Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar

• Tribune: Illinois lawmakers roll out $55B budget plan as Bears stadium talks back to square one on final day of session
• CNI: Bears bombshell: City back in mix; team has met ‘repeatedly’ with Chicago over ‘several months’
• ABC Chicago: Illinois lawmakers face key deadline in battle for the Bears as legislative session ends Sunday

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* Gov. JB Pritzker has no public events scheduled today.

* The House will gavel in at 9 am, the Senate at noon. The Senate Appropriations Committee has a subject matter hearing on the budget at 10 am.

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Sun-Times | Illinois lawmakers pass bill to help homeowners catch up with property taxes before losing their homes: After three years of non-compliance with a 2023 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Illinois lawmakers have passed a measure that would fundamentally change how counties and taxing bodies in the state can recoup delinquent property taxes. For years, Illinois counties have sold property tax debt to investors who can ultimately seize the properties if their owners fail to redeem the delinquent property taxes. The nation’s highest court ruled it was unconstitutional to withhold the surplus equity from property owners who lose their properties in the process. Illinois is the only state affected by the ruling that has not yet reformed its property tax debt system.

* Capitol News Illinois | Ticket bot bill, Glock ban, e-bikes still up in the air as lawmakers near May 31: Senate Bill 318, part of the Senate’s artificial intelligence package, would prohibit consumers from using bots or multiple accounts to purchase more event tickets than the sale allows. The seller would be responsible for reporting instances to the state attorney general. The bill awaits a floor vote in the House, which could come Saturday evening after clarifying amendments are heard in an afternoon committee. It would then head back to the Senate for a concurring vote.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Harness Racing Update | Illinois harness horsepeople cautiously optimistic as legislature enters final weekend of spring session: After seeing some progress in pursuit of their objectives, members of the Illinois Harness Horsemen’s Association (IHHA) were cautiously optimistic going into the final weekend of the spring session of the state legislature that will end on Sunday (May 31). The IHHA website reports that on May 26 the organization’s executive committee members testified on the merits of the new House Bill 5369 sponsored by Representative Bob Rita and emphasized the need for the proposed racino in downstate Decatur, a quicker path to another racino in Chicago’s south suburbs and an end to the 1995 “recapture” provision in the racing statute.

* Capitol News Illinois | POWER Act data center regulation won’t move forward this spring: House Majority Leader Robyn Gabel, a Democrat from Evanston who has led the bill in the House, said at a Saturday rally hosted by the ICJC that there’s another option for regulating data centers while negotiations continue. “The governor proposed a pause in the data center tax credit in his budget address, and we need to get that done in this year’s budget,” Gabel said. “The last thing we should be doing is handing out tax breaks and incentives to these profitable corporations.”

*** Chicago ***

* Tribune | As plastics clog the Great Lakes, industry presses to make more and downplays dangers, Tribune analysis finds: By one estimate, at least 22 million pounds of plastic waste end up in the Great Lakes every year. Lake Michigan is rivaled only by Lake Erie in concentrations of nurdles and other tiny bits known collectively as microplastics. That makes sense, scientists said, since the two lakes are the most urbanized.

* ABC Chicago | Nonprofit hosts ‘field takeover’ at Bronzeville school as alternative to disruptive teen gatherings: The field behind Mollison Elementary in Bronzeville was busy with athletics and affirmations. Personal trainers and speakers volunteered their time to engage and motivate young people at the Restore the Youth Field Takeover. “You are lovable. You are capable of being loved. You are capable of doing something positive, so any negative behavior that you have cultivated because of the hardship you’ve had all your life, change that around,” said Sunny Akhigbe.

* Sun-Times | Visitors kick back and relax as Parisian chairs debut at Buckingham Fountain: The movable chairs were inspired by the seating found in Paris’ Luxembourg Gardens. City officials said the program, which debuted with 100 chairs manufactured by Paris-based Fermob, is designed to “encourage social gathering” and give visitors a place to relax and enjoy the fountain. On Saturday morning, visitors were seen gathered in large groups, sitting in pairs or pulling a chair back to avoid being sprayed by the fountain’s water.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Aurora Beacon-News | Aurora’s new hub for clean energy job training celebrates first graduation: A new center offering job training in green energy-related fields that opened earlier this year in Aurora celebrated its first graduation on Friday. Specifically, 16 students gradated from the program run by 548 Foundation, one of the two groups offering programs at Aurora’s CEJA Workforce Development Hub. Located in a formerly unused city facility at 649 S. River St., the workforce development hub’s programs get their funding through the state Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, which also gives the Aurora center its name.

