* ICYMI: Pritzker signs measures reining in biometric data privacy law, eliminating grocery tax. Capitol News Illinois…

Illinois’ first-in-the-nation law that allows residents to sue companies over the improper collection of their biometric information will be slightly less punitive after Gov. JB Pritzker signed a new law late last week.

Lawmakers this spring amended the Biometric Information Privacy Act in response to an Illinois Supreme Court ruling last year that suggested lawmakers clarify the law. That ruling found fast food chain White Castle violated BIPA each time employees scanned their fingerprints in the course of performing their jobs, as the company never obtained employees’ permission to collect their fingerprints.

But under Senate Bill 2979, employees or customers whose fingerprints, retinal scans, voice samples or other unique biometric information were collected by businesses without their permission can only claim one violation of BIPA instead of hundreds. In jobs with fingerprint-enabled time clocks and cash registers or other secure areas that require biometric data scans to access, employees might end up scanning their thumbs or eyes dozens of times per day.

* Related stories…

∙ CBS: Gov. JB Pritzker signs legislation ending Illinois grocery tax in 2026
∙ WSPY: Oswego not currently in position to decide on potential grocery tax following repeal of state tax, says DiSanto
∙ WSPY: Pritzker signs bill repealing state grocery tax, effective January 1, 2026

Governor Pritzker will be at the Women’s Justice Institute at 10 am to sign the returning citizens identification access bill. Click here to watch.

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Sun-Times | White Sox lose 21st straight to tie American League record: The beauty of baseball is that after a loss, there’s another game the next day. But anguish sets in after repeated beatdowns, day after day after day. Another game, another “L.” Defeat and unrelenting failure have taken a toll on the White Sox, who lost their 21st consecutive game Monday, 5-1 at the hands of the Athletics to tie the 1988 Orioles’ American League-record skid. The Sox, a national story they don’t want to be, are now two losses from tying the 1961 Phillies’ major-league record of 23.

* Block Club | Billy Joel Jr. Is ‘The Next Big Chicago Band You Don’t Know About’: Billy Joel Jr. is on the rise after dropping their EP, “Rubberhose,” and catching Stereogum’s attention with an April Fools’ Day joke. The indie rockers — who aren’t actually the Piano Man’s spawn — perform Wednesday at Sleeping Village.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Sun-Times | Sonya Massey’s family is pushing for a change in state law after her death, but policymakers aren’t so sure: Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said that based on Grayson’s record, it’s questionable whether Grayson should have ever been hired as a law enforcement officer. But like Turner, he said he’s not certain a new law is needed. It’s going to take some time for the current laws to “get going,” Raoul said. The problem is not the laws on the books right now, but in how they’re being implemented, Raoul said.

* SJ-R | Illinois lawmakers looking to lower prescription drug costs, but not everyone is on board : He, along with state Sen. David Koehler, D-Peoria, and Rep. Sharon Chung, D-Bloomington, are now urging lawmakers to take-up House Bill 4472 which would create a prescription drug affordability board. The board would be composed of 15 appointed members in-charge of establishing upper payment limits to certain prescription drugs and ensure those savings are passed down to consumers. Per the bill language, it could only set those limits on drugs with a wholesale acquisition cost of at least $60,000 per year or those experiencing a wholesale acquisition cost increase of $3,000 in the most recent 12-month period. For price limits on biosimilar drugs, the board could only do so if the biosimilar cost is not at least 20% lower than the name brand cost. For price limits on generic drugs, a 30-day supply of that drug must at least cost $100 and its price increased by no less than 200% in the preceding 12 months.

* WAND | Illinois local food infrastructure grant plan signed into law: Recipients could use the local food infrastructure grants for production, packaging, refrigerated trucks and processing equipment. Lawmakers said this is a great incentive for local food providers to invest in a healthier Illinois. “Right now, if you look at Illinois, 95% of our food is brought in from outside,” said Sen. Dave Koehler (D-Peoria). “That means trucking food thousands of miles away when we have the richest, fertile farmland anywhere in the world right here.”

* Sun-Times | Measure to streamline IDs for people exiting Illinois prisons, jails poised for Pritzker’s signature: The measure pushed by Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias eliminates the need for inmates and detainees to show physical copies of their birth certificates or Social Security cards in order to line up an ID — a common roadblock for people trying to find housing and work after incarceration. “We take our IDs for granted, but for people leaving jail, it’s an essential tool for reentry to perform everyday tasks and increase the likelihood of successfully building a productive life,” Giannoulias said ahead of the bill signing.

