* WTVO…

As new federal SNAP work rules take effect this month, Illinois lawmakers are considering a plan that would use taxpayer dollars to soften the impact on families who fail to meet the requirements.

House Bill 4730 would create a state run program called FRESH (Families Receiving Emergency Support for Hunger). The initiative would provide one-time cash payments to households whose Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits are reduced or terminated because a member of the household did not meet federally mandated work requirements.

Eligible families would receive a lump-sum cash benefit on an EBT card.

Payments would be calculated in one of two ways:

- If SNAP is reduced: The household would receive three times the difference between their former monthly SNAP amount and the reduced amount.
- If SNAP is terminated: The household would receive three times their final full monthly SNAP benefit.

* InGame…

Illinois state Rep. and House Gaming Committee Chairman Daniel Didech has submitted a bill to repeal the sports wagering surcharge as part of a raft of legislation filed for the gambling vertical.

HB 5143, submitted in Springfield last Thursday, would end the $0.25 and $0.50 surcharges each mobile licensee pays at the conclusion of the fiscal year, June 30. The much-loathed surcharge, a surprise and late addition to Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s budget last May, has generated $62.2 million in the first half of fiscal year 2025-26.

That is well above the $40 million estimated for the entire fiscal year when Pritzker signed the budget into law.

Didech also filed HB 5142 on Thursday, which proposes to amend the definition of “sports wagering” in the state to include “participation in any prediction market.” The bill goes on to list the multiple types of wagers that would be acceptable in those markets, with precise terminology that includes the “transaction, whether described as a derivative, option, binary contract, or similar instrument.”

The bill also would make such wagers acceptable “whether the contract, agreement, or transaction is entered into on a peer-to-peer basis, whether participants take positions against one another rather than against the operator, whether the operator is not a counterparty to the transaction, or whether the operator describes the activity as an investing opportunity, exchange, marketplace, or prediction market.”

* WTTW…

State Rep. Kam Buckner (D-Chicago) has sponsored a new pilot program that would allow companies like Waymo to service Cook, Sangamon and Madison counties with autonomous vehicles over a three-year period.  […]

Ronnie Gonzalez, special representative for the IAM Mechanist Union and a leader for the Illinois Drivers Alliance, believes any legislation should only follow preliminary studies on the impact of self-driving vehicles.

Gonzalez, who has been organizing to get rideshare drivers the ability to unionize, believes the introduction of self-driving vehicles could have a devastating impact on their ability to work. […]

At a Senate hearing last week, Dr. Mauricio Peña, Chief Safety Officer for Waymo, said the company’s cars are provided guidance by remote operators, but that they do not remotely drive the vehicles. He later added that some operators were based abroad and specifically named the Philippines.

Gonzalez said he would want to see more transparency about the number of remote operators in other countries.

* WAND…

State lawmakers could pass bills this spring to increase access to behavioral healthcare by requiring insurance companies to expand coverage. Sponsors told reporters in Chicago Monday that there is still too much red tape blocking providers from giving the best care to patients. […]

A new proposal could require health insurance companies to pay their fair share for mental health crisis services.

Insurance companies currently shift the cost onto Medicaid and taxpayers, resulting in avoidable emergency room visits, hospitalizations, or involvement with the criminal justice system. However, some lawmakers believe Illinois should adopt an annual fee on health insurance companies to help sustain crisis services. […]

Another measure could require insurance companies to cover the diagnosis and treatment of substance use disorders. The bill would also ban prior authorization for outpatient substance use treatment.

* ABC Chicago…

State Sen. Craig Wilcox, who represents McHenry and Lake County residents, introduced legislation that would mandate the installation of natural gas detectors in some buildings.

“It’s an acknowledgement that just the ‘rotten egg’ odor of natural gas often is not enough to alert residents or prevent explosions, and a natural gas detector to determine when there’s a gas leak in the home is required,” said Wilcox, who represents the 32nd District.

The proposed mandate would apply to certain buildings with gas fueled appliances, like residential buildings with a significant number of tenants and commercial buildings.

Legislators say the bill will go into a committee by March, and should make it to the floor for a vote by May.

* WICS…

Illinois State Senator Andrew Chesney introduced a new piece of legislation Monday affecting transgender people. Senate Bill 3842 would change the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Code in Illinois to expand the definition of mental illness to include identifying as a gender other than the one assigned at birth. […]

Teresa Silva, interim executive director at the Phoenix Center in Springfield, referenced the DSM classification when we spoke to her. She said, “Transgender was in the DSM book previous to 2013, but now it was taken out because this isn’t a mental illness. We’ve tried that path and it has failed. It’s part of human reality and identity. It delegitimizes real mental health issues.”

