Capital Facts

Gov. JB Pritzker set off a chain reaction last November when he told reporters he’d be open to changes in the SAFE-T Act, which eliminated cash bail and replaced it with a new pre-trial release/retention system, among other things.
Pritzker was asked about the case of a woman, Bethany MaGee, who was horrifically set ablaze while riding on a Chicago commuter train.

In the days after the horrific burning of a woman on a Chicago CTA train by a clearly deranged habitual criminal suspect last month, some in the news media immediately focused on their go-to issue: The SAFE-T Act.
“Illinois leaders blast SAFE-T Act after repeat offender charged with lighting woman on fire on CTA Blue Line,” reported WGN TV, as just one example.
Former Cook County and federal prosecutor Bob Milan told the station: “The SAFE-T Act forces state’s attorneys to file petitions instead of just giving judges the discretion [to detain arrested suspects]"

You likely already know that U.S. Rep. Chuy García (D-Chicago) dropped out of his reelection race in a way that essentially handed his seat to his top aide.
After his doctor advised him not to run again because of his heart condition, and his spouse who has multiple sclerosis which didn’t respond to her most recent treatment asked him not to run again as well, and the fact that they’d just adopted a grandchild of his late daughter, García said he decided the Friday before the Monday petition filing deadline to drop out.

Last May, several Illinois House Democrats complained bitterly that their mass transit negotiators were ignored and even shut-out by the Senate Democratic mass transit negotiators.
The House members had a point. The Senate passed a bill which was an almost purely Senate Democratic creation. They literally gave the House a “take it or leave it, but you have to decide right now” moment during the final minutes of the spring legislative session.