House passes collective bargaining amendment after hot debate Kathleen Willis
Updated 5/26/2021 6:49 PM
Suburban lawmakers in the Illinois House hotly debated a constitutional amendment that would give workers in the state a fundamental right to collectively bargain.
Democrats say the amendment, which passed 80-30 Wednesday, protects workers rights. Republicans expressed concerns about the nature of the amendment and its language, which Elmhurst Republican Deanne Mazzochi said was not clear.
The proposed amendment would add a section to the Illinois Constitution s Bill of Rights stating, Employees shall have the fundamental right to organize and to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing for the purpose of negotiating wages, hours, and working conditions, and to protect their economic welfare and safety at work.
Democrats map proposal would pit suburban Republican lawmakers against one another This is the proposed state House redistricting map for Chicago and the suburbs. ilhousedems.com/redistricting This is the proposed state Senate redistricting map for Chicago and the suburbs. www.ilsenateredistricting.com
Updated 5/24/2021 6:01 PM
Suburban House Republicans could see some losses in the next election based on the proposed Illinois legislative map, which would pit some incumbent lawmakers against one another.
Six Republicans live in three of the proposed districts, potentially whittling down GOP representation and expanding Democrats control of the General Assembly. Another suburban Republican would be drawn into the same district as an incumbent Democrat.
The governor’s office unveiled a 900-page energy overhaul bill Wednesday, accelerating a yearslong process which advocates hope will end in a comprehensive clean energy platform as the session nears its final month.
The stated goal of the bill is to drive Illinois to 100 percent “clean” energy by 2050. That, Deputy Gov. Christian Mitchell said in an interview Wednesday, would include nuclear power as a major contributor. Another goal is to bring Illinois to 40 percent of its utility scale energy produced by renewables, such as wind and solar, by 2030. Right now, that number is around 8 percent.
The bill contains some of the provisions put forth in other legislation, raising the rate cap on ratepayer bills for renewable projects from about 2 percent to 3.75 percent; ending formulaic rate increases for utilities immediately; and prohibiting natural gas companies from assessing a surcharge on bills starting January 2022.
The state Senate and House passed more than 750 bills last week, addressing isolated timeouts in schools, youth vaping, teaching Muslim history, the commemoration of Juneteenth and automatic voter registration in prisons, among other topics.
Friday was the deadline for the General Assembly to pass bills out of each chamber, for consideration in the other chamber. The General Assembly’s session is scheduled to end May 31.
Capitol News Illinois has summarized below a few of the notable bills that passed one chamber last week. To become law among other pathways the bills will still need to receive approval from the other chamber and the governor.
General Assembly passes hundreds of bills as session end approaches myjournalcourier.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from myjournalcourier.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.