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We’re down to the final five days for the Illinois General Assembly to pass the budget, and while the Bears stadium continues to be a focus, multiple other priorities are on lawmakers’ to-do lists as well. NBC 5 political reporter Mary Ann Ahern reports.
While lawmakers in Springfield are highly focused on a new Chicago Bears stadium and a state budget, there are still plenty of other bills yet to be finalized.
The legislative session ends on May 31, and while the $56 billion budget proposed by Gov. JB Pritzker is the main business to take care of, bills related to artificial intelligence, data centers and cell phones in school are among those still being debated.
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The AI bills are part of a massive package of legislation comprised of multiple bills, with state Democrats aiming to place curbs on the industry amid inaction at the federal level. Those efforts have drawn some criticism from AI companies, but Illinois lawmakers say the moves are necessary to keep residents, especially children, safe.
Among the bills is Senate Bill 315, which would require large AI developers to publish guidelines on how they assess their models’ capabilities while minimizing potential risks to consumers.
Senate Bill 316 would require companies to ensure their AI chatbots provide resources to teens struggling with their mental health or with suicide ideation.
Senate Bill 317 would require companies using customer service chatbots to disclose to consumers they’re interacting with an AI chatbot rather than a real person.
Also on the agenda could be regulations on the construction of data centers, with Pritzker among those officials aiming to take away incentives for companies to build new facilities in the state of Illinois.
“I propose taking away all the incentives associated with, data centers, because at this point, what we need to make sure happens is that anybody that wants to build a data center has to bring their own power, pay for it entirely,” he said during a press availability Tuesday. “It can’t affect the electric prices for residents, and then, of course, water. You know, we are one of the best states in the entire country for fresh water.”
Lawmakers are also still mulling legislation that would drastically limit the usage of cellphones by students in schools, though there are still concerns about how the law would be rolled out and how schools would enforce it.
Those issues, along with the Bears’ stadium project and the budget, are all on the agenda before the legislative session ends this weekend.