* Subscribers know more. Capitol News Illinois…

Industry stakeholders recommended lawmakers let the federal government take control of regulating AI, while acknowledging concerns about its impact. The president, however, declared via executive order in December that he is not in favor of broad AI regulations. […]

“Our core concern is creating a patchwork environment, making Illinois a compliance outlier,” said Jarrett Catlin, state AI policy advisor at TechNet, a national technology policy advocacy group. “We need to create clear incentives for responsible behavior without prescribing a one-size-fits-all compliance regime.” […]

In the hearings, the senators emphasized that they did not want to hinder development and business in the state but are deeply concerned about the lack of guardrails currently in place, particularly around chatbots and minors.

“This isn’t about stifling innovation … but you need to have guardrails to protect minors,” said Sen. Sue Rezin, R-Morris. “This bill is about ensuring that as technology moves faster than the law, we don’t leave consumer protections in the dust, especially when it comes to minors.” […]

While any proposed bills are still a long way from becoming law, lawmakers remain deep in negotiations with AI industry stakeholders.

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Sponsored by Phrma

Illinois is paying the price for 340B medicine markups.

Through the federal 340B program, nonprofit hospitals can buy medicines for pennies, then charge huge markups – even on life-saving medicines. Those markups have become big business for large hospital systems, driving higher costs for Illinois patients, employers and taxpayers.

And the problem is getting worse. The program’s lack of oversight has allowed 340B to become a revenue stream for hospitals, PBMs, private equity firms and big chain pharmacies — with no requirement that the money be used to help patients afford medicines. It’s time for Washington to hold hospitals accountable and fix 340B. Read more.

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* CBS Chicago…

[Bears] team leaders are meeting with staff from Gov. JB Pritzker’s office on Wednesday as state lawmakers consider a so-called “megaprojects bill,” which would give the team tax certainty if they build a new stadium in Arlington Heights.

The legislation would allow the developer of any project costing at least $500 million to negotiate a freeze on its property tax assessment, but the bill is getting some pushback in Springfield.

The measure moved out of an Illinois House committee in February, but has not yet received a full floor vote.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Center Square | Illinois unions seek to kill Waymo-friendly bill in Springfield: President of the Illinois AFL-CIO Tim Drea said the legislation could lead to the loss of middle-class jobs for Illinoisans, impacting state tax revenue. “Because of this new technology, not really sure about how many jobs would be eliminated. So it’s kind of hard to multiply out for the loss of tax revenue, but it just goes to follow. I mean, it would affect everything from state taxes to local taxes to funding our schools,” Drea said.

* Chalkbeat Chicago | Illinois education officials vote to overhaul accountability for schools: Sanders described the changes as one of his biggest goals, and board members described the public feedback process as a thoughtful one that resulted in tweaks to the original proposal. “Everybody is not going to be happy about it, and that’s OK,” said ISBE board vice chair Donna S. Leak. “What we’re trying to do is find ways to connect to student achievement in a more meaningful way.”

*** Chicago ***

* Sun-Times | Mayor Johnson’s push to have retired Ald. Walter Burnett lead CHA shut down by HUD: Burnett’s apparent conflicts of interest were with his 30-year record as alderman and longtime ownership of properties rented to housing voucher holders, according to the CHA and HUD. Burnett and his wife have collected more than $260,000 since 2007 as CHA voucher landlords. Burnett cannot be appointed as the CHA’s leader since the retired alderman exercised “functions or responsibilities with respect to CHA for approximately 30 years,” according to a copy of a Tuesday letter from HUD obtained by the Sun-Times.

* Crain’s | City Council fails to override Johnson’s veto of tipped wage freeze: The council needed 34 votes to override the veto but fell short by four votes, leaving intact a 2023 ordinance that phases out the so-called tipped credit over five years. Despite the loss, Ald. Gilbert Villegas, 36th, promised a “round two” later this year. Today’s vote was the second time the City Council was unable to override a Johnson veto this year after previously failing to garner 34 votes to ban most intoxicating hemp products in Chicago.

* Tribune | City airport workers drank on the clock, OIG report finds: On-the-clock city employees drank at bars near O’Hare International Airport and then returned to the airport for the remainder of their shifts, an investigation by the city’s Office of Inspector General found. The city watchdog investigation details numerous instances of alcohol consumption by airport employees during working hours. In one case, several on-the-clock Aviation Department employees attended a party thrown by an off-duty colleague where they imbibed “beer, cocktails, and shots of liquor” before returning to work at the airport. In other instances, Aviation Department supervisors bought alcohol for their employees while out to lunch, the report said.

* Sun-Times | Council turns up heat to find replacement for ShotSpotter: Johnson then launched an open competition to replace the gunshot detection technology. SoundThinking, the company that owns ShotSpotter, was one of eight firms that responded to the so-called “request-for-information” by the Sept. 20, 2024 deadline. Nothing has happened since then — even though the last two city budgets set aside a combined $13.9 million for the replacement technology.

* Sun-Times | Widow, son of former County Board Commissioner Dennis Deer fatally shot in East Garfield Park home: “Today, we mourn alongside the Deer family as they endure another heartbreaking and unimaginable loss with the passing of former Commissioner Dennis Deer’s beloved wife and son,” Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said in a statement. “The Deer family has long been well-known in the community for their compassion and steadfast commitment to others. Their presence and service touched countless lives. There are no words that can make sense of such pain, but I hope the surviving family members find strength in the love that surrounds them.”

