* A little déjà vu yesterday…

...Adding… Pritzker had a little fun with Elon’s adolescent joke…

I salute @TheWienerCircle, not Nazis. https://t.co/JFNoBvN807 pic.twitter.com/Y3zArkieE5

— JB Pritzker (@JBPritzker) January 29, 2025

* The Illinois Generative AI Task Force…

Today, the Illinois Generative AI and Natural Language Processing Task Force released a new report that provides the first in-depth analysis by the state on the far-reaching effects of generative AI on civil rights, education, labor, consumer protections, and the environment. The report outlines critical recommendations for AI regulations and standards in Illinois.

Task force members, led by co-chairs Rep. Abdelnasseer Rashid (D-Bridgeview) and Sen. Robert Peters (D-Chicago), Secretary Sanjay Gupta of DoIT, labor leaders representing AFSCME Council 31, SAG-AFTRA, and joined by Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz (D-Glenview), the ACLU and others, held an event on Wednesday to announce the report.

“This report serves as both a call to action and a roadmap for ensuring that generative AI is harnessed responsibly in Illinois,” said Rep. Adelnasser Rashid, co-chair of the task force, “We need to foster innovation, while safeguarding against the very real risks that AI poses to privacy, equity, and public trust. Technology can be used to uplift – but only if there is transparency and accountability.” […]

Key recommendations include:

- Supporting Workers: Implementing proactive measures to reskill workers, protect labor rights, and mitigate economic displacement caused by AI automation.
- Safeguarding Civil Rights: Cracking down on algorithmic discrimination in hiring, housing, banking, healthcare, and other industries to ensure that AI does not perpetuate and amplify systemic bias and racism.
- Protecting Democracy: Regulating the use of deepfakes in political ads and communications to safeguard against misinformation and inference in our elections.
- Enhancing Privacy and Consumer Rights: Strengthening data protection laws and implementing privacy-first principles in AI applications to safeguard consumers’ rights and data.
- Fostering Sustainable AI Development: Encouraging the development of energy-efficient, low-carbon AI technologies to minimize environmental impacts. […]

Rep. Rashid will be asking the General Assembly to extend the task force into the future to allow for ongoing monitoring of the effects of AI in Illinois.

Click here for the full report.

*** Statehouse News ***

First on the agenda is the agreed bills list: Senate Bills 26, 27 and 83 have passed the #SenJudiciary committee.

— IL Senate Democrats (@ILSenDems) January 29, 2025

* Capitol News Illinois | State lawmakers weigh TikTok’s value: Rep. Patrick Sheehan, R-Lemont, posted his only two videos to TikTok in January. He said he likes comedy, recipe and workout videos, and he wants to reach out to his constituents. “My kids are on the platform, and they kept saying ‘Hey, you know, RFK Jr. is on the platform, and we see his videos everywhere. Now President (Donald) Trump’s on the platform, he’s everywhere, Joe Biden’s everywhere,” Sheehan said. “So, I got kind of interested in seeing how they were reaching out to a whole different type of audience, so I decided to get on.” Sheehan said he wasn’t concerned about using TikTok right now, despite the national security concerns.

* Tribune | State lawmakers move measure aimed at protecting warehouse workers amid complaints that demands for speed hinder safety: The measure, passed by state lawmakers earlier this month, is in response to reports that warehouse workers are too often pushed beyond their physical limits. In December, Amazon reached a $145,000 settlement with the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration over accusations that conditions at an Illinois warehouse left workers exposed to elevated risks of injury. If Pritzker signs the bill into law, Illinois would join five other states that have similar measures on the books and dozens of others that have introduced legislation attempting to address warehouse workplace issues.

* IDPH | IDPH Awards $4.5 Million in Grants to Support Governor Pritzker’s Birth Equity Efforts Across Illinois: The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) announced it has awarded $4.5 million to 12 groups across the state funded through Governor JB Pritzker’s 2024 Birth Equity Initiative. The grants, ranging from $100,000 to $700,000, were awarded through a competitive process and are designed to support innovative, community-based efforts that have the potential to reduce inequities in populations historically at higher risk for adverse birth outcomes. “Illinois has one of the most robust birth equity initiatives in the entire nation and today’s announcement brings us closer to a state where every mother – no matter her race, economic status, or ZIP code – is afforded the right to a safe and healthy pregnancy,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “We’re grateful to our community-based grantees who are assisting pregnant women and families to drive healthier births, improve long-term health outcomes and create more culturally responsive care infrastructure.”

*** Statewide ***

* KWQC | Illinois, Iowa eighth grade reading scores among highest in US on report card: But Illinois and Iowa showed mostly steady results, and eighth graders excelled in reading. Only two states scored higher than Illinois, and three in Iowa. Overall, Illinois is doing fairly well, especially compared to the national average. Math has seen a little improvement, but reading is staying steady with slight dips. Overall, Iowa shows steady results but with slight declines, especially in math and reading over the years, but it’s still performing better than the national average in most areas.

* Tribune | Advocate Health Care closing all 47 of its clinics inside Illinois Walgreens stores: Advocate noted that, as part of a recently announced plan to overhaul how it provides care on the South Side of Chicago, it will open care locations in churches and community centers where advanced practice providers (such as nurse practitioners or physician assistants) will address common needs such as colds, sore throats, flu and chronic disease management, over video calls. It also plans to expand services at its Imani Village outpatient clinic on the South Side.

