Alexi Giannoulias
I’m not sure I’ve seen a stranger roll call than last week’s House vote on Senate Bill 2978. The data privacy bill is an initiative of Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, and he was on the House floor during the debate. The far-right ginned up social media opposition to the bill by claiming that…
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House Bill 4611, another measure that is of priority of the Illinois Secretary of State, has stalled. The measure limiting factors that auto insurers can use to set rates didn’t advance before last week’s deadline. Secretary Alexi Giannoulias responded to concerns that the measure he’s supporting will raise auto insurance rates on senior drivers. “When…
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State Rep. Jeff Keicher and AARP are looking to approve House Bill 4431, which would impact driving tests for those 75 or older. Illinois is the only state in the nation that requires drivers 75 and older to retake a driving test as a condition of renewing their driver’s license. Keicher’s legislation would end this practice.…
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A proposed bill that would ban certain food additives in Illinois is already receiving pushback. The Illinois Food Safety Act calls for prohibiting the use of certain additives to food, including brominated vegetable oil, Red Dye No. 3 and titanium dioxide. The bill’s sponsors said the additives have been linked to serious health problems, including hyperactivity, reproductive…
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Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias launched an online appointment system in September for Illinois drivers needing to come to a driver’s services facility, ostensibly to reduce wait times. The “Skip-The-Line” program introduced upgrades to the secretary of state’s website as well as a shift in policy, requiring appointments to be made for more than 40 of the…
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Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias rejected more than 304 vanity and personalized license plates this year that were deemed too obscene or defamatory. The Secretary of State’s office received 54,768 requests for vanity and personalized plates this year, including the 304 that were denied because of their inflammatory or offensive nature or because they…
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CHICAGO – Certain detainees leaving Cook County jail will now be given a state ID card upon release in a new pilot program announced Monday by Sheriff Tom Dart and Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias. Inmates released from Illinois prisons have been receiving state IDs at no charge since late 2020 when state leaders launched…
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Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias last week filed administrative rules that would increase the age at which a driver is required to pass a driving test when they renew their license, raising it from 75 to 79. The rules – proposed by Giannoulias to the legislative Joint Committee on Administrative Rules – would keep…
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Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias was in Washington, D.C. this week to testify before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee regarding a new state law aimed at deterring book bans. Giannoulias, whose position also includes the title of “state librarian,” this spring championed legislation allowing his office to withhold state money from public libraries if they ban…
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Illinois Secretary of State and State Librarian Alexi Giannoulias announced Friday he has awarded more than $21.4 million in grants for library services and more than $5.7 million in adult literacy grants for local literacy programs to more than 140 Illinois recipients. Among the local libraries to receive a grant were the Board of Trustees…
Read Full Article SPRINGFIELD – Six interagency law enforcement task forces received grant funding this spring to combat car thefts through an initiative of Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias’ office. Giannoulias was in Belleville Tuesday to promote the initiative and highlight a $2.5 million grant to the Metro East Auto Theft Task Force, which brings together law enforcement…
Read Full Article Drivers who need to renew their license at a secretary of state facility will likely have to make an appointment starting this fall. Starting Sept. 1, 44 driver services facilities in medium- to large-sized cities around the state will require appointments for driver services – things like renewing a license, updating a license to meet…
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SPRINGFIELD – Gov. JB Pritzker signed legislation Monday that seeks to protect public and school libraries from pressure to ban, remove or restrict access to books based on “partisan or doctrinal disapproval.” Speaking at the Harold Washington Library Center in downtown Chicago, Pritzker said there were 67 attempts in 2022 to have various books removed…
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QUINCY — Legislation introduced by Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias aims to protect the privacy and safety of people seeking abortion care by restricting the use of license plate readers. House Bill 3326, which passed the Illinois General Assembly last month, awaits Gov. JB Pritzker’s consideration. Illinois would be the first state to prohibit…
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SPRINGFIELD — For newly sworn-in Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, customer service is the central mission as he assumes the state’s second-largest constitutional office, replacing the man who had held it for nearly a quarter century. “Modernization and bringing new technology is going to be at the forefront of everything we do,” Giannoulias said in…
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SPRINGFIELD – Secretary of state candidates Alexi Giannoulias, a Chicago Democrat and former state treasurer, and Dan Brady, a Republican state representative from Bloomington, each spent 45 minutes before a panel organized by the Illinois Associated Press Media Editors in recent weeks. A full story about their plans for modernizing the office can be found here,…
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