Sharon Chung

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.

In the days following the end of the session, Illinois State Senator Dave Koehler of Peoria looked back at the tense spring session.

WGLT spoke to state Rep. Sharon Chung, a Democrat from Bloomington, about what got done and what didn't this spring.

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.

The Illinois House on Tuesday voted to ban carbon capture near the Mahomet Aquifer in a 91-19 vote. It's already passed the Senate and now goes to the governor.

Illinois organizations dedicated to the humanities and the arts are asking state lawmakers for help as they scramble to make up for federal funding cuts. One of them is the McLean County Museum of History.

Illinois’ energy demand will outmatch its supply by 2030, according to a Power Bureau study. That's why some lawmakers are trying to end a 40-year moratorium on the construction of large-scale nuclear reactors.

With hate crimes rising across Illinois in the last five years, lawmakers are considering a bill that would allow people to sue if they receive threatening flyers on private property due to protected identity characteristics.

Over the last decade, state funding for Illinois State University has dropped by more than a third after inflation. And it has declined as a share of the total university budget for more than three decades. That could change if the state legislature passes a measure this spring.

In 10 other states, doctors are allowed to prescribe life-ending treatment for terminal patients. Illinois could become the 11th.