(SPRINGFIELD) Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker enacted 59 bills yesterday that touch on several issues. Here’s a look a just a handful of the new laws signed into effect Monday :
- House Bill 4621, effective immediately, creats the Office of Statewide Pretrial Services within the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts – this allows the office to provide pretrial services to circuit courts & counties that do not currently have such services
- House Bill 4488 is effective immediately, is an election omnibus bill that includes various provisions, one of which allows nursing home voters with the ability to cast ballots to do so through vote-by-mail procedures
- Senate Bill 2767, effective in 2025, will change the minimum shotgun gauge allowed for hunting wild turkey from 20 gauge down to .410 bore, also allowing the State Department of Natural Resources to restrict shot size, material, or density through an Administrative Rule
- Senate Bill 2834, effective in 2025, says tenants of mobile home parks cannot be evicted for not paying rent if the park itself is not up to date on its license and associated fees
- House Bill 5594, effective in 2025, requires schools to create cardiac emergency response plans, building a previous law requiring Automated External Defibrillators in schools
- House Bill 5530, effective in 2025, will allow advanced practice nurses & phyician assistants to administer long-acting injectables for mental health or substance use disorders, as well as medication that reverses the effects of an opioid overdose
- House Bill 5559, effective in 2025, requires auto insurance companies to explain in detail how they decide a vehicle is a total loss to include repair costs with salvage & market values
These are only a few of the many bills signed into law by Governor Pritzker on Monday.
(SPRINGFIELD) Illinois has signed a long-anticipated project partnership agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the State of Michigan allowing construction of a $1.1 billion Interbasin Project on the Illinois River, near Joliet. When competed, the project is designed to prevent the potential devastation of the Great Lakes ecosystem by invasive carp getting to the Great Lakes from the Illinois River. The site has been identified as the critical pinch point where layered technologies can be used to stop the movement of carp.
(SPRINGFIELD) After nearly two years, a statue honoring a civil rights icon is available for the public to view again in Springfield. The Illinois Secretary of State’s Office has confirmed the Martin Luther King Junior statue will finally stand again on its pedestal near the State Capitol in Springfield. The historic statue was knocked over in September 2022.