First week of veto session wraps up with little legislative movement

Illinois lawmakers are heading back to their districts after three days of legislative session in Springfield this week that saw little movement on several major initiatives.

They will have a week off before returning to Springfield on Nov. 7 for the second of their annual two-week veto session during which they consider bills the governor vetoed since they last met in the spring.

When they return, they'll consider measures including reforms to the state's nuclear policy and a potential extension of a controversial tax credit program that funds private school scholarships.

Halal and kosher foods

In a 43-15 vote Wednesday, the Senate passed a measure sponsored by Sen. Ram Villivalam, a Chicago Democrat, that would require schools and state-run facilities such as prisons and hospitals to offer kosher and halal food options for those with religious dietary restrictions.

The measure, Senate Bill 457, mirrors a similar proposal from Rep. Abdelnasser Rashid, a Bridgeview Democrat, which Gov. JB Pritzker vetoed this summer due to technical concerns about the contracting language.

The new bill would require the Illinois State Board of Education to identify and contract with vendors to provide kosher and halal food options to school districts. Once those master contracts are executed - provided the General Assembly has allocated funding to do so - school districts would be required to adopt procedures regarding ordering, preparing, and serving prepackaged meals offered under the statewide contracts.

Schools would not be required to offer these foods until ISBE enters into at least one master contract for the state.

"There are districts that are doing this right now," Villivalam said. "They have the option to continue to do it with the contracts they have entered into or they can enter into the master contract that's created."

The legislation was met with some pushback from Republican senators, who questioned the reasoning for some of the penalties for violating its provisions.

Villivalam said during debate Wednesday that those and other concerns can be addressed through future amendments in the House or with follow-up legislation when the lawmakers return in the spring.

Energy policy

Rep. Larry Walsh, an Elwood Democrat, announced Wednesday he would not pursue a veto override vote for a policy that would have granted downstate electric utilities - notably Ameren Illinois - the "right of first refusal" for transmission line construction, allowing them to have first crack at the projects.

Pritzker this summer vetoed the portion of a broader bill containing the proposal, citing concerns about stifling competition and increasing consumer prices.

While he conceded the veto override, Walsh said he will push for a broader bill that would provide the right of first refusal across the whole state in the spring.

Pritzker also vetoed a bill earlier this year that partially would have lifted the state's 1980s-era moratorium on new nuclear construction, writing in his veto message that it didn't include sufficient protections for the "health and safety of Illinois residents who would live and work around these new reactors."

But since then, the original legislation's sponsor has introduced a new bill that she hopes addresses these concerns and Pritzker has indicated he's open to supporting a bill allowing some nuclear construction.

"I'm hopeful that we'll be able to get a bill that does that," Pritzker said Tuesday. "We should be able to. We're all competent adults who understand what the goal is and I believe there's a strong majority of people who want to do this."

Private school scholarships

While there wasn't a formal vote on the subject, advocates for the Invest in Kids tax credit program for donors to private school scholarship funds flooded the statehouse this week to rally support for renewing the program before it's scheduled to expire at the end of the year.

The program, which has been the subject of partisan debate for several years and originally was introduced as a concession to Republicans during the creation of the state's evidence-based funding model for schools, was not extended during this year's budget negotiations.

Hundreds of advocates - including school uniform-clad children and a few nuns - rallied inside the Capitol, with their loud chanting in the rotunda at times interrupting debate on unrelated bills inside the House chamber.

Rep. Angelica Guerrero-Cuellar, a Chicago Democrat, introduced a bill this week that would extend the program until 2028 with a $50 million budget cap, down from the $75 million it has received in recent years. It would also limit the individual tax credits to be 100% credit for the first $5,000 and a lower percentage credit for any donations beyond $5,000. It previously was 75% on all donations.

Guerrero-Cuellar's House Bill 4194 hasn't been considered by any committees, meaning it cannot clear both chambers with just three session days left on the calendar this year. The topic likely will come up for discussion when lawmakers return in November, but for any negotiated extension of the program to pass in that second week of lawmakers' session, the proposals would have to be moved to a bill that's further along in the legislative process.

Capitol News Illinois' Jennifer Fuller and Andrew Campbell contributed to this story.

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government. It is distributed to hundreds of print and broadcast outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, along with major contributions from the Illinois Broadcasters Foundation and Southern Illinois Editorial Association.