Illinois House to convene next month

The Illinois House will reconvene next month for the first time since late May, officials said Wednesday.

In an email to House members, both newly elected and returning, as well as staff, Speaker Michael Madigan’s chief of staff said the House plans to convene for session on Jan. 8 through at least Jan. 13, when the next General Assembly is slated to be sworn in.

The session will occur at the Bank of Springfield Center “under substantially the same protocols as were followed in May 2020. Additional details will follow in the coming days,” Jessica Basham, Madigan’s chief of staff, wrote in her email.

The January session will be the first time in a little more than seven months that members of the House will meet. A bill that would allow legislators to meet virtually failed to pass in May, though two state lawmakers have revived hope for that plan with legislation they introduced earlier this month.

Lawmakers were scheduled to meet last month but, due to concerns over a spike in coronavirus cases, they scrapped those plans and said they’d meet next month ahead of the swearing in date.