Welcome to 2026.

Sure, we celebrated New Year’s Day Thursday, and people who do more for work than type emails and noodle around in spreadsheets have probably already punched the time clock a day or two. Now the kids are back in school and most office folks have fired up the computers again.

But the Statehouse remains largely silent, as the first day of real legislative session isn’t scheduled until Jan. 13. The Senate should convene another week from today, but the House isn’t due back until Jan. 20. Each chamber has three days in January. The Senate has nine in February and the House only six; the most important date of the early months is Feb. 18, when Gov. JB Pritzker will deliver the budget and State of the State speech.

Things are different in odd-numbered years, as there are lame duck days before the new General Assembly is inaugurated. While that tradition reminds us it’s possible to amass 177-plus legislators right after the holidays, it’s also true that those few extra days don’t keep things from getting pushed to (and past) the last minute.

In March, the Senate has 10 days and the House seven, in April they flip. By May, we can expect lawmakers to be in Springfield more often than not. Because Memorial Day falls as early in that month as possible, it won’t herald the end of the session as per usual, meaning we can expect to burn the familiar midnight oil on a Sunday.

To be clear, lawmakers (and their staffs) are working far more often than between the gavels. If nothing else, they should be responding to the constituent calls and emails I urge readers to generate. But there are committee hearings, in-district events, research, and lots of other stuff, for lack of a better term, that take meaningful time and energy.

The best legislators will not just remain active but take steps to show constituents how they’re keeping busy, or at least communicating about important issues of the day. In the spirit of positivity, I’d love to hear from readers who are impressed with how their elected officials maintain those connections.

ON THIS DAY: Three-time Pulitzer Prize winner Carl Sandburg was born Jan. 6, 1878, in Galesburg. President Lyndon Johnson, speaking at Sandburg’s 1967 memorial service, called the writer “vital, exuberant, wise and generous,” then said:

“Sandburg seemed to have his finger on the American pulse. He seemed able to give voice to the whole range of America’s hopes and America’s hates. He seemed able to communicate, above all, the restless energy that has vitalized, stimulated and – on occasion – degraded the history of our nation. …

“There will not be one like him again.”

• Scott T. Holland writes about state government issues for Shaw Local News Network. He can be reached at sholland@shawmedia.com.