My Update to You
This week in Springfield, we dove right in to our committee work on Senate bills that passed the Senate previously, and now must go through the House’s process. I passed one Senate bill through committee, and heard many others in our House committees. We are now down to just 3 weeks left in the spring legislative session. It has gone by quickly for me so far, and the next three weeks are when we have to be alert for major legislation to develop seemingly out of nowhere.
This past week we also saw a new Auditor General, Chris Meister, and Deputy Auditor General, Courtney Dzierwa, take office. I serve on the Legislative Audit Commission, and this week marked the completion of the Commission’s months-long work to interview and select qualified professionals for these important positions. We said goodbye to former Auditor General Frank Mautino, as he completed his ten year term.
I was honored to be a part of a legislative panel for the Illinois Association of Park Districts meeting on Wednesday. We also welcomed the 2026 University of Illinois Men’s Basketball team, and the Men’s and Women’s Wheelchair Basketball Teams to the Capitol this week. With both the Senate and House in session at the same time this week, which has been rare so far this spring, the Capitol saw alot of groups and visitors in town, including local firefighters, pork producers and business groups.
Thursday was the annual Police Officers Memorial on the Capitol lawn. I always attend this event to honor the police officers who died in the line of service over the past year.
I will keep you updated as we go through the end of the legislative session and the passing of the state budget at the end of the month.
Hope to see you soon!
Amy
Capitol News Illinois: Illinois legislators gear up for final budget talks
Illinois lawmakers are still batting around a variety of budget ideas with just a few weeks left in the legislative session.
The state remains on track to take in more revenue than originally expected this year, which provides wiggle room —though not much — for lawmakers in the budgeting process. But there remains contention about what the budget should look like, not just between the parties but also between factions of Democrats, with some demanding hefty tax increases beyond what the governor has proposed.
The Illinois Revenue Alliance, a group of progressive lawmakers and organizations such as the Chicago Teachers Union, wants to raise nearly $4 billion to increase funding for social services. They’d do that by creating new taxes and eliminating tax credits, but the governor hasn’t embraced any of the proposals, which are viewed as longshots. […]
Revenue in April was up $146 million, or 2%, compared to April 2025, with income tax receipts this March and April increasing by 4.1% compared to the same period last year, according to the bipartisan Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability. The numbers fall in line with COGFA’s revised revenue estimates for the year, meaning there is no “April surprise” that would throw a wrench into final budget talks and projections remain on track.
Overall in FY26, revenue is up $1.7 billion through April, or 3.8%, compared to the same point in FY26. Strong-performing income tax receipts are helping to drive the revenue growth, which COGFA notes is exceeding the 0.9% growth originally expected this fiscal year. Sales taxes, which can serve as an indicator of consumer confidence, are also up 4% compared to last year. […]
Read more from Capitol News Illinois.
Chicago Tribune: Central and Southern Illinois residents could face high electricity rates again this summer
Residents of central and southern Illinois could face another summer of brutally high electricity prices if the region gets hit by another heat wave.
That was the blunt warning recently from Ameren Illinois, which delivers power from LaSalle County in Chicago’s far southwest suburbs all the way to the Ohio River.
The utility based its warning on the latest capacity auction through which it reserves space for future electricity shipments on the grid run by the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO). Along with neighboring grids like PJM Interconnection, which serves northern Illinois, the District of Columbia and 12 other states, MISO is scrambling to keep up with rising electricity demand from data centers.
In the wake of the MISO capacity auction, Ameren Illinois customers will pay 11 cents per kilowatt-hour for electricity supply for the summer months beginning June 1.
This rate is lower than last year’s 12.2 cents, which was driven by record supply costs and a June heat wave. But it remains well above the 4.8 cents seen in 2021.
Supply costs make up about half of a typical residential bill.
Read more from the Chicago Tribune.
Photo Update!
