By Brett Rowland

The Center Square

SPRINGFIELD – Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced late Friday that he signed 49 bills into law, including one that would allow graduate students to unionize.

Among the bills the governor signed was House Bill 252, which would allow public research assistants, graduate assistants and teaching assistants to unionize. That law goes into effect Jan. 1.

Another bill signed Friday, House Bill 3503, requires insurance companies to offer plans and options to cover hearing aid instruments. The bill was initially opposed by the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association, Illinois Chamber of Commerce, Illinois Statewide School Management Alliance, BlueCross BlueShield of Illinois and Illinois Life Insurance Council. After several amendments, it eventually passed the House with overwhelming support on a concurrence vote of 113 to 2.

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A third, Senate Bill 1798, requires school districts to create an age-appropriate policy on sexual harassment and post it online. That bill passed the House on a vote of 105 to 9.

Pritzker also signed the following bills into law:

Bill Number: HB 250

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Description: Allows contiguous counties to combine tax sales and changes the Sales in Error section of the Property Tax Code to address situations where unpaid property taxes on property that contains hazardous substances or underground storage tanks are sold and resold through multiple tax sale cycles.

Action: Signed

Effective: Jan. 1, 2020

Bill Number: HB 253

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Description: Allows all public graduate students in Illinois to unionize.

Action: Signed

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Effective: Jan. 1, 2020

Bill Number: HB 1455

Description: Requires that disputes over remains shall be resolved by a court within 30 days of the dispute being filed with the court (instead of no timeline) and allows this to be called Adam’s Law.

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Action: Signed

Effective: Jan. 1, 2020

Bill Number: HB 2244

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Description: Amends the Unified Code of Corrections in regard to the conditions of parole and mandatory supervised release.

Action: Signed

Effective: Immediately

Bill Number: HB 2264

Description: Requires the state to make an annual appropriation from the Agricultural Premium Fund or any other source of funding available to counties for Cooperative Extension programs.

Action: Signed

Effective: Immediately

Bill Number: HB 2301

Description: Increases union representation on state board and commissions.

Action: Signed

Effective: Jan. 1, 2020

Bill Number: HB 2408

Description: Establishes that a person shall not post a private compromising image of another person online and allows individuals to file a petition for a take-down order with the court. Persons posting private compromising images are liable for damages at the discretion of the court.

Action: Signed

Effective: Jan. 1, 2020

Bill Number: HB 2438

Description: Requires insurers to offer a maternal mental health program.

Action: Signed

Effective: Immediately

Bill Number: HB 2470

Description: Allows a police officer to recover legal costs from the Chicago Police Pension Fund if a disability benefit was denied by the fund but prevails in an administrative review. Provides that a Chicago police officer convicted of a service-connected felony who intentionally delayed proceedings shall not be entitled to pension benefits, applicable to convictions beginning January 1, 2019.

Action: Signed

Effective: Immediately

Bill Number: HB 2670

Description: Ensures that mitigating factors are not a bar to licensure, instead they provide guidance for the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation when considering licensure, registration, or certification for an applicant with criminal history.

Action: Signed

Effective: Immediately

Bill Number: HB 2868

Description: Requires the Illinois State Board of Education to develop a work-based learning database to help facilitate relationships between school districts and businesses and expand work-based learning.

Action: Signed

Effective: Immediately

Bill Number: HB 2895

Description: Requires the Illinois Department of Public Health to provide continuing education for staff working with pregnant or postpartum women.

Action: Signed

Effective: Jan. 1, 2020

Bill Number: HB 2987

Description: Reestablishes the Protection of Individuals with Disabilities in the Criminal Justice System Task Force, which was previously established by Public Act 100-481 but was repealed on June 30, 2018.

Action: Signed

Effective: Immediately

Bill Number: HB 3217

Description: Creates the Asian American Family Commission.

Action: Signed

Effective: Jan. 1, 2020

Bill Number: HB 3503

Description: Requires insurance companies to offer plans and options to cover hearing aid instruments.

Action: Signed

Effective: Jan. 1, 2020

Bill Number: SB 69

Description: Enhances protections for elderly and disabled Illinoisans from financial exploitation.

Action: Signed

Effective: Jan. 1, 2020

Bill Number: SB 102

Description: Allows the Secretary of State to authorize the issuance of a digital registration plate to a vehicle in lieu of a set of static, metal registration plates.

Action: Signed

Effective: Immediately

Bill Number: SB 138

Description: Amends the Mortgage Foreclosure Article of the Code of Civil Procedure in relation to short sales of property.

Action: Signed

Effective: Immediately

Bill Number: SB 156

Description: Provides access to job search and career building websites for people prior to their release from the Department of Corrections.

