Posted by Ray Long at 7:32 p.m.
SPRINGFIELD–With little debate, the Senate voted today to drop the ban on building nuclear power plants in Illinois. The measure was sent to the House on a bipartisan 40-1 vote, with two lawmakers voting present.
Sen. Mike Jacobs, the East Moline Democrat who sponsored the proposal, said Illinois should take advantage of the efforts by President Barack Obama, a former Illinois state senator, to back some nuclear power projects, citing federal support for a power plant in Georgia.
The lone opposition came from Sen. Jeff Schoenberg, D-Evanston, who maintained there is no political consensus on whether to reopen shuttered nuclear power plants or build anew.
Business and labor groups supported the legislation, but similar proposals have failed to make it through the legislature in the past.