SPRINGFIELD – Illinois state lawmakers return to Springfield Tuesday to begin this year’s legislative session.
The main task on the agenda this week is Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s State of the State address.
He’s expected to recap what he and Democrats consider to be last year’s success stories from raising the minimum wage to legalizing marijuana. He’ll also lay out what he’d like to get done this year, including legislation to support green energy.
“Getting Illinois to bring more renewable energy to our state, that’s something that I believe very strongly in, and we’re going to be working on during this spring session,” said Pritzker in an interview with Brian Mackey earlier this month.
At issue is how to balance policies that would both support renewable energy developers, like wind and solar, while also addressing legacy nuclear plants run by Exelon, which has threatened a permanent shut down without state aid.
That, however, is complicated by the federal investigations swirling around the General Assembly — some of which have taken aim at the lobbying practices of Exelon and its ComEd subsidiary.