* WTTW…

There’s no constitutional prohibition against someone with a felony record running for or serving as president of the United States.

But in Illinois, anyone with a felony conviction is barred from holding local elected office.

State Rep. La Shawn Ford (D-Chicago) is pressing for Illinois to lift the restriction, so Betts-Gaston and others with felony convictions can run to serve in an elected municipal role. […]

Ford is pressing for Illinois to lift the restriction (via House Bill 5904) so Betts-Gaston and others with felony convictions have the opportunity to run to serve in an elected municipal role.

Ford said his effort is not meant to undo a 2023 law (HB351 / Public Act 10 3-0562) that deems individuals ineligible to hold state office if they commit a felony or “infamous crime” like bribery while serving as a public official.

* Rep. Sonya Harper filed HB5903 yesterday…

Amends the Illinois Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. Provides that, notwithstanding any other provision of law, a food, food ingredient, dietary supplement, cosmetic, or other consumer product shall not be considered adulterated solely because it contains hemp, hemp-derived cannabinoids, including, but not limited to, Delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), Delta-8 THC, tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (THCa), or any hemp product, provided that the hemp used in the product complies with the definition of “hemp” as specified in federal law. Amends the Industrial Hemp Act. Conforms several provisions in the Act to federal regulations under the Domestic Hemp Production Program, including (i) definitions, (ii) requirements for the application for a license to cultivate hemp, and (iii) rulemaking requirements for the Department of Agriculture. Provides that the Department of Agriculture shall adopt rules for the distribution and retail sale of hemp products under conditions in specified provisions of the Act. Provides that hemp products that contain cannabinoids, that are intended for human consumption, and that are designated for retail sale within Illinois (i) must meet specified requirements, including federal requirements and rules adopted by the Department of Public Health, and (ii) must be distributed or sold in a container that includes specified information. Provides that hemp products that are intended for inhalation or ingestion and contain detectable amounts of hemp cannabinoids may not be sold in this State to a person who is under 21 years of age. Provides that hemp products distributed or sold in violation of specified provisions in the Act shall be considered adulterated or misbranded pursuant to the Illinois Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act and all other applicable State laws. Defines terms. Makes technical changes.

* Center Square…

Legislation to address Illinois’ Tier II pension benefits to conform with Social Security limits has been discussed for months. State Sen. Robert Martwick, D-Chicago, told the Better Government Association that’s a tall order to tackle.

“Well it’s like, ‘oh, we can get it done.’ There’s an election in November. ‘OK, so after the election,’ well no, then we’ll be at veto and you can’t really do it while you’re there so we’ll get past veto and then we’ll start working on it,” Martwick said Oct. 15. “‘Oh wait, that next week is Thanksgiving and then it’s Thanksgiving to Christmas and we can work on it after Christmas before New Year’s.’ We’re supposed to be in lame duck in early January. So, there’s not a lot of time.” […]

One thing that could come up are changes to oversight of the film tax credit, Illinois Film Office Deputy Director Peter Hawley told the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules.

“We saw some potential bad actors taking advantage of the program so we put this rule in place,” Hawley told JCAR Oct. 1. “Our rule included caps on above the line salary and caps to related party transactions.”

* HB5896 from Rep. Curtis Tarver…

Amends the State Finance Act. Provides that, beginning in 2025, the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget shall, at the time set forth for the submission of the State budget under the State Budget Law, provide to the Chairperson and the Minority Spokesperson of each of the appropriations committees of the House of Representatives and the Senate, as well as to the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability, a report of (i) all full fiscal year transfers made among line-item appropriations under a specified provision of the Act in the previous fiscal year and during the current fiscal year to date, and (ii) all projected full fiscal year transfers to be made among line-item appropriations under that provision for the remainder of the current fiscal year and the next fiscal year, based on estimates prepared by the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget. Provides that the report shall include a detailed summary of estimates upon which projected line-item transfers are based. Effective immediately.

* The Tribunelast week…

Armed with signs of blown-up checks of billionaire investments in Chicago’s upcoming school board elections, aldermen, congressmen and parents gathered outside the Illinois Network of Charter Schools office Monday morning to denounce large donations made by out-of-state billionaires and introduce a proposal for campaign finance reform.

Legislators fought for years to draft legislation to create an elected school board, but “there were many things that were sort of left on the table,” said state Sen. Robert Martwick. He called for legislative hearings to look at “different models of campaign finance reform.”

“We owe it as legislators … to fine-tune this to make sure that the people of Chicago get what they bargained for and that the process is not corrupted by outside donors,” Martwick said.

But finance experts say any proposed campaign finance reform legislation wouldn’t affect the school board election, in the short or long term. Illinois has a unique rule that funding caps can be lifted when campaign contributions — through self-contributions or independent expenditures — add up to more than $100,000 during an election cycle.