SPRINGFIELD — The legislation passed and sent to Gov. JB Pritzker’s desk during the General Assembly’s brief lame-duck session was overshadowed by the governor’s squabble with Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson over a bill that never got called for a vote.
Pritzker and Johnson each mounted serious lobbying attempts on opposing sides of a bill to strictly regulate hemp sales. The disagreement was emblematic of the tense working relationship the two leaders have maintained since Johnson took office in May 2023.
Ultimately, Johnson’s side of the argument prevailed, and Pritzker proved a not particularly gracious loser, saying the mayor had little to do with the result and indicating the blame lies with his fellow Democrats led by House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch.
“I was tremendously disappointed that this is a demonstration, from my perspective, of the power of special interests and the money that they spread around to thwart health and safety of the public,” Pritzker said Tuesday during an unrelated news conference in downstate Normal. He said the hemp bill’s demise resulted from “the choice by a number of people to go for profits over people.”
The bill, which would have licensed and regulated hemp that is used for products such as delta-8 and delta-10 THC that get users high, passed in the state Senate with nearly no opposition during the spring legislative session. But it proved to be a hard sell in the House, where some members heard directly from Pritzker or Johnson as they pleaded their cases over the last several days.
Johnson told lawmakers he opposed the bill because of concerns it could cost the city of Chicago significant revenue, according to sources familiar with the mayor’s outreach. Pritzker, whose lobbying efforts included cajoling lawmakers during a weekend party at the Governor’s Mansion, expressed concerns about the harmful ingredients in hemp products, especially if ingested by children.
With the stalemate over the issue in Springfield, Chicago Aldermen Marty Quinn, 13th, and Silvana Tabares, 23rd, moved to ban hemp products from their Southwest Side wards Tuesday. Their legislation passed unanimously in the License and Consumer Protection Committee and could face a final vote next week.
“We should not be putting our kids in harm’s way to make a quick buck,” Quinn told the committee. “These smoke shops cater dangerous products to children and do not belong in our streets.”
Statewide hemp legislation now will have to be resurrected after a new General Assembly is inaugurated on Wednesday. But for now, the bill’s demise stands out as a rare defeat for Pritzker, who has been largely successful in pushing agenda items through the Democratic supermajorities in both chambers of the legislature.
Aside from that drama, lawmakers did take action on a number of bills.
Lawmakers Monday night passed a measure aimed at shoring up protections for domestic abuse victims from gun violence. Dubbed “Karina’s Bill,” the legislation would require law enforcement to remove firearms from people who have orders of protection against them, clarifying when and how police can confiscate guns.
Those weapons are not always removed from alleged abusers even if their firearm owner’s identification cards are revoked.
“The system failed them. We failed them. Our current laws are confusing for victims and judges and the results are that victims aren’t getting what they need,” state Sen. Celina Villanueva, a Chicago Democrat and Senate sponsor of the bill, said during a Monday hearing before the Senate Executive Committee.
The bill later Monday passed the full Senate 43-10 with bipartisan support. The bill then passed in the House 80-33 and now heads to the governor’s desk.
The bill is named after Karina Gonzalez, a resident of Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood who, with her 15-year-old daughter Daniela, was shot and killed by her husband in 2023, according to prosecutors. Gonzalez had obtained an order of protection against him and his FOID card had been revoked.
The Senate also approved a measure that would provide reforms to the embattled Illinois Prisoner Review Board. A bipartisan version of the bill passed the Senate in the spring without any opposition, but a new iteration of the bill passed this week by a 32-21 vote, with a handful of Democrats voting against it. This bill had yet to be taken up in the House.
The bill was scaled back after Pritzker in May indicated he took exception with the way the previous version was written and questioned whether there’d be appropriate funding to meet the demands of the legislation. The earlier bill called for more hearings to be available to the public via live broadcast on the board’s website, including mandatory supervised release revocation hearings, which could run to hundreds or even thousands of recordings each year. Right now, the monthly parole hearings for people who’ve been incarcerated for decades are the only ones recorded live for the public.
Pritzker in March said there could be changes to the board’s practices after the panel released 37-year-old Crosetti Brand, who authorities say then killed 11-year-old Jayden Perkins and attacked the boy’s mother, with whom Brand once had a relationship, on Chicago’s North Side. Days later, the board’s chairman, Donald Shelton, and board member LeAnn Miller, who drafted the order authorizing Brand’s release, resigned.
The legislation codifies that victims in cases can submit victim impact statements to the board if the convicted perpetrator is up for early release in their case. The board would also be required to publish instructions on its website on how to submit such statements.
The bill also specifies that seven members of the board, which can have up to 15 total members, must have at least five years of experience as a law enforcement officer, parole officer, prosecutor, criminal defense attorney or judge. The bill also spells out that the board may have members with experience in victim advocacy, including for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.
The measure also contains provisions about training for board members — especially in the area of domestic violence — and makes changes related to factors to be considered by the panel in deciding whether to grant or deny early release.
The bill also requires the Illinois Department of Corrections to prepare a report describing whether the person incarcerated has completed certain conditions in order to be released early. It also requires that all petitioners for clemency, medical release and all candidates for parole appearing before the board be given an opportunity to appear in person or via video.
“Last spring, we came together on a bipartisan proposal, which ran into complications negotiating with the governor,” Senate President Don Harmon, a Democrat from Oak Park, said on the Senate floor Monday night. “I know that this is not the bipartisan bill we had advanced in the spring, but its goals are the same.”
But Republicans who spoke during the floor debate weren’t moved by the bill. GOP state Sen. Steve McClure of Springfield said the bill falls short on transparency.
“Our side of the aisle did want to have video of these hearings so that everybody could understand what was happening and everybody can see exactly what the PRB was doing at any given time,” he said. “Unfortunately, we don’t have the video in here so now this happens behind closed doors.”
Going to Pritzker’s desk is a measure approved by the Illinois House on Monday aimed at making it easier for relatives of children in state care to get licensed as foster parents and receive assistance. The measure passed without opposition.
“We’re going to change some kid’s life,” said state Rep. Marcus Evans, a Chicago Democrat who sponsored the bill. “This legislation represents more than just change from our worker system but it represents an opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of thousands of children and families and build stronger, more resilient communities across our state.”
Also Monday, the House approved a measure by an 89-16 vote intended to protect senior citizens in Illinois from abuse and neglect by prohibiting nursing homes from retaliating against a resident for registering complaints about the home to state officials.
Under the measure, nursing homes would have to notify residents each year of their rights regarding retaliation and the process to make complaints. Nursing home staff would also be required to undergo in-service training designed to prevent retaliatory action from taking place. The bill is now with Pritzker.
