SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (Capitol News Illinois) – Illinois lawmakers kicked off their spring legislative session roughly three weeks ago, but lawmakers in the House have already filed more than 1,800 bills that could be acted on before the General Assembly adjourns in May.
The vast majority of the ideas won’t make it to the desk of Gov. JB Pritzker or become law—last General Assembly, House lawmakers filed 5,929 bills and only passed 564—but the list of proposals offers some insights into the issues members of the lower chamber are concerned about as they kick off their new terms in office.
A new alternative to incarceration
Rep. Rita Mayfield, D-Gurnee, introduced a measure that would allow people convicted of crimes to serve their sentences in “community-based settings” rather than in prison. Mayfield said her proposal would “create a transformative post-conviction model that reduces reliance on traditional incarceration for emerging adults.”
Under House Bill 44, community-based nonprofits that set up alternatives to prison would be required to provide housing, workforce training, mental health counseling and restorative justice programs. People serving their sentences in those community settings would be required to participate in the restorative justice court programs.
The bill would allow judges to decide which defendants would be placed in the community settings instead of prisons.
Single-use plastic and paper bag ban
Rep. Suzanne Ness, D-Crystal Lake, wants to prohibit businesses and grocery stores from providing single-use plastic bags to customers, as well as prohibit grocery stores from providing customers with single-use paper bags.
If Illinois lawmakers pass House Bill 1146, Illinois would join nine other states that ban both paper and plastic single-use bags. The states with existing bans are California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, New York, Oregon and Vermont.
Single-use plastic foodware item ban
Restaurants would be prohibited from providing customers with single-use plastic disposable foodware items when they dine-in under a bill filed by Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz, D-Glenview.
House Bill 1600 would allow restaurants to provide customers with single-use plastic items when requested, but the items would not be allowed to be packaged in plastic.
Additionally, restaurants would have to post a sign indicating that single-use plastic items could be made available upon request.
Defining ‘domestic assault’
A bill was introduced by Rep. Amy Grant, R-Wheaton, to create the offense of “domestic assault” and make it a Class A misdemeanor.
Currently, Illinois law does not define domestic violence any differently than abuse, which is defined as “physical abuse, harassment, intimidation of a dependent, interference with personal liberty or willful deprivation.”
House Bill 1455 is an attempt to define language surrounding domestic violence. The measure defines domestic assault as when a person “knowingly engages in conduct that places any family or household member in reasonable apprehension of great bodily harm, or permanent disability or disfigurement.”
Under the bill, if a person arrested for domestic assault is released from custody pending their trial, the courts can prohibit them from contacting or communicating with the victim, as well as entering or remaining at the victim’s residence for at least 72 hours.
Legalizing psilocybin
A Chicago Democrat wants to make it easier for people in Illinois to obtain and use psilocybin, the chemical that gives so-called magic mushrooms their hallucinogenic properties.
Introduced by Rep. La Shawn Ford, House Bill 1143 would decriminalize and tax psilocybin and psilocybin products for the use of Illinoisans who are at least 21 years old. People under the influence of psilocybin would not be allowed to drive a vehicle.
The legislation states that Illinoisans “deserve” access to tools that could improve their mental health, including chemical substances such as psilocybin. Ford’s proposal notes that several U.S. states and cities have already decriminalized psychedelic plants and fungi or have made these psychedelics the lowest level of law enforcement priority.
But the bill would not change the status of peyote—another intoxicating controlled substance. Ford chose not to add the drug, according to the bill’s language, “because of the nearly endangered status of the peyote plant and the special significance peyote holds in Native American spirituality.” Still, Illinois continues to “respect and support” the possession and use of peyote by Native Americans, the bill stated.
End-of-life options
A group of lawmakers are trying again to make physician-assisted suicide, sometimes called “death with dignity,” an option for adult patients with terminal diseases.
