By Rick Pearson, Dan Patrella and Bill Ruthhart, includes “Illinois Democrats are turning the spring session into a partisan tour de force, wielding their power to push legislation aimed at maintaining their control of Springfield, rewarding their allies and advancing social policies. … For Republicans who looked at the January departure of Michael Madigan — the embattled state Democratic Party chair and the nation’s longest-serving House speaker — as an opportunity for a fresh start, the session has been a rude awakening.”