By Kenneth Lowe SPRINGFIELD - A proposal pending in the Illinois Senate would mandate all new state facilities be built to more environmentally friendly standards. State Rep.

By Kartikay Mehrotra SPRINGFIELD - With the salty taste of last year's contentious session still fresh on lawmakers' palates, they make the trek back to Springfield today hoping the 2008 legislative session bears more fruit than the last.

By Mike Riopell andKurt Erickson SPRINGFIELD -- While plans of pumping millions of dollars into Chicago-area mass transit have surfaced in the last week, downstate lawmakers say their priorities are elsewhere. "It doesn't sound like that's anything that's resonating here," said state Rep.