*** Statewide ***

* WSIU | Illinois Increases Funding for Schools: The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) has released data showing the impact of a $1.8 billion increase in funding for the state’s highest-need schools under Governor JB Pritzker’s administration. The Evidence-Based Funding (EBF) formula, established in fiscal year 2018, aims to distribute resources more equitably among Illinois schools. Since then, the state’s investment in EBF has increased from $6.8 billion in FY 2019 to $8.6 billion in FY 2025.

*** Chicago ***

* Tribune | At a tense time in American politics, Chicago hospitals prepare for Democratic National Convention: In some ways, preparing for the convention has been like readying for other large events, such as the NASCAR Chicago Street Race, the Chicago Marathon and Lollapalooza, say hospital leaders. In fact, it’s somewhat of a relief that the DNC is expected to attract far fewer attendees than Lollapalooza, said George DiLeonardi, vice president of security services and emergency management for Northwestern Memorial HealthCare. The DNC is expected to draw about 50,000 people, while Lollapalooza often attracts about 100,000 a day.

* Chalkbeat | Amid financial woes, Chicago Public Schools to receive similar state funding increase this year: Amid a bump in students learning English as a new language and a dip in local tax revenue, Chicago Public Schools would now need nearly $1.2 billion to be adequately funded, according to state data released Monday. The updated figure, which is $93 million more than was projected last year, was provided as part of an annual calculation determining how Illinois will distribute state money to public school districts — and comes as the city’s school district grapples with complex financial problems in the next school year.

* Tribune | Ford’s Chicago Assembly Plant celebrates 100 years on the Southeast Side, from building the Model T to the Explorer: Built at a cost of about $8 million, the massive Torrence Avenue factory employed 2,000 workers at the outset, with the capacity to turn out 600 “flivvers” — a nickname for the Model T — each day, according to a Chicago Tribune story at the time of its launch. The new plant built nearly 107,000 Model Ts in its first year and expanded to Ford delivery trucks in 1925. In 1927, it switched to producing the new Ford Model A.

* Tribune | Bud Billiken Parade 2024: Route, start time and a look back at 95 years of Chicago’s back-to-school tradition: Hundreds of thousands of spectators and generations of families will gather along the almost 3-mile route in Bronzeville Saturday to cheer on a variety of performers — bands, dance and drill teams, tumblers and cheerleaders — and watch honorary grand marshals and celebrities ride in style aboard floats and classic cars. And thousands of school supplies and other amenities will be handed out in Washington Park following the parade.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* WGN | Dolton trustees: Henyard mismanagement may lead to layoffs: Three trustees from the Village of Dolton called a special meeting on Monday night to try and keep the village running as they deal with embattled Mayor Tiffany Henyard. Trustees who do not support Henyard said she would not allow them to put items on the regular meeting agenda, so they set their own meeting to start before hers.

* Daily Herald | Will DNC bring migrant influx to Chicago? Municipalities, organizations prepare for possible bump: “We know more new immigrant arrivals are coming and we are doing a number of things to prepare,” said Dianha Ortega-Ehreth, executive director of Elgin’s Centro de Información in an email. The preparation comes as the U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported a “significant decline in migrant encounters” in the wake of President Joe Biden’s June 4 executive order barring migrants who unlawfully cross the southern border from receiving asylum in the U.S.

* Daily Herald | Buffalo Grove’s ‘human archive’ leaves after 38 years, will remain as chat bot: Administrative Services Director Brett Robinson has retired. He began working for the village 38 years ago, while still a student at Buffalo Grove High School. He has been there ever since, moving from the public works department to village administration. The 55-year-old Wauconda resident eventually was the village’s purchasing manager and treasurer before assuming his latest position in 2020. […] A loyal public servant, Robinson will still play a role in retirement — the AI-powered chat bot on the village’s website is called “Mr. Robinson” and has the image of a bespectacled buffalo with a goatee and cardigan. If you have a village-related question, you can chat with “Mr. Robinson.”

*** Downstate ***

* WCIA | ‘I should have died’: Missouri woman connects with Effingham firefighters who saved her life in Teutopolis HAZMAT spill: Terrie Tudor should not be alive today. She said it herself, along with the three firefighters who saved her life on Sept. 29, 2023. […] She was blind, using a ventilator and on continuous dialysis in hospitals in Springfield, Rockford and Hinsdale. Tudor has had five surgeries on her eyes alone.

* WTVO | Rockford’s Hard Rock Casino to feature 62-foot guitar monument to Rick Nielsen and Cheap Trick: The black and white checkerboard guitar monument that will adorn the front entrance to the Hard Rock Casino Rockford will stand 62 feet tall when it is installed later this month. Rockford’s Code and Regulations Committee has recommended the City Council approve several variances to the casino’s signage to allow for the huge guitar, which is modeled after the pattern made famous by Rockford natives Cheap Trick and guitarist Rick Nielsen.