She told us she’s not worried about the bill passing but says it does get tiring to keep fighting back.

“It’s not worrisome, but it’s always exhausting to try and fight these things, and then it’s always just pecking at your mental health all of the time, right?” She also says, “I think it’s mean to cause chaos and rile up the base of support that he has.”

* Meanwhile, in Iowa. KWQC…

State Sen. Scott Webster of Bettendorf is backing a new push to bring the Chicago Bears to Iowa.

Webster joined fellow Republican Sens. Dan Dawson of Council Bluffs and Kerry Gruenhagen of Walcott in filing Senate File 2252, a proposal designed to show the NFL that Iowa is ready to welcome the franchise if it leaves Illinois. The bill would expand an existing economic development program to provide incentives for building a stadium in the state.

Webster said many Bears fans live on the west side of the Mississippi River and argued Iowa can provide the certainty needed for a “world-class facility.”

“After years of Bears fans seeking refuge across the Mississippi River … it is time for the team to join their fans,” Webster said.

* More…

* Press release | TODAY: Sen. Villivalam & Advocates to Introduce Nation-Leading Legislation to Protect Illinois’ Water, Energy, and Ratepayers from Data Center Harms: At 11 a.m. today, Wednesday, February 11, State Senator Ram Villivalam will join advocates with the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition to introduce the POWER Act (SB4016/HB5513) – legislation that establishes nation-leading guardrails to protect our water, energy, and ratepayers from the significant threats posed by data centers. Energy- and water-intensive data centers are increasing utility bills for all consumers, threatening Illinois’ climate goals, polluting our air, and wasting massive amounts of water. The POWER Act ensures Big Tech is held accountable for their outsized impact on consumers and our environment while driving a competitive race to the top for responsible data center development. Click here to watch.

* Rep. Kimberly DuBuclet | IL State Rep. DuBuclet Introduces Legislation to Honor Emmett Till with a Commemorative Holiday in Illinois: IL State Rep. Kimberly DuBuclet, D-Chicago, has introduced legislation to designate July 25, the birthday of Emmett Till, as a commemorative holiday in Illinois, ensuring his life and legacy remain part of the state’s public memory. “The murder of Emmett Till and the extraordinary courage of his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, forever changed the course of American history,” DuBuclet said. “By allowing the world to see the brutality inflicted on her son, Mamie Till-Mobley forced the nation to confront the reality of racial violence and helped spark the modern Civil Rights Movement. As Congressman John Lewis once said, ‘Emmett Till was my George Floyd.’” House Bill 4323 would add July 25 to Illinois’ list of commemorative holidays. While the designation would not close state offices, it would encourage schools, municipalities, elected officials, and community organizations to mark the day through education, reflection, and public programming.

* Center Square | Illinois lawmakers push uniform election reporting to enhance voter confidence: Senate Bill 3057, sponsored by Sen. Sally Turner, R-Beason, would standardize how local election authorities format and submit election data already required by law. The proposal does not expand what data is reported but aims to resolve long-standing inconsistencies among Illinois’ 108 election authorities in how that information is submitted to the state. […] Turner dismissed concerns that standardizing election data could centralize control or limit local flexibility, emphasizing that the bill deals only with how data is formatted, not how elections are run or policies are set.

* Patch | Hastings announces autonomous vehicle pilot legislation to advance safety and innovation: If passed, initial pilot programs will focus on large urban centers, Sangamon County and the Metro East region, with expansion based on pilot results. Senate Bill 3392 would require autonomous vehicle operators to submit an Operational Design Domain plan to the Illinois Department of Transportation, detailing where and how vehicles will operate.

* WCIA | New package of energy bills would impose moratorium on data centers built on Mahomet Aquifer: Sen. Chapin Rose (R-Mahomet) is pushing a new legislative package aimed at addressing energy concerns in Central Illinois. The lawmaker filed the series of three bills on Friday, which he said are designed to protect consumers and natural resources. SB 4003 aims to prevent Illinoisans from electric bill increases with the addition of consumer rate caps. It would also repeal the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act signed by Gov. JB Pritzker in January that would deploy three gigawatts of battery storage by 2030.