* Elgin Courier-News | Expect two months of lane reductions because of Fox River bridge resurfacing in South Elgin: Drivers should brace for traffic snarls this summer when South Elgin’s State Street bridge over the Fox River is reduced to one lane for road resurfacing work. Depending on the weather, the project is scheduled to begin Monday and be completed by the end of July, officials said. “To minimize the need for frequent repairs and to keep the bridge fully functional and safe for as many years as possible, the contractor will use latex-modified concrete for the bridge decking,” said Craig Pierce, the village’s manager of communications and community engagement. “It has a projected lifespan of 25 years and is considered nearly impermeable to road salt and other corrosive materials.”

*** Downstate ***

* WCIA | ‘Hazardous spill’ situation ends at U of I lab; safe to resume regular activities: At 2:22 p.m., the alert said it is now safe to resume regular activities near 600 South Mathews Avenue in Urbana. […] At 12:55 p.m. on May 30, an Illini Alert was put out that there were hazardous materials released at 600 South Mathews Avenue in Urbana — which is the Roger Adams Laboratory and Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering building on U of I’s campus. There were reports of fire and hazmat on scene a short time later.

* WGLT | McLean County’s first Mental Health Field Day makes self-care feel less intimidating: McLean County Behavioral Health Coordination hosted a wide variety of tents and organizations Saturday at Normandy Village in Normal as part of Mental Health Awareness Month. The free event brought together various organizations offering mental health services, developmental resources, wellness activities and community support programs. Families wandered among booths while children played games and volunteers handed out information about therapy, early intervention services, smoking cessation programs and support groups.

* Capitol City Now | Route 66 exhibit opens at Illinois State Museum: “Miles of Memories: Stories of Route 66” highlights what life was like along Route 66 during its peak years as a major highway connecting Chicago and Los Angeles. The exhibit features pieces from the museum’s Route 66 Oral History Project, which includes 100 interviews with people who lived, worked and traveled along the historic roadway. Visitors will be able to hear excerpts from those firsthand accounts throughout the exhibit.

*** National ***

* Post-Tribune | Feds detail tangled web of ties in ‘Greek’ gambling ring: Elsewhere, federal prosecutors, as expected, signaled last week they will likely seek a superseding RICO indictment. They also want Gialamas, a top operative, back in jail. Gialamas was arrested while on vacation in Puerto Rico and later released. In a 66-page filing on May 22, Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip Benson argued that was a mistake, alleging he was “at least as egregious” as Gerodemos by “recruiting and financing” extortion efforts.

* AP | America’s tech-filled classrooms are facing a backlash against school-assigned devices: The campaign for change is becoming a public policy issue. At least 14 states have proposed laws to limit screen time in schools, according to Ballotpedia. The federal government issued an advisory last week warning that excessive screen use among youth is becoming a growing public health concern.

* NYT | Trump Administration Sees Striking Exodus of Legal Talent: President Trump’s upheaval of the federal government has led to an exodus of more than 10,000 lawyers since the beginning of 2025, a striking loss of legal talent that has left some agencies pushing to find attorneys to carry out his agenda. […] The Justice Department, which employs more than a quarter of all government lawyers, saw the largest decline in raw numbers. But other agencies — including the Department of Education, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development — lost an even greater share of attorneys.

3 Comments

Good morning!

Sunday, May 31, 2026 - Posted by Rich Miller

* It just doesn’t feel like May 31st to me…

Wrap it up I’ll take it

This is an end of session open thread.

1 Comment

SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Today’s edition of Capitol Fax (use all CAPS in password)

Sunday, May 31, 2026 - Posted by Rich Miller

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SUNDAY, May 31, 2026
PRITZKER; BEARS; BIMP; ELECTIONS

‘HAIL MARY’ PASS BEING PREPARED The governor’s three-year dream of passing a payment in lieu of taxes law and tying it to a new Chicago Bears suburban stadium complex deal went down in flames last night. What is starting to emerge in its place looks more like a traditional stadium deal. But it’s a lot to explain to legislators on the session’s final day.

Gov. Pritzker’s basic idea was to lock in locally negotiated tax payments in lieu of property taxes for decades to give the Bears and other megaprojects developers around the state an incentive via “tax certainty.” But so many Senate Democrats refused to vote for the PILOT idea that it clearly couldn’t pass, even with some Republican support. The main (not only) Senate objection was the large tax break being offered in lieu of property taxes.

