SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Seeking to build on the successes of his four years in office, Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker offered a second-term agenda Monday that called for a state constitutional right to abortion, making preschool available to every family and making public college free for children in working-class families.
The 57-year-old governor also vowed that Democratic lawmakers will send to his desk comprehensive legislation to ban military-style firearms and to require such guns already in circulation to be registered. The governor and legislators reached a deal on a measure that was passed by the Senate later Monday, with a final vote in the House expected Tuesday.
In a pomp-filled ceremony at the Bank of Springfield convention center, Pritzker stood with his family on a massive stage flanked by white columns as he took the oath of governor for a second time shortly after noon from Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Mary Jane Theis.
