Business groups have long sought changes to statute that’s led to hundreds of lawsuits By Hannah MeiselCapitol News Illinoishmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com Nearly a year ago, the Illinois Supreme Court asked the General Assembly to clarify a 15-year-old law that’s led to hundreds of lawsuits and several high-dollar settlements with companies alleged to...
By Peter Hancok, Andrew Adams, & Jerry NowickiCapitol News Illinoisnews@capitolnewsillinois.com More than 300 new laws will take effect January 1, 2024 ranging from a ban on book bans to the regulation of “deepfake porn” and prohibitions on videoconferencing while driving. Thanks to a law signed in 2019, workers at the...
By Nika Schoonover Ride-share companies such as Uber and Lyft would be subject to the same level of liability as other forms of public transportation under a measure moving through the General Assembly. House Bill 2231 would classify ride-shares as “common carriers,” meaning the companies can be held liable, rather...
By Hannah Meisel In the wake of a pair of recent decisions from the Illinois Supreme Court strengthening the State’s law governing how companies must treat employees’ and customers’ biometric data, longtime critics of the law see an opening to weaken it. But backers of Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act...
By Nika Schoonover Governor JB Pritzker Friday, Feb. 10 signed 15 bills into law, tackling policy areas from tourism to prison reform and making it easier for those previously convicted of felonies to legally change their names. The laws passed the General Assembly in their recently concluded lame duck legislative...
By Peter Hancock Attorney General Kwame Raoul on Monday filed a petition asking an appellate court to vacate a temporary restraining order that was issued late Friday Jan. 20 to block enforcement of the State’s recently-passed assault weapons ban. Raoul’s office filed the petition in the 5th District Appellate Court...
By Jerry Nowicki A Kankakee County judge ruled Wednesday, Dec. 28, that lawmakers overreached their constitutional authority in passing a measure to abolish cash bail in Illinois, while other provisions in the wide-ranging SAFE-T Act criminal justice reform were not affected by the ruling. The ruling by Judge Thomas W....
Elimination of cash bail one of many changes taking effect Jan. 1 By Peter Hancock By now, almost everyone in Illinois has heard that Jan. 1 will mark the beginning of a significant change in the state’s criminal justice system – the elimination of cash bail. It’s an issue that...
By Peter Hancock Minimum wage workers in Illinois will see a boost in their hourly pay to $12 per hour starting January 1, 2022 while tenants in affordable housing units will be allowed to keep pets. Those are just some of the more than 300 new laws that take effect...
Spearheaded by State representative Bárbara Hernández, D-Aurora, a package of new laws that will strengthen immigrant worker protections, address hate crimes, end local partnerships with federal immigration enforcement agencies, and establish a statewide immigrant task force were signed into law Monday by governor JB Pritzker. “Illinois needs to be a...
By Peter Hancock Public high schools in Illinois soon will be required to teach students how to gain access and evaluate various kinds of news and social media they see online and elsewhere as part of their regular curriculum. That was among the 53 bills that governor JB Pritzker signed...
By Sarah Mansur When a new year begins in Illinois, there typically are dozens if not hundreds of new laws going into effect. Not this year. Just like so many other things in this year, the legislative Spring session was stunted by COVID-19. Once the global pandemic reached Illinois in...
By BEN ORNER In an effort to tackle the growing problem of plastic pollution, a group of state lawmakers from both legislative chambers touted a series of bills Tuesday, Feb. 18 that would tax or ban single-use plastics and aim to boost recycling. The four proposals have the support of...
By PETER HANCOCK A bipartisan group of lawmakers is proposing strict new limits on health insurance policies that require patients to receive “prior authorization” from the company before they can receive certain treatments, tests or prescription drugs. It’s a common practice under most health plans, one originally intended to hold...
By PETER HANCOCK A group of Illinois lawmakers Tuesday, Feb. 18 declined to block the Illinois State Police from implementing new administrative rules governing firearms dealers. Those rules were adopted on an emergency basis in January, nearly one year after Democratic governor J.B. Pritzker signed the Firearms Dealer License Certification
Click the image below to view a list of more than 250 new Illinois laws which have gone into effect in 2020....
Residents are invited to learn about new laws going into effect at an information session presented by State representative Stephanie Kifowit, D-Oswego, Thursday, Jan. 16 at 6 p.m. at the Aurora Public Library, 555 S. Eola Road in Aurora. “This past year, we enacted a large number of new laws...
By Capitol News Illinois The State’s minimum wage will increase by $1 hourly, recreational marijuana will go on sale to those over 21 years of age, and some State taxes and licensing fees will increase this year. The changes are among hundreds resulting from laws passed during a busy legislative...
