Illinois

Amends the Property Tax Code. Provides that, beginning with taxable year 2027, the long-time occupant homestead exemption applies in all counties. Effective immediately.

Amends the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963. Provides that, upon the filing of a petition or a motion by the State or the court, the court shall order the revocation of the defendant's pretrial release when a defendant who was previously granted pretrial release is charged with a violation of a felony or Class A misdemeanor committed while on pretrial release. Provides that when a defendant previously granted pretrial release is charged with violation of a Class B or C misdemeanor committed while on pretrial release, the State may seek revocation of the defendant's pretrial release under the Code. Provides that a court shall deny a defendant charged with a Class X felony pretrial release only if: (1) the offense with which the defendant has been charged is not specifically enumerated in the denial of pretrial release provisions of the Code; and (2) prior to denial of pretrial release, the court has determined there is probable cause the defendant has committed a Class X felony, pursuant to the probable cause hearing in the denial of pretrial release provisions of the Code. Makes other changes.

Amends the Clerks of the Courts Act. Increases the filing fee and appearance fee in civil actions. Requires $5 of those fees to be deposited into the Guardianship and Advocacy Fund. Provides that no fee may be charged for accounts filed for guardianships established for minors under the Minors Article of the Probate Act of 1975 or for disabled adults of the Probate Act of 1975. Provides that no fee may be charged for a commitment petition or petition for discharge under the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Code. Repeals the provisions imposing the guardianship and advocacy operations fee.

Amends the Illinois Vehicle Code. Allows the Secretary of State to waive the civil penalty imposed for failure to maintain required liability insurance if all of the following conditions are met: the registered owner's failure to maintain required liability insurance constitutes the first offense for that registered owner; the vehicle was not operated upon a public roadway during the period of noncompliance; the registered owner was not issued a citation for operating an uninsured motor vehicle during the period of noncompliance; and the registered owner submits an affidavit attesting that during the period of noncompliance the vehicle was inoperable or stored. Provides that the Secretary may require the registered owner to submit reasonable documentation to substantiate the affidavit. Provides that the waiver may be granted only once per registered owner. Provides that knowingly submitting a false affidavit or documentation constitutes a violation of the Code.

Creates the Preserving Illinois Neighborhoods Act. Provides that, for taxable years that begin on or after January 1, 2027 and end on or before December 31, 2032, qualified taxpayers who incur qualified new construction expenditures or qualified rehabilitation expenditures during the taxable year are entitled to a credit. Effective immediately.

Amends the State Finance Act. Provides that the Travel Regulation Council may provide, by rule, procedures to allow for the up-front reimbursement of travelers for certain covered travel expenses.

Amends the Public Utilities Act. Requires the Illinois Commerce Commission to establish a process for the review of disposal fees, fuel surcharges, and other fees imposed by the owners and operators of sanitary landfills for the disposal of solid waste to ensure that the fees are just and reasonable. The Commission shall adopt any rules necessary to administer the provisions of this Section.

Creates the Transparency in Frontier Artificial Intelligence Act. Requires large frontier artificial intelligence developers to adopt and publish a frontier artificial intelligence framework addressing catastrophic risk management, transparency, and cybersecurity. Mandates reporting of critical safety incidents to the Attorney General and establishes civil penalties for noncompliance. Directs the Department of Innovation and Technology to review and recommend updates to definitions and standards. Creates a consortium to develop ILCompute, a public cloud computing resource that advances the development and deployment of artificial intelligence that is safe, ethical, equitable, and sustainable. Exempts specified information under the Freedom of Information Act. Makes conforming changes to the Freedom of Information Act.

Amends the Jury Commission Act. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning the short title.

Appropriates $150,000 from the General Revenue Fund to the Department Commerce and Economic Opportunity to cover the costs associated with developing an impact report in conjunction with the Illinois Arts Council. Effective July 1, 2026.

Amends the Election Code. Requires voter identification cards for those who do not have acceptable photo identification. Sets forth requirements and exemptions. Provides that any person desiring to vote shall present to the judges of election for verification of the person's identity an acceptable form of photo identification for voting purposes or his or her voter identification card.

Amends the Unified Code of Corrections and the Code of Civil Procedure. Restores language (which was deleted by Public Act 101-235) providing that committed persons shall be responsible to reimburse the Department of Corrections for the expenses incurred by their incarceration at a rate to be determined by the Department. Effective immediately.

Amends the Child Abuse Notice Act. Adds gun shops and public libraries, as defined, to the list of businesses and establishments that must post a child abuse notice in a conspicuous place that is accessible to the public. Requires the Department of Children and Family Services to include on the model notice it develops for the businesses and establishments to post, the contact information for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (988), the Crisis Text Line, and either the Safe2Help Illinois helpline or a local suicide prevention hotline, or both.

Amends the State Budget Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois. Sets forth additional requirements for the benefit cost analysis performed by the Budgeting for Results Commission as part of its annual report. Provides that the benefit cost analysis conducted for any crime prevention programs shall include data and information provided by crime prevention programs, victims rights groups, and law enforcement agencies in the State.

Amends the Food Handling Regulation Enforcement Act. Provides that, beginning January 1, 2028, the owner of each restaurant in the State shall include in all of the restaurant's menus and online menus clear and conspicuous notices identifying each menu item that contains a major food allergen, as defined in the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Establishes penalties for violations of this requirement.

Amends the Illinois Insurance Code. Requires the Department of Insurance to establish and maintain a dedicated, publicly accessible webpage on its official website that compiles and provides direct hyperlinks to the provider search directories or tools maintained by each health insurance issuer regulated by the Department. Provides that each regulated health insurance issuer shall submit to the Department, upon request and at least annually, the current URL for its provider search directory and notify the Department of any changes within 30 days after the changes. Provides that failure to comply may result in penalties. Establishes maintenance requirements of the webpage by the Department.

Amends the Department of Public Health Powers and Duties Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois. Establishes the Office for Community Belonging and Connection in the Department of Public Health for certain purposes and with specified duties. Requires the Office to establish a 3-year pilot program to collect data on the epidemic of loneliness. Requires each State agency that coordinates with the Office to designate a Community Belonging Liaison to represent the agency in an interagency group. Describes the duties of the interagency group. Grants rulemaking powers to the Department. Effective January 1, 2027.

Amends the State Comptroller Act. Provides that the State Comptroller shall have the powers and duties provided in the Crematory Regulation Act. Provides that the State Comptroller shall have the power to appoint investigators to conduct investigations, searches, seizures, arrests, and other duties required to enforce the provisions of the Crematory Regulation Act on behalf of the Comptroller and to ensure the health, safety, and welfare of the State. Provides that the Comptroller's investigators shall be peace officers and shall have all the powers possessed by police officers in cities and by sheriffs. Provides that Comptroller investigators may exercise these powers throughout the State whenever enforcing the provisions of the Crematory Regulation Act, subject to the rules and orders of the Comptroller. Provides that no Comptroller investigator may have peace officer status or may exercise police powers unless (1) the investigator successfully completes the basic police training course mandated and approved by the Illinois Law Enforcement Training Standards Board or (2) the Illinois Law Enforcement Training Standards Board waives the training requirement by reason of the investigator's prior law enforcement experience, training, or both. The Director responsible for crematory oversight and regulation under the Comptroller must authorize to each investigator of the Comptroller and to any other employee of the agency exercising the powers of a peace officer a distinct badge that, on its face (1) clearly states that the badge is authorized by the Comptroller and (2) contains a unique identifying number.

Amends the Uniform Crime Reporting Act. Provides that each law enforcement agency shall submit a report to the Illinois State Police after receiving a complaint of a hate crime or other bias-related complaint within 2 weeks of receiving the complaint. Describes information to be contained in the report. Provides that, when handling a hate crime or bias-related complaint, each law enforcement agency shall (1) approach victims in a sensitive and supportive manner; (2) reassure victims that appropriate investigative and enforcement methods will be used by the law enforcement agency to properly address the bias incident; (3) as required by the facts and circumstances surrounding the suspected or confirmed bias incident, ensure that a thorough and complete initial response investigation and a follow-up investigation are conducted, including providing for appropriate community relations activities and crime prevention programs; (4) refer the victims and the witnesses to the appropriate Office of Victim-Witness Advocacy or the Division on Civil Rights; (5) interact with concerned community service organizations, civic groups, and religious institutions regarding the bias incident; and