The Spring legislative session is moving into its final month, with fewer than 20 working session days scheduled over the next few weeks. While several legislative proposals of interest and importance remain in play, our early expectations about this session’s productivity continue to hold true. In an election year, on the heels of two major climate victories–the CRGA Act and NITA Act–our priority fights will continue into future legislative sessions. Movement on wetlands, plastics, and data centers has been glacial, despite the urgent need for action by the Illinois General Assembly.
That said, the Capitol was very busy this week with many lobby days, including one of our annual favorites. Our Sustainable Agriculture team supported the Black Farmers and Growers Lobby Day alongside our partners at the Nature Conservancy, the IL Food Justice Alliance, the IL Stewardship Alliance, and many other organizations, to discuss the importance of building equity in Illinois agriculture. State to Federal Sr. Policy Manager, Cate Caldwell, provided remarks during the morning’s press conference, which you can read about here.
IEC’s Springfield office has been brimming with activity. We were thrilled to host guests from the Clean Energy Jobs and Justice Fund, E2, and the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators in our office. Partners from the Ocean Conservancy and solar leaders Trajectory Solar were also hard at work sharing information in the Capitol.
Our team also found opportunities to connect with decision-makers in town this week from other levels of government. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and several Chicago City Council alderpersons were in Springfield to work on the megaprojects bill and other funding issues for the city, which allowed the IEC team to talk with Chicago leaders about our key issues. We also had great conversations with Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski and retiring Congressman Chuy Garcia.
The POWER Act remains one of our top priorities, and data centers are a major topic of debate this session. Our team is working hard to build awareness of the dangers of data centers, which, if left unaddressed, will set back our climate goals, strain our water supply, and hurt our communities. The more people learn about what’s at stake, the more support we will have for passing the POWER Act. To that end, we’re participating in local educational data center events across the state, including a panel discussion at Aurora’s Green Fest and the Environmental Justice Forum during the Latino Unity Day in Springfield.
IEC hosted Conservation Science Day at the Capitol on April 23, bringing together researchers and advocates from across Illinois to connect science directly with policymaking. We created space for legislators and state agency staff to engage with on-the-ground science and hear directly from those doing the work in communities, making complex science accessible and actionable in the halls of government.
Additionally, advocates delivered over 12,000 petitions to the governor’s office to demonstrate Illinoisans’ broad support for wetland protection legislation, and met with state legislators to urge passage of the bill.
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Check out IEC’s Environmental Legislative Agenda for a comprehensive look at the legislation we’ve been most actively working on during this legislative session. Read on to learn more about the latest on significant environmental bills: Over the past few weeks, the General Assembly has spent much of its time and energy focused on addressing the possibility of the Chicago Bears moving their team to Indiana, making it difficult for our priorities to rise in profile. Yet, we continue to see some success despite those significant challenges. Environmental Justice Permitting (SB 3772) – Passed the Senate Floor, onto the House Climate Displacement Report (SB 2980) – Passed out of Senate committee, onto the Floor Farmer Tax Benefit Act (HB 4849) Thank you for all of your support throughout this session so far. The work isn’t over. Again, please consider attending our upcoming POWER Act Lobby Day. It will be one of the single most impactful things you can do this session to protect our environment. We are being ambitious this year and aiming to have 1,000 Illinoisans join us. So, we need you there! See below for more information. |