Cesar Toscano

1 week ago | nprillinois.org | Cesar Toscano

Many new lawmakers come to government with big dreams but often find they have little power at the start. This is how several first-time Central Illinois lawmakers learned how to enact change in their own ways. Republican state Rep. Regan Deering, who represents parts of Bloomington, went to Springfield with the aspiration to affect change, but after five months Deering realized she has less influence than she expected.

2 weeks ago | nprillinois.org | Cesar Toscano

Illinois GOP lawmakers from Central Illinois hosted a social media townhall meeting on Monday following the end of the spring legislative session. The town hall took place online on Sen. Sally Turner’s Facebook page. Turner was accompanied by Rep. Bill Hauter and Rep. Regan Deering, who each represent parts of McLean County. The lawmakers said they were disappointed with the final days of the session, citing the last-second discussion of the budget and the new taxes worth up to $1 billion.

3 weeks ago | nprillinois.org | Cesar Toscano

Illinois lawmakers filed more than 7,500 bills this spring session, and 615 of them crossed the finish line. While most bills failed to escape legislative committees, there were some that got close to becoming reality. These are some of the bills that left a mark this session even though they never made it to Gov. JB Pritzker’s desk. Clean SlateThe Clean Slate Act stalled in the Illinois House, dimming the hopes of advocates who thought it might be called in the last hours of the Spring Session.

3 weeks ago | nprillinois.org | Cesar Toscano

In the days following the end of the session, Democratic state Sen. Dave Koehler of Peoria looked back at the tense spring session. A $3 billion deficit in the state budget caught the attention of the Illinois legislature throughout the session. This came as the federal COVID relief funds expired this year, and a new administration began to threaten cuts of federal funding due to Illinois’ immigration policy.

3 weeks ago | nprillinois.org | Cesar Toscano

Central Illinois lawmakers had predictably partisan reactions to the official state budget for the next fiscal year. The budget includes $55.2 billion in spending, a 3.9% increase. Revenue estimates total $55.3 billion, with $1 billion in new taxes on nicotine products, sports betting, and businesses. Democrats revealed the budget 48 hours before the midnight deadline on Saturday; lawmakers would need to a three-fifths majority to pass any bills after that. That led to heated committee meetings.