*** Chicago ***

* Crain’s | Fritz Kaegi has finalized his Chicago property assessments. Now come the appeals: Commercial property values in Chicago grew last year by more than residential ones, according to new numbers from Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi, suggesting some of the local property tax burden will shift from homeowners to landlords when bills come out later this year. But that’s all likely to change in the months ahead. Kaegi today released the final figures from his 2024 reassessment of all Chicago properties, estimates that show the total assessed values of real estate citywide grew by 23% between 2023 and 2024.

* Unraveled | Cop who shot and killed Dexter Reed quits amid investigations: Officer Alexandra Giampapa, who played a lead role in the deadly traffic stop that killed Dexter Reed, Jr. last year, has resigned from the department as investigations into past misconduct mount. She was one of four CPD officers who fired at the 26-year-old during a traffic stop on March 21, 2024. Police records obtained via Freedom of Information Act request show the five-year veteran resigned from the department on November 17. Her resignation comes months after the Civilian Office of Police Accountability opened new investigations into a pattern of dozens of other potentially unlawful investigatory stops conducted by Giampapa and her team. Two weeks after her resignation, city lawyers tentatively reached an undisclosed settlement with Reed’s family.

* Sun-Times | Chicago’s shuttered Pitchfork Fest faced escalating costs, ‘compromises’ in bookings, co-founder says: Mike Reed says he felt increased pressure from Condé Nast, the festival’s new owners, to chase after commercial pop acts such as Justin Bieber or Demi Lovato, signaling to him they were unaware of the alternative nature of the music that made Pitchfork special in the first place.

* Crain’s | Griffin Museum of Science & Industry lands $10M grant to renovate historic South Portico: The project, which is supported by the grant from the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation — the largest donation in the foundation’s history — aims to increase accessibility to the museum, add modern amenities such as a cafe and create a new public space connecting the museum to the Columbian Basin and the rest of Jackson Park.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Lake County News-Sun | Waukegan hospital asks court to remove coroner from death investigation; accuses her of ‘vendetta’: Reacting to what it believes is a vendetta against Vista Medical Center East in Waukegan, Vista Health Systems sued Lake County Coroner Jennifer Banek Tuesday while seeking an independent investigation into the death of hospital patient Chelsea Adolphus of Waukegan. […] For the past year, Spiegel said Banek has posted critical and “false” remarks about the hospital on a dedicated social media page after she was relieved of her duties as a nurse anesthetist at Vista.

* Sun-Times | Cook County sends first installment of tax bills to 1.8 million property owners: Property owners can choose to make payments online at cookcountytreasurer.com. Over 12,000 owners have paid through the website, totaling $64 million in online payments. “Each year more and more people use our website to pay their property tax bills online,” Pappas wrote in a statement. “People like the convenience of paying online and not having to come downtown to pay in person or write a check and pay for postage.”

* Patch | Man Taken By ICE In Lake Co. Arrested For DUI 20 Years Ago: Family: A Waukegan father and grandfather who came to the United States from Mexico more than 30 years ago — and who was charged with a DUI more than 20 years ago — was arrested by ICE over the weekend. His daughter, Yenitza, told the Lake County News-Sun Andres Marquina obtained a green cardafter coming to the U.S., worked in a warehouse and raised a family in the U.S. He was working with an attorney to get the driving while under the influence charge expunged from his record.

* ABC Chicago | Elgin family says undocumented man who had not committed any crimes taken into custody: Less than an hour later nearby, officers, including ICE, smashed a car window to take another man into custody. After asking the man in the passenger seat to get out of the car, the window was smashed in Elgin early Tuesday morning. The man was on the phone with his wife as it was happening.

*** Downstate ***

* WAND | Sangamon County Juvenile Detention reopens: The Sangamon County Juvenile Detention is reopening after more than a year. The facility had been shut down after an armed teenager took another juvenile hostage and was killed by police officers in the fall of 2023. Kent Holsopple, the Director of Probation and Court Services, said Sangamon County worked closely with the Administrative Office of Illinois Courts to reopen the Juvenile Detention Center. “With the new security measures in place, including the use a body scanner, and adequate staffing levels the Administrative Office gave approval for Sangamon County to begin accepting juveniles who meet criteria for detention. Over the next 45 to 60 days as we proceed with the reopening we will work toward bringing juveniles currently being held in other counties back to Sangamon County,” Holsopple said in a statement.

* Sun-Times | Eastern Illinois University student dies in off-campus shooting after ‘disarming’ police officer: When officers arrived, they encountered Yahacov Dennis, 22. “A rapidly evolving event” then took place, and Dennis disarmed a police officer of his gun before turning it on himself and firing, police said. […] In a message shared on X, state Rep. Kam Buckner, Dennis’ cousin, said he was devastated by the loss. “While there are still more questions than answers, one thing that is certain is how deeply we loved him,” Buckner said.

*** National ***

* ABC | Fact-checking RFK Jr.’s claims on vaccines, pesticides at confirmation hearing: Claim: Kennedy: ‘I probably did say, Lyme disease is “highly likely a militarily engineered bioweapon”‘Context: Lyme disease is caused by a type of bacteria and spreads through the bite of blacklegged ticks.

* AP | Fed hold rates steady, says job market is solid, inflation ’somewhat elevated: The Federal Reserve left its benchmark interest rate unchanged Wednesday after cutting it three times in a row last year, a sign of a more cautious approach as the Fed seeks to gauge where inflation is headed and what policies President Donald Trump may pursue. The Fed reduced its rate last year to 4.3% from 5.3%, in part out of concern that the job market was weakening. Hiring had slowed in the summer and the unemployment rate ticked up, leading Fed officials to approve an outsized half-point cut in September. Yet hiring rebounded last month and the unemployment rate declined slightly, to a low 4.1%.