The new idea that emerged yesterday would have the Bears pay to build their stadium on publicly owned land. No tax money would be used for the stadium itself, but the language would be structured (perhaps via a lease to own concept like Indiana’s) so that the team wouldn’t owe property taxes, but pay in other ways. Like the current offer, infrastructure costs would be picked up by state and local governments.

A big caution: The whole thing is basically just back of the envelope stuff right now. They’ll have some language drafted by this morning that sets up a basic framework which all sides can live with and then work out the details by veto session (which, as we recently discussed, is an increasingly common phenomenon). There are also conflicting descriptions of what the deal is, so I’ve tried to talk to as many informed folks as I could and get them to clarify. Even so, this is far from being a solid proposal.

Will the Bears go for it? They’ve seemed pretty patient this month, to the point where some folks believe the threat to move to Indiana isn’t real. But that could just be wishful thinking.

The plan, such as it is, would theoretically give Chicago a shot at keeping the Bears in the city, so the issue of what to do with the Soldier Field campus could also be punted – if, that is, the Bears agree to the framework and the bill passes.

As noted above, that is a whole lot of new information for legislators to digest on the very last day of a severely back-loaded spring session, along with everything else on their plates. Man, what a mess.

CAN THAT REALLY BE THE BIMP? “It’s as boring as a revisory,” joked one lobbyist last night about the budget implementation bill (HB2949, Senate amendment 2). That person was right. Dozens of fixes to scrivener errors, basic changes to keep the government running, small-ball issues within agencies.

This leads me (and that lobbyist I spoke with) to believe that another BIMP amendment may be coming. BIMPs are usually where the powers that be put big stuff they want passed. Stay tuned.

True to form, though, the Senate chose an interesting bill to shell out with the BIMP language. A few years ago, they gutted and replaced the state bean commemorative bill. Last year it was a bill creating Diwali Day.

This time around, a bill establishing Alopecia Awareness Month was replaced with the BIMP language.

Senate President Don Harmon does not like commemorative bills, and it shows.

Also, expect an amendment to the appropriations bill today. And as of late last night, the revenue omnibus had not surfaced.

ELECTIONS OMNIBUS FILED – by Rich and Isabel Miller The Senate filed the elections omnibus bill yesterday, but we might expect at least some changes.

Amendment 3 to House Bill 1832 would impose new disclosure requirements on certain AI-generated political ads, help out the CTU, change some lobbyist requirements and make a host of election-related changes, including one change that may have to be altered.

Political ads containing AI-generated images, audio or video that could “reasonably lead to voter interference, coercion, or intimidation if the use of artificial intelligence is not disclosed to voters” would have to disclose that the content was generated “in whole or substantially” by artificial intelligence in the ad itself.

Campaigns and other entities regulated by the State Board of Elections would also have to notify the board within 24 hours after a qualifying advertisement airs publicly. The board would publish a list of those advertisements and their sponsors online. Violators could face fines of up to $250 for a first offense and up to $1,000 for subsequent violations. Broadcasters and others would not be subjected to the penalties.

Election authorities could begin the process of counting vote-by-mail ballots seven days before election day, although results could not be released until polls close.

State and local political committees would gain access to lists of rejected vote-by-mail ballots, including voter contact information. The bill also creates a statewide tracking system allowing voters to monitor their ballots and learn whether they were accepted or rejected. The bill would allow counties to establish universal vote centers beginning in 2027.

The amendment includes a contingency provision tied to a pending US Supreme Court case involving late-arriving mail ballots. If the court rules federal law preempts Illinois’ current system, which allows ballots post-marked by election day to be counted up to two weeks later, then a ballot in a federal election would be considered received when it is in the custody of the election authority by the close of polls on election day.

However, the bill also changes the law about when ballots can be mailed. The intent appears to be in case of an adverse Supreme Court case, but it’s not clear in print. For example, it changes application date requirements for vote by mail ballots from 5 days to 10 days before an election. Mailed ballots would also need to be postmarked 5 days before an election (instead of on election day). I’m guessing some county clerks will impose those requirements even without an adverse Supreme Court decision.

Some folks who circulated petitions for the Chicago Teachers Union candidates (and, to be fair, several others) in the non-partisan city school board races had already circulated petitions for partisan and independent candidates before the primary, which is in the same election cycle as the school board race, and that’s not allowed under state law (10 ILCS 5/10-4). Some rival campaigns are apparently hoping to kick some of those candidates off the ballot.

So, the proposal would retroactively legalize those circulators going back to 2025.

Registered lobbyists would be barred from using current or former governmental titles on business cards, letterhead or emails used to solicit business or to lobby officials. That’s apparently enough of a problem to warrant regulation.