A bill that would have imposed regulations on new types of intoxicating substances derived from hemp stalled in the Illinois House Tuesday, dealing a political setback to Gov. JB Pritzker after he strongly supported the legislation.
“I was tremendously disappointed,” Pritzker said at an unrelated news conference Tuesday, after it became clear the bill would not be called for a vote in the House. “This is a demonstration, from my perspective, of the power of special interests and the money that they spread around to thwart health and safety of the public.”
But the bill also created rifts within the House Democratic caucus. According to several sources, the hemp regulation bill was the focus of a three-hour closed-door caucus meeting Monday that some House members described afterwards as “spirited” but others described as “raucous.”
Pritzker also called Democratic House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch’s decision not to call the bill “irresponsible,” saying he believed it would have passed with a bipartisan majority had he done so. And he criticized House Democrats for the treatment of members of his staff who appeared at Monday’s caucus meeting.
But Welch’s spokesperson noted that he is a cosponsor of the bill and would continue working to pass it in the new legislative session that begins Wednesday.
“A lengthy caucus discussion found that the bill in its current form did not have enough support within the House Democratic Caucus,” the spokesperson said. “He is committed to continuing discussions so that when the bill ultimately passes, it is the best possible piece of legislation for the state of Illinois.”
‘Intoxicating’ hemp
The bill targeted a new category of products that have so far been able to bypass the regulatory framework Illinois set up when it legalized industrial hemp in 2018 and recreational marijuana the following year.
The two crops are closely related biologically. Both are classified as a form of cannabis but the major distinction between them is the amount of the intoxicating chemical THC they contain.
Hemp is defined as having a THC content not more than 0.3% by weight. It is primarily used to make a variety of consumer products, such as CBD oils, that are thought to have health benefits. The plant can also be used to make a variety of industrial products such as textile fabrics and building materials.
Both the hemp and marijuana industries are heavily regulated by the state, from the planting and growing of the crops to the transportation and processing of plants into various products. In addition, marijuana and related cannabis products can only be sold through licensed dispensaries.
In recent years, however, a new category of intoxicating products has emerged in what some people call a “gray market” that lies just outside the existing regulatory framework. Those products are made using THC that is extracted or synthesized from hemp plants and are often sold in gas stations and convenience stores, sometimes in packaging that closely resembles candy, snacks or other products commonly sold to children.
“And I talked to a mother of a daughter who took one of these packages, didn’t understand how intoxicating the package was, and ended up passed out, ended up in the hospital, has been in and out of the hospital now for eight months as a result of just this product that looked, in all respects, as if it were candy,” Pritzker said.
House Bill 4293, known as the Hemp Consumer Products Act, would have closed the existing loophole by defining any product meant for human or animal consumption with a THC content greater than that of consumer CBD products as “cannabis.” It would have done so regardless of where the THC came from or how it was derived, and it would have subjected those products to all the regulations that apply to the cannabis industry.
That bill passed the Senate during the regular 2024 session in May by a vote of 54-1. But the House did not consider the bill during the final days of the spring session, nor did the bill come up for a vote during the fall veto session in November.
Industry concerns
In December, Pritzker held a news conference and issued a news release announcing his support for the bill while urging lawmakers to pass it during the upcoming lame duck session in January.
But the bill ran into stiff opposition from some hemp-related businesses argued the bill would cast too wide of a net over the industry, putting small, independent businesses and farms at risk while cutting off consumers’ access to health products like CBD oil.
“This bill, as currently written, would wipe out thousands of jobs and criminalize CBD products to the benefit of billion-dollar cannabis corporations,” the lobby group Illinois Healthy Alternatives Association said in a statement Jan. 5.
But other industry advocates disagreed, arguing the new regulations were needed to close a regulatory loophole in Illinois law that allows certain businesses to sell products that are essentially cannabis, without going through the state’s cannabis regulatory process.
“What these guys are trying to do is that they’re trying to cement themselves in a separate category that allows them to sell the exact same product at a whole different rate because they don’t have to follow any of the regulations,” Ted Parks, a licensed cannabis transporter and executive director of the Illinois Third Party Carriers Association, told Capitol News Illinois in an interview.
