New year, new laws: More than 320 Illinois laws take effect Jan. 1
By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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Hundreds of new laws will take effect in Illinois on New Year’s Day, ranging from small updates to exiting laws to changes in the classroom and the workplace.
There are about 325 new laws that hit the books Jan. 1, according to a list released by Illinois Senate Democrats.
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The new laws include prohibiting vaping or using e-cigarettes indoors, a ban on book bans and a requirement that pet adoption fees are waived for military veterans.
You can see the complete list HERE, and check out 10 highlights below:
Banning book bans
Gov. JB Pritzker signed House Bill 2789 in June, making Illinois the first state in the country to effectively ban book bans.
“Here in Illinois, we don’t hide from the truth, we embrace it,” Pritzker said at the time. “Young people shouldn’t be kept from learning about the realities of our world; I want them to become critical thinkers, exposed to ideas that they disagree with, proud of what our nation has overcome, and thoughtful about what comes next.”
The law prohibits state-funded libraries from banning or removing materials due to religious or partisan objections. It requires libraries to adopt the American Library Association’s Bill of Rights or otherwise have written policy outlining how they provide material inclusive of all points of view.
Rearview mirror law
House Bill 2389 prohibits police from making a traffic stop because of an object hanging from your rearview mirror or elsewhere between a window or windshield and the driver.
Laws that allow for police to make such stops faced scrutiny in in 2021 after Daunte Wright, who was from Chicago, was pulled over by police in Minnesota for having an expired registration tag on his license plate and for having an air freshener hanging from his rearview mirror.
Wright, 20, was fatally shot after a struggle with a police officer who said she planned to tase him but pulled her gun instead. Police officer Kimberly Potter was convicted of manslaughter in February 2022 and release in April 2023.
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Stolen car hotline
House Bill 2245 requires the Cook County sheriff to work with other law enforcement agencies and vehicle manufacturers to establish a vehicle theft hotline to help locate stolen vehicles via their existing global positioning systems
Organ donor leave
House Bill 3516 allows any employee up to 10 days of paid leave in any 12-month period to serve as an organ donor.
No pet adoption fees for veterans
House Bill 2500 states that animal control facilities cannot charge an adoption fee for military veterans who provide proper identification.
SNAP protection
House Bill 2214 requires the Department of Human Services to replace SNAP benefits that were stolen from a qualified recipient’s EBT card by means of card skimming, cloning or other fraudulent method.
E-cigarettes added to smoke free laws
House Bill 1540 adds electronic smoking devices to the 2008 Smoke-Free Illinois Act, which banned smoking in most public spaces around Illinois. The amended law now bans electronic smoking devices in any place where combustible smoking is already prohibited. That includes smoking within 15 feet of the entrance to public places.
No Zoom while you vroom
House Bill 2431 prohibits people from operating a motor vehicle while using an electronic device to participate in a video conference call, such as Zoom, or access social media sites.
Teaching about fentanyl
House Bill 3924 requires high schools to include lessons about the dangers of fentanyl in all state-required health courses.
Utility protection in severe weather
House Bill 1541 prohibits utility companies from shutting off gas or electric service due to nonpayment of bills on days when the temperatures exceeds 90 degrees or if there is a heat advisory, watch or warning.
This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas
