* Play USA…

Illinois ended its regular legislative session last week without passing legislation aimed at stopping Dave & Buster’s from facilitating wagers on amusement games.

However, bill sponsor Rep. Dan Didech told PlayUSA that should not be taken as a green light for the company to move ahead at Illinois locations with plans to take wagers between patrons on games such as Skee-Ball over its app. […]

Didech said this isn’t the last we’ll hear on the prohibiting family amusement facilities from getting involved in wagering in the Illinois legislature. The bill could even come back up this year when Illinois returns for the veto session, which isn’t expected until after the November elections. […]

“I think certainly we sent a strong message that this sort of activity will face a lot of scrutiny if they try to spin it up in Illinois. Hopefully companies thinking about initiating this see that we’re taking it seriously and there’s a strong chance the legislature will take action in the near future to indicate that this is something we don’t want to see in Illinois. And if the Illinois Gaming Board has authorization to take against it, hopefully they’ll do that.”

* Capitol News Illinois…

A bill eliminating the subminimum wage for workers with disabilities failed to pass the General Assembly ahead of its May adjournment, although sponsors say they hope to pass it when lawmakers return in the fall.

The federal Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 established minimum wage law, but created an exemption for businesses, rehabilitation and residential care facilities to pay workers with disabilities less than minimum wage if they obtain a special certificate permitted in Section 14(c) of the law. The measure would have given providers more than 5 years to stop using 14(c) certificates in Illinois.

Although the bill ultimately advanced out of the House 78-30 with bipartisan support, it was never called for a vote in the Senate. […]

“I think that, you know, the process is ongoing, and we just have to be patient,” bill sponsor Rep. Theresa Mah, D-Chicago, said following the measure stalling. It followed a similar arc last year, stalling in the final stretch after sponsors announced they had an agreement. […]

The measure could come for a vote during the veto or lame duck session later this year.

* WBEZ…

Three key measures didn’t make it through the House after Senate passage, killing them for the spring session: a measure opposed by Pritzker’s office that would have made key reforms to the Illinois Prisoner Review Board; an omnibus cannabis measure; and another that would have banned unregulated hemp products like delta-8. […]

State Rep. La Shawn Ford, D-Chicago, said both the cannabis and hemp measures didn’t have the required 60 votes to pass. He said he hopes both are taken up during this year’s veto session.

“I think it got to the point where [the cannabis industry] wanted to regulate it, because [it] feels that this product hurts social equity or it hurts the business of cannabis,” Ford said, referring to delta-8. “But in my opinion, I think they both could exist, like wine and beer and spirits. And that’s what I’m hoping that we could get to.”

* SJ-R…

It was another session where lawmakers did not act on Karina’s Bill — legislation that would remove firearms from a home once a judge files an order of protection.

The bill is named after Karina Gonzalez, a Chicago woman who was fatally shot along with her 15-year-old daughter, Daniela Gonzalez, last summer by her husband, Jose Alvarez. Karina had secured an order of protection, but Alvarez still had access to a firearm.

It was the third attempt to pass the legislation, contained in Senate Bill 2633 and House Bill 4469, but neither of those bills advanced to a full chamber vote. Domestic violence and gun violence awareness groups that have backed its several iterations say they will continue negotiations over the summer.