Democratic rift
Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Pritzker openly complained that officials from state agencies that would be involved in the regulatory process were verbally abused by Democratic lawmakers, and he specifically blamed Welch for not intervening.
“There was a raucous meeting of the Democratic House caucus, in which there was a lot of yelling at staff by people who were opposed to the bill that the speaker did not intervene about,” Pritzker said. “And you shouldn’t let staff get berated like that. You just shouldn’t.”
A spokesperson for Welch issued a statement later Tuesday saying he expects House members to conduct themselves with “proper decorum and respect, especially on contentious topics amidst tight deadlines.”
“Speaker Welch spoke individually with certain members immediately following the discussion yesterday, as well as to the entire Caucus today, reiterating these expectations,” the spokesperson said. “It is his understanding that at least one member has reached out to offer an apology to the Governor’s staff, and has also apologized to members of the Democratic Caucus.”
The bill did not come up for a vote Tuesday, the final day of the lame duck session, due to an unwritten procedural rule in the House commonly known as the “rule of 60,” which says no bill can advance to final action on the House floor unless at least 60 members of the majority caucus have signed on to support it.
Sixty is the minimum number of votes needed to pass legislation in the House. Democrats currently hold 78 of the House’s 118 seats.
“It came up a few votes short,” Rep. Bob Rita, D-Blue Island, said in an interview. “We’re in the lame duck (session) and this is a time when there are a lot of things going on, but it’s a measure that we need to address as we go into the 104 th General Assembly. I believe this is going to be at the forefront of one of the agenda items.”
Chicago concerns
Some House members speculated that Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, who was known to oppose the bill, may have been a factor in some Democrats’ refusal to support the bill, but Pritzker said he doubted that was the case.
“My impression is he didn’t have much to do with this,” he said. “There’s a powerful lobby that has been working against this bill for quite some time. This was not an easy bill. If it had been, it would have passed last May.”
Bill moves forward following 2024 U.S. Supreme Court ruling
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It’s been 18 months since Karina Gonzalez and her 15-year-old daughter Daniela were shot and killed on Fourth of July weekend at their Chicago home, allegedly by her husband.
Gonzalez had filed for an order of protection from her husband just two weeks before her death. That order caused his Firearm Owner’s Identification card to be revoked, but law enforcement never removed the gun he owned from his possession.
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After more than a year of negotiations, the Illinois General Assembly passed “Karina’s Bill” on Tuesday with bipartisan support. It clarifies that local law enforcement must temporarily remove guns from a person who has an order of protection against them when the alleged victim successfully seeks firearm removal as a remedy in court.
“We are talking about people who are abusing the people that they claim to love, that are threatening them with harm, that are shooting them and killing them,” bill sponsor Sen. Celina Villanueva, D-Chicago, told the Senate Monday night.
Read past coverage: Advocates renew push to tighten firearm laws aimed at protecting domestic violence victims| Stalled bills: ‘Dignity in Pay Act,’ Prisoner Review Board changes fail to move
Gonzalez’s son, Manny Alvarez, who survived the 2023 shooting, joined Rep. Edgar Gonzalez Jr., D-Chicago, on the House floor for the bill’s final passage. It needs only a signature from Gov. JB Pritzker to become law.
Current law allows people asking a court for an order of protection to request a “firearm remedy” that would lead to law enforcement removing guns from the alleged abuser’s possession. Karina’s bill seeks to close the loophole that made it unclear who was responsible for removing the gun from the situation.
Under the bill, the person who seeks an order of protection can also ask the court to issue a search warrant that will allow local law enforcement to seize firearms from the alleged abuser. The petitioner or state’s attorney must demonstrate probable cause that the alleged abuser poses an immediate threat to the petitioner. Law enforcement would then be required to execute the warrant within 96 hours of it being issued.
Road blocks, delays
The bill ran into road blocks, including that lawmakers wanted to wait for the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on a similar federal case.
