It’s clear to see the impact COVID-19 has had on the Illinois General Assembly by reviewing what the priorities were at the beginning of the year versus what the legislature accomplished.

The year started with discussions over banning gas-powered leaf blowers, or requiring gasoline to be pumped by an attendant. There were also criminal justice reforms Democrats prioritized like ending cash bail, or the issues Republicans were after like lowering the state’s second-highest-in-the-nation property taxes.

When a new year begins in Illinois, there typically are dozens if not hundreds of new laws going into effect.

Not this year. Like so many other things in 2020, the legislative spring session was stunted by COVID-19. Once the global pandemic reached Illinois in March, the General Assembly would meet for only four more days — wrapping up the odd session during masked and socially distanced gatherings at the Capitol and Bank of Springfield Center. The fall veto session was scrapped altogether.

Michael Madigan’s decades-long tenure as Illinois Speaker of the House is in question because he doesn’t appear to have majority support, and it’s setting up what is likely to be a tumultuous start for the new legislature.

Because Madigan, D-Chicago, is without the majority support needed to secure another term as speaker, the first vote the new Illinois House will take could take some time.