Action: Signed

Effective: Jan. 1, 2020

Bill Number: SB 158

Description: Provides the Tollway with the authority to enter into an agreement with a private contractor for a private bridge, and allows a private operator to enter into an agreement with the Tollway to provide electronic toll collection or toll violation enforcement services.

Action: Signed

Effective: Immediately

Bill Number: SB 169

Description: Amends the Code of Civil Procedure in relation to notice of foreclosures.

Action: Signed

Effective: Immediately

Bill Number: SB 171

Description: Transfers administration of the Drycleaners Environmental Response Trust Fund from the Drycleaners Environmental Response Trust Fund Council to IEPA and makes other changes to the Drycleaner Environmental Response Trust Fund Act.

Action: Signed

Effective: July 1, 2020, except some provisions which take effect immediately.

Bill Number: SB 416

Description: Adds an aggravating factor if a defendant has committed public indecency or sexual misconduct during an administrative hearing while incarcerated.

Action: Signed

Effective: Jan. 1, 2020

Bill Number: SB 1007

Description: Requires military discharge records submitted to county clerks to be made available to public inspection and copying with certain limitations.

Action: Signed

Effective: Immediately

Bill Number: SB 1526

Description: Amends the Code of Civil Procedure in relation to prayer for relief.

Action: Signed

Effective: Jan. 1, 2020

Bill Number: SB 1571

Description: Repeals various sections of the Civil Practice Article of the Code of Civil Procedure.

Action: Signed

Effective: Immediately

Bill Number: SB 1580

Description: Amends the Counties Code to ensure locally-elected officials have appropriate regulatory control and enforcement over a controversial establishment.

Action: Signed

Effective: Jan. 1, 2020

Bill Number: SB 1583

Description: Allows Cook County to narrowly tailor its warrant practice to focus on apprehending the most violent individuals.

Action: Signed

Effective: Jan. 1, 2020

Bill Number: SB 1602

Description: Modifies the definition of “community-based manufactured home dealer” to allow a dealer to have and sell up to two home models per calendar year in the park without having to acquire an additional license.

Action: Signed

Effective: Immediately

Bill Number: SB 1609

Description: Amends various statutes in relation to credit served for incarceration, allowing people post bond faster through the accumulation of sentencing credit for each day a person is incarcerated.

Action: Signed

Effective: Jan. 1, 2020

Bill Number: SB 1610

Description: Allows a defendant to petition the court to vacate a judgment if the court fails to advise the defendant that a guilty plea may result in deportation or otherwise affect the defendant’s immigration status.

Action: Signed

Effective: Jan. 1, 2020

Bill Number: SB 1623

Description: Amends the Mobile Home Landlord and Tenant Rights Act in relation to the disposal of abandoned mobile homes.

Action: Signed

Effective: Immediately

Bill Number: SB 1627

Description: Moves statutory language concerning relief from judgments associated with post-partum depression or psychosis from the Code of Criminal Procedure to the Code of Civil Procedure.

Action: Signed

Effective: Immediately

Bill Number: SB 1630

Description: Removes school districts from the list of entities not included in the Automatic Contract Renewal Act.

Action: Signed

Effective: Immediately

Bill Number: SB 1658

Description: Creates a new school safety and security grant program at the Illinois State Board of Education, subject to appropriation or private donations.

Action: Signed

Effective: Jan. 1, 2020

Bill Number: SB 1665

Description: Amends the Illinois Controlled Substances Act concerning the Prescription Monitoring Program.

Action: Signed

Effective: Immediately

Bill Number: SB 1735

Description: Allows the Department of Human Services and local governments to conduct a research pilot at no cost to the state designed to reduce poverty, promote social mobility or increase financial stability for Illinois residents without affecting participants’ eligibility for public benefits.

Action: Signed

Effective: Immediately

Bill Number: SB 1746

Description: Permits school boards to expand the debt they may incur through bonds by adding a percentage of the state funding they receive through the evidence-based school funding formula to the calculation used to determine the maximum amount of bonding they may pursue.

Action: Signed

Effective: Immediately

Bill Number: SB 1750

Description: Adds leaving the scene of an accident that results in the death of a person at the time to the list of factors in aggravation and extended-term sentencing if the defendant was driving under the influence or operating the vehicle while using an electronic communication device.

Action: Signed

Effective: Jan. 1, 2020

Bill Number: SB 1798

Description: Requires school districts to create an age-appropriate policy on sexual harassment and post it online.

Action: Signed

Effective: Jan. 1, 2020

Bill Number: SB 1806

Description: Makes technical changes to the Municipal Audit Act, the County Audit Act and the Governmental Audit Act.

Action: Signed

Effective: Jan. 1, 2020