Read more: Advocates say SCOTUS ruling paves way for law ensuring abusers have guns confiscated
The nation’s high court upheld a federal law last June that prohibits people with domestic violence-related restraining orders from having guns. Though Karina’s bill had previously passed through the House, senators delayed action while waiting for the decision. The court’s ruling “gave us far more elbow room than I would have expected to tackle this issue,” Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, said in a Senate committee Monday.
Illinois law enforcement organizations also had concerns about their ability to carry out the law, including where police agencies would store the confiscated firearms and the logistics of carrying out search warrants against alleged abusers. Stakeholders came to agreement over those logistics, including giving police 48 hours to research the situation behind the order of protection so they can properly execute the search warrant.
However, some Republicans expressed concerns that small sheriff’s departments in rural districts would continue to struggle to carry out the law with limited resources.
“We don’t have the people to do these things,” Sen. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, said.
But supporters of the bill said the state needed to strengthen its laws to support victims of domestic violence and prevent deaths like Gonzalez’s.
“Our current laws are confusing for victims and judges and the result is that victims aren’t getting what they need: their abuser’s guns taken away,” Villanueva said in committee Monday.
Domestic violence shooting deaths were up 63% from 2019 to 2023 and were responsible for three times as many gun deaths in 2023 as non-domestic violence incidents, Amanda Pyron from The Network, an anti-domestic violence organization, told the Senate committee.
“The emergency order of protection stage is the most dangerous moment and the time a survivor is most likely to be killed because it is when an abuser realizes they’re losing power over a survivor,” Pyron said.
But gun rights lobbyists expressed concerns the bill undermines due process afforded to people accused of crimes. They argued taking guns away from a person with an order of protection against them assumes guilt on criminal charges and violates their constitutional rights. Orders of protection are filed in civil court.
The bill received bipartisan support in the legislature, but some Republicans echoed the concerns of the gun rights groups.
“There is not another amendment in our Bill of Rights that you have to petition a court to get your right back before you’re convicted of something,” Sen. Neil Anderson, R-Andalusia, said in the Senate Monday.
Kane County State’s Attorney Jamie Mosser told the Senate committee she believes the bill will withstand any court challenges. Mosser, who officially took a neutral position on the bill, said due process is honored because the guns are temporarily confiscated, and the person can file objections if the guns were taken away permanently.
The measure, House Bill 4144, passed 43-10 in the Senate and 80-33 in the House.
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.
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New General Assembly sworn in as House, Senate take different tones
Lawmakers face potential budget shortfall as new legislative term begins
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Legislature approves bill to prioritize family members in foster care
Bill will soon goes to governor’s desk after unanimous approval in House
by Ben Szalinski, Amalia Huot-Marchand and 1 others
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SPRINGFIELD — A bill soon heading to Gov. JB Pritzker’s desk would direct foster care officials in Illinois to prioritize placing children with relatives.
The House voted unanimously on Monday to pass the Kindship in Demand Act, or KIND Act. House Bill 4781 puts an obligation on the Department of Children and Family Services to use a “kin-first approach” when placing children in foster care settings. Lawmakers and advocates said it’s better for children to be placed with a family member or another person close to the child when possible.
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“If we can stabilize 10 or 12 kids, we’re going to change somebody’s community,” Rep. Marcus Evans, D-Chicago, told the House Adoption and Child Welfare Committee on Sunday.
Pritzker previously voiced support for the idea at a news conference in December.
The approach ultimately will allow the state more access to federal funds, Nora Collins-Mandeville from the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois told the committee Sunday. Currently, the state reimburses family members for care costs, but once they become certified under the new bill, the state can get more federal funding to cover those expenses.
Like most other state agencies, DCFS faced challenges during a two-year budget impasse that ended in 2017 and strained the system’s funding and ability to promptly place children in care settings.
The Pritzker administration has ramped up funding for the agency, but former DCFS director Marc Smith was found by a Cook County judge in contempt of court multiple times in 2022 for failing to find adequate placements for foster care children, some of whom were residing in psychiatric hospitals beyond medical need. An appellate court later vacated the contempt citations.
