Lawmakers arrived back in Springfield yesterday to kick off the final weeks of the Spring session. And today, thousands of people from across Illinois are expected to gather at the Capitol Building for an Illinois Women's March on Springfield.

Nearly 100 organizations and dozens of Democratic politicians have endorsed the march, which organizers say is a rally for women’s rights, including equal pay and abortion, as well as efforts to raise the minimum wage and draw attention to the harm caused by the state’s ongoing budget impasse.

We were joined by one of the march's organizers. Tracy Baim is the founder of Windy City Media Group and is a long-time LGBTQ activist based in Chicago.

Former President Barack Obama was back in Chicago yesterday to give his first public address since leaving office. He spoke at the University of Chicago. WBEZ political reporter Tony Arnold was there and joined us to talk about it.

1 in 3 people who work in healthcare in the U.S. are nurses, making up the largest share of healthcare professionals. And since the number of Americans with health insurance has increased under the Affordable Care Act, there’s been an even greater demand for the critical care that nurses provide.

But there aren’t nearly enough nurses to meet that demand. The state of Illinois estimates that by 2020 there will be a nursing shortage of 21,000.

We were joined by Julie Mueller, director of recruitment at OSF Healthcare. We also talked with Andy Griffin, assistant dean of graduate programs at the Southern Illinois University School of Nursing, along with American Nursing Association Illinois president Dan Fraczkowski.

We got an update on the Women's March in Springfield with Illinois Public Radio correspondent Brian Mackey.