Rep. Robyn Gabel, D-Evanston, introduced House Bill 1328, which would allow qualified, adult patients who to request a prescription of aid-in-dying medication “that will allow the patient to end the patient’s life in a peaceful manner.”
The patient would have to make both an oral and written request to a physician, wait at least five days, and then make an oral request again in order to be administered the medication. The patient would also have to sign and date the written request with two witnesses present.
Patients making the request would have to possess the mental capacity to make and communicate this request themselves, and it would have to be an informed decision—meaning that their physician has informed them of the potential risks and benefits of the medication, other feasible end-of-life care and treatment options, their right to withdraw their request at any time or to obtain the medication but not take it.
Under the bill, patients diagnosed with a major depressive disorder alone would not be considered terminally ill and wouldn’t be able to obtain the medication.
Free community college tuition for disadvantaged areas
Students in areas with high rates of violence and economic disinvestment would be given free tuition at local community colleges under another proposal sponsored by Mayfield.
The Gurnee Democrat introduced House Bill 1170 that would provide free tuition using money collected from marijuana taxes. It would apply to one community college in each Restore, Reinvest, Renew Area (R3 Areas) designated by the state as eligible for grants paid for with marijuana tax revenue
R3 Areas (map) are communities that have been harmed by violence, excessive incarceration, and economic disinvestment and have higher rates of gun injuries, child poverty, unemployment and incarceration.
DCFS and providing luggage
Foster children who move out of a home would have to be provided with luggage, rather than trash bags, under a bill sponsored by Rep. Margaret Croke, D-Chicago.
House Bill 10 would require the Department of Children and Family Services to provide luggage for any child being removed from home or changing homes.
The bill would also require DCFS to create a system to store and distribute a supply of luggage that will be used to transport belongings of children in the foster care system. The children would own the luggage, and neither their foster parents nor DCFS would be allowed to take it from them.
Croke’s bill would also require DCFS to submit an annual report to both the governor and the General Assembly. The report would include how many times a trash bag was used to transport a child’s belongings and why DCFS was unable to provide them with luggage.
No marriage for anyone under 18
When filing for marriage, both partners would have to be 18 years old under a measure introduced by Rep. Joe Sosnowski, R-Rockford.
Current Illinois law allows marriage between two partners if they will both be 18 years old when the marriage license is effective or if they are least 16 years old with the consent of both their parents or guardians, or judicial approval. House Bill 1744 would prohibit approval of any underage marriages.
Other bills
A Republican from Millstadt wants employers to give their veteran employees a paid day off on Veterans Day. Introduced by Rep. Kevin Schmidt, House Bill 1421 would require veteran employees to provide documentation of their status as a veteran and give prior notice to their employer if they intend to take the day off.
If the employer denies the request for the paid day off, the bill requires them to find a different day to allow the veteran employee to take a paid day off.
Drifting and street racing would become a felony under another proposal sponsored by Ford. House Bill 38 categorizes “knowing or reckless” drifting and street racing as a felony if the activities “result in the use of force or violence disturbing the public peace”.
People buying or possessing a flamethrower would be required to have a valid Firearm Owner’s Identification Card under a proposal by Rep. Daniel Didech, D-Buffalo Grove. The legislation, House Bill 19, would exclude certain military and law enforcement personnel from the requirement.
Illinois residents would not be able to bring firearms into polling places—even if they have a valid concealed carry permit—under legislation introduced by Rep. Bob Morgan, D-Deerfield. However, the proposal, House Bill 34, allows on-duty law enforcement officials to carry firearms there.
Health insurers would not be allowed to rely solely on artificial intelligence to deny, reduce or terminate coverage for patients, under a separate proposal from Morgan. If companies use AI to make those decisions, the actions would have to be “meaningfully reviewed” by a human with the power to override the computer system, under House Bill 35.
The legislation would also give the Department of Insurance the authority to regulate health insurers’ use of artificial intelligence to determine patient benefits.
(Reporting by Jade Aubrey, Capitol News Illinois)
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.
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