Rep. Steve Reick, R-Woodstock, said Monday that state lawmakers and DCFS’ new director, Heidi Mueller, have taken a different approach in recent years.
“I don’t think we would’ve seen this two years ago because there’s a new way of looking at child welfare,” he said.
Nearly 10,000 children in DCFS care live with family members, but more than 60% of those families are not eligible for monthly foster care payments, clothing vouchers, or foster care support groups, according to the ACLU.
Kin-first foster systems have decreased risk of abuse and give a higher chance of achieving permanency, according to Casey Family Programs— the nation’s largest foundation focused on foster care.
DCFS reduced the number of children and young adults in its care from 50,000 in 1995 to 16,000 in 2023. The number, however, has risen in the past year to 18,000.
Illinois’ foster care system ranked in the bottom third of states in 2019 for children placed in permanent homes, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Between 2017 and 2021, the number of children who were placed in a permanent home decreased by 7.8%, according to the 2021 Child Welfare Outcomes Report to Congress.
“We know that placing youth in the child welfare system with relatives lessens the trauma associated with family separation, reduces the number of times a child is moved, enhances permanency options if youth cannot be reunified, results in higher placement satisfaction for youth in care, and delivers better social, behavioral, mental health, and educational outcomes for youth than when they are placed in non-kin foster care,” Collins-Mandeville said in a statement.
Under the KIND Act, there would also be different criminal background criteria for relatives and foster parents. The federal government allows DCFS to waive “ non-safety-related licensing” for relative caregivers on a case-by-case basis. Relatives would be subject to a personal analysis assessing their criminal record and its potential impact on the child. The bill would allow DCFS to consider, for example, the overrepresentation of minorities in the prison system, especially for minor drug felonies.
Courts would also have a larger role in family-finding efforts like monitoring whether DCFS complies with notifying relatives that a child has been removed from its parents’ custody within 30 days.
Amalia Huot-Marchand is a graduate student in journalism with Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications, and a Fellow in its Medill Illinois News Bureau working in partnership with Capitol News Illinois.
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I drove all 2,448 miles of Route 66. What I wish I had known before starting
I drove all 2,448 miles of Route 66. What I wish I had known before starting
Jan 6, 2025 9:11 AM- 1209 words
Last September, I crossed a dream trip off my bucket list. While I'd driven many sections of Route 66 over the years, I had never tackled the entire 2,448 miles from Chicago to Santa Monica in one trip. For most Americans, carving out three weeks of vacation to make the end-to-end journey is nearly impossible, but this time, the planets aligned, and I set out with my recently retired, 70-something-year-old father for the experience of a lifetime.
Whether you're planning to drive the full route or explore just a stretch, Route 66 offers a blend of history, adventure and nostalgia unlike any other road trip. Although it's no longer the bustling highway it once was, The Mother Road's stories, sights and quirks still capture the imagination. Before you hit the road, here's what you should know about navigating America's most iconic highway.
Take a map or an app
As a ghost highway, Route 66 isn't always easy to follow. You can't just ask Google Maps for directions along a road that was decommissioned in 1985. You'll need tools to help you navigate like a Route 66 app, guidebook or old-school paper maps. I used the Route 66 Navigation app paired with the "Here It Is! Route 66 Map Series" by Jim Ross and Jerry McClanahan. I also recommend McClanahan's "EZ66 Guide for Travelers."
Route 66 is constantly changing - especially with the highway's centennial approaching in 2026 - and no single source is perfect. For the best experience and to ensure you don't miss a thing, I recommend consulting at least two tools or guides.
Drive from sunrise to sunset
The magic of Route 66 unfolds between sunrise and sunset with ever-changing landscapes, quirky roadside attractions and crumbling relics of the past whispering stories of the road's golden age. Driving during daylight not only helps you take it all in but also makes spotting these hidden gems easier.
In its heyday, Route 66 was a neon wonderland, with glowing signs lighting up the night sky. Today, many of those iconic signs have had their tubing removed. While they no longer dazzle after dark, their faded charm still captivates in natural light, making daytime travel all the more rewarding.