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Crain’s | West Suburban hospital begins reopening under pressure after surprise shutdown: At the time of the closing, CEO Manoj Prasad said he could not make payroll after a year of taking in only 10% of the revenue the hospital had billed for, because of a billing system snafu. Today, Resilience said it was able to begin reopening services because West Suburban has recovered some funds through an initial billing remediation process. Patients are being contacted by phone and email to schedule appointments beginning today. The outpatient clinic at West Suburban in Oak Park will offer primary care “initially and then some specialist visits, along with testing services,” the statement said.

* Daily Herald | How mistaken identity in Wheeling shoplifting case led to arrest, lawsuit: About a month later, Bony picked the real Calin’s photograph out of an array of six faces compiled by police and said she was the thief, documents indicate. The array didn’t include photos of the woman known to use Calin’s name as an alias or anyone else with histories of shoplifting, the lawsuit alleged.

*** Downstate ***

* NPR Illinois | State higher education budget chair calls the UIS faculty strike “unnecessary”: Rep. La Shawn Ford, D-Chicago, appeared at a rally with striking faculty on Wednesday morning. Ford, who also serves as Chairman of the Illinois House Higher Education Appropriations Committee, said he was meeting with Chancellor Janet Gooch to encourage her to meet with the union members and settle the strike. “I just think that the chancellor should definitely show her support for this wonderful institution,” Ford said. “I think the students on this campus…. It’s a shame that they have to see something like this because it makes them fearful to get into the workforce because of worries about being treated fairly.”

* Bloomberg | Undisclosed missed debt payment spurs superdowngrade in Illinois: Pekin Park District, a recreation area about 170 miles southwest of Chicago, missed a $416,000 debt-service payment in December on bonds issued in 2020. By S&P’s count, it didn’t reveal that until 102 days after the due date, when it made the payment in late March. “The payment default reflects severe management deficiencies that have pressured cash reserves and liquidity and ultimately hindered the district’s ability to obtain timely alternative funding to cover debt service,” David Smith, an analyst at S&P, said in an April 10 report.

* Tribune | Chicago moves to buy Greyhound station, but key alderman demands more details: But moves still require City Council approval, a necessity that suddenly appeared to be a potential roadblock when Ald. Bill Conway, whose ward includes the downtown station, left the commission’s meeting unimpressed by the Johnson administration’s pitch. “That hearing really illustrated the ‘first we get the money’ mentality of this administration,” Conway said as he walked out. “It’s hard to describe that hearing as anything short of a total train wreck.” The downtown alderman had officially shared a “letter of no objection” to the expansion of the tax increment financing district ahead of the hearing. As he spoke to commissioners before they voted unanimously to approve the two proposals, he said he was not against buying the station, but had “significant concerns.”

* Illinois Times | Springfield slated to lose ambulance provider: LifeStar Ambulance Service Inc., one of three ambulance providers responding to 911 calls in Springfield and transporting patients to local hospitals, is slated to be barred from operating in Sangamon County after May 25 because of health care deficiencies cited by Springfield Memorial Hospital. “We’re working with our attorneys to try and come up with a solution where we can continue to stay with Springfield,” John Wright, chief executive officer of Centralia-based LifeStar, told Illinois Times on April 14.

* KWQC | Sale pending on former Quad-City Times building: The building was listed online by Ruhl&Ruhl in January for $4.2 million. The Quad-City Times relocated its staff from longtime headquarters at 500 E Third Street to East Moline in December. The staff move came after the closure of the paper’s Davenport printing operations, which were shifted to Munster, Indiana, at the end of September 2025. The Quad-City Times, Dispatch-Argus and Muscatine Journal are now printed at the Munster facility, which is owned by Lee Enterprises.

*** National ***

* The Jerusalem Post | Most American Jews oppose AIPAC spending in Democratic primaries, survey finds: The survey, which was conducted by GBAO Strategies on behalf of the liberal pro-Israel lobby J Street, comes as AIPAC has faced heightened scrutiny for pouring millions of dollars into Democratic primary races in New Jersey and Illinois in recent months with the aim of electing a majority pro-Israel Congress. Candidates’ rejection of AIPAC support has become a litmus test for many Democrats, and a number of presumed 2028 presidential candidates have sworn off AIPAC, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker. … The survey, which included interviews with 800 Jewish adults from March 23 to 25 and had a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points, found that 66% of American Jews overall oppose the lobby spending money raised from Republican donors in Democratic primaries, while 34% support it.

* NPR | Tax season was supposed to bring big refunds. So far they’re less than expected: So far, the average refund has totaled about $350 more than last year. By early April, the average tax refund sat at $3,462, which is 11.1% higher than the same point last year, according to the IRS. And Americans appear to be shrugging their shoulders at the tax changes. A recent survey by the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington think tank advising on federal policy, found 62% of respondents either thought the tax changes harmed them or made no difference. Even among Republicans, only 35% said the changes favored them.

* WIRED | The Deepfake Nudes Crisis in Schools Is Much Worse Than You Thought: The deepfake crisis hitting schools started slowly a couple of years ago, but it has since grown considerably as the technology used to create the explicit imagery has become more accessible. Deepfake sexual abuse incidents have hit around 90 schools globally and have impacted more than 600 pupils, according to a review of publicly reported incidents by WIRED and Indicator, a publication focusing on digital deception and misinformation. The deepfake crisis hitting schools started slowly a couple of years ago, but it has since grown considerably as the technology used to create the explicit imagery has become more accessible. Deepfake sexual abuse incidents have hit around 90 schools globally and have impacted more than 600 pupils, according to a review of publicly reported incidents by WIRED and Indicator, a publication focusing on digital deception and misinformation.