CHICAGO — Sen. Bill Cunningham, a Chicago Democrat with a reputation for taking charge of energy and climate change legislation, will step down at the end of his current term.
Before leaving in January 2027, Cunningham has a long to-do list. Near the top of that list: shepherding potentially massive legislation that could reform the state's energy sector.
Cunningham, who first joined the General Assembly in 2011, is one of the most powerful lawmakers in Springfield. He has served as Senate president pro tempore since 2020, joining Majority Leader Kimberly Lightford as Senate President Don Harmon’s top lieutenants.
He also is the Democratic co-chair of the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, an influential bipartisan oversight committee that reviews state agency policies.
The Southwest Side lawmaker said he is stepping down to spend more time with his family.
“The political arena has changed during my time in it,” Cunningham said. “It’s more combative and more cynical and I know that has driven some people out of it, but for me, it’s more of a personal decision. Those factors really didn’t play in my decision.”
Cunningham a ‘patient, pragmatic voice’
Harmon, D-Oak Park, said Cunningham has been a “steady, patient, pragmatic voice” in Springfield.
Advocates who have worked with Cunningham echoed the sentiment, with several saying that absence will create a “void” in Springfield with no clear replacement to fill that gap.
“Senator Cunningham was a real thoughtful convener of the various — and numerous — stakeholders involved in energy policy in the state,” Kady McFadden, a longtime environmental advocate, said. “He is the type of senator and leader who goes deep. I can send him a 10-page document about some energy issue and he’s gonna read the whole thing.”
Others noted that he often served as a bridge between environmental groups and labor organizations — two of the Democratic Party’s most important constituencies.
“He has a well-earned reputation for tackling the tough and complex issues our state faces, while being a major force in bringing together people with different goals for the greater good of Illinois,” Pat Devaney, Illinois AFL-CIO's secretary treasurer, said.
Cunningham’s reputation also extends to groups that are less typically aligned with Democratic party politics.
Brian Leonard, the head of government relations at the energy utility Ameren Illinois, said he will miss Cunningham’s “thoughtful leadership on complex energy issues.”
Mark Denzler, the head of Illinois Manufacturers’ Association and a leader of the business lobby in Springfield, praised Cunningham's “calm demeanor even on chaotic days and his ability to focus quickly on the topic at hand.”
Denzler noted that Cunningham has also played a key role in unemployment insurance, workers’ compensation, and data center legislation.
Energy bill negotiations
Cunningham’s reputation as a dealmaker will be put to the test this October when lawmakers are expected to consider sweeping energy reform legislation. The General Assembly is scheduled to meet for a six-day veto session between Oct. 14 and Oct. 30.
The retiring senator was one of the chief negotiators of the state's landmark Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, which set the framework for how the state is handling climate change and reducing its carbon emissions. But a bill making significant changes to that framework collapsed in the final days of the May session.
Negotiations over the bill, which began more than a year ago, continue amid a heightened sense of urgency following sweeping changes to renewable energy incentives made by congressional Republicans this summer.
Read more: Illinois bet on solar to meet its climate goals. Trump has the industry in his crosshairs.
“Energy policy is so fast-changing that it’s probably necessary that we step in and make some updates to the current laws,” Cunningham said. “Exactly what form that takes is hard to say right now.”
Cunningham noted that a bill will likely tackle energy efficiency requirements and incentives for battery storage.
But the bill could also include new requirements for energy-hungry data centers, lifting the state’s moratorium on new nuclear reactors, tightening labor standards for the solar industry and beginning a planning process that may restructure the state’s electricity market.
A draft version spanning more than 800 pages, contained in House Bill 4116, was released earlier this week and is set to be discussed at a hearing on Sept. 18.
Will it pass?
“I think there will be an energy bill during veto session, during the second week,” Jen Walling, the head of the Illinois Environmental Council, said.
House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, D-Hillside, said at an event in the suburbs this week that he thinks “we’re going to be able to get something done” on energy during the veto session.
But there is some concern that the bill could stall again or not make it across the finish line. Renewable developers and the unions that build renewable projects have ongoing disputes over labor standards.
Read more: With electric prices going up, advocates tried — and failed — to reform the energy sector
This and other issues led labor unions to not support the bill, which is very similar to the current draft version. Most unions were neutral, but a few actively opposed the bill’s provisions.
At the end of the spring session, business groups were also concerned that the legislature was delegating too much power to regulators — something that also hasn’t changed in the most recent draft.
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.
This article first appeared on Capitol News Illinois and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