Don't rush through the Midwest
With some of the Route's most scenic spots and iconic landmarks in the West, it's easy to understand why many travelers hit the gas pedal in Chicago like a NASCAR driver with a green flag. But Route 66's midwestern stretch deserves your time. From charming small towns to restored roadside icons, this region offers a richness that's easy to overlook in the race to reach Arizona or California.
Plus, driving 200 miles in Illinois takes much longer than 200 miles in New Mexico. Most of the original route through Illinois has been preserved, and the state has poured resources into historic Route 66 signs, informational way stations and roadside attractions. You could easily spend four or five days in the Land of Lincoln, savoring the history and character at each stop, and still wish for more time.
In New Mexico, however, much of the route has been swallowed by I-40 with a lot more distance between Route 66 stops. At 75 mph, staring at the back of a semi, 200 miles disappear in a little less than three hours.
Respect the signs - and the locals
You should always respect no trespassing, keep out and private property signs - and Route 66 is no exception. An abandoned motel or gift shop listed in a guidebook may now be a privately owned residence. Crumbling structures may be unsafe to explore, and they may serve as shelter for people or animals. Even if it looks like no one is around, you should expect that structures with signs are being monitored.
In Grants, New Mexico, a man yelled at me for taking pictures from the sidewalk of a once famous, now rundown hotel listed in every Route 66 guidebook. In Missouri, as I stood on the curb of a public road photographing an old teepee-shaped gift shop with an open sign out front, a woman emerged yelling at me to get away from her property. As I climbed back into the car after photographing an old hotel from the public side of a no-trespassing sign, a pickup truck with a community watch decal on it appeared and watched us drive away. Expect the unexpected and tread lightly.
Connect with the locals
At the same time, Route 66 thrives on stories, and connecting with the locals is one of the best ways to hear them. They're often eager to share insights, offering tidbits about the highway's heyday, pointing out hidden gems or talking about ongoing preservation efforts. If you're lucky, you might chat with someone who knows the real-life inspirations behind the characters in the Pixar movie "Cars" or hear insider details about an upcoming roadside attraction that's bound to draw attention.
The trip requires endurance
Driving 2,448 miles isn't for the faint of heart. It takes stamina to traverse the route, especially if you're sticking to the original sections. Even as a road trip enthusiast whose father did all of the driving, I found myself exhausted toward the end. If you can't take three weeks for the full journey, consider breaking it into smaller trips over time.
It's a perfect multi-generational adventure
Route 66 may conjure images of baby boomer kids packed into a station wagon taking a carefree family vacation to the Grand Canyon or Disneyland. And, if you can experience it with someone who remembers life in America before the Interstate Highway System, it will add to your experience.
While driving 2,448 miles through eight states, my dad shared vivid memories of the evolution of America's highways. Although it wasn't part of Route 66, he recalled how the first stretch of Eisenhower's interstate highway project that opened along I-70 just west of Topeka when he was in elementary school started transforming the country as it spread like a concrete web, reshaping small towns and revolutionizing road travel.
He also reminisced about his first time staying at a Howard Johnson's, marveling at 24-hour room service, standardized menus and the novelty of a motel swimming pool. These stories didn't just bring the history of the road to life - they made the journey personal, adding layers of connection to the Mother Road's past.
You'll likely want to drive Route 66 again
Although it was decommissioned as a road more than four decades ago, Route 66 continues to evolve. Each year, abandoned buildings crumble a little more, while restoration efforts breathe new life into others. As the centennial approaches, organizations like the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the U.S. Route 66 Centennial Commission are working to ensure the Main Street of America continues to captivate travelers for generations to come.
The end of the trail
Whether you tackle the entire route or explore a single section, when exploring Route 66, take your time, respect its history and savor the experience. After all, you might find yourself planning a second trip to get your kicks before you've even unpacked.
Sage Scott was bitten by the travel bug as a preschooler when her family moved abroad for the first time. Now settled in America's Heartland, Sage is a travel writer, world wanderer and photographer whose favorite color is golden hour. Follow her adventures at Everyday Wanderer.
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