedy that occurs, we are going to wish we had.”

I probably shouldn’t be so stunned that local news media outlets are just running with all the official deflection and obfuscation surrounding this case without even the slightest bit of push-back.

But here we are.

You’re gonna flip the presumption of innocence in some misdemeanor cases and not felonies? What the heck?

Seems like a gross overreaction.

Ever read People v. Purcell? The burden of proof falls squarely on the state.

You know what would be better? If state’s attorneys actually did their jobs. As the above article also notes, DuPage County State’s Attorney Bob Berlin has finally decided to stop the finger-pointing and instead actually revamp his operation to prevent this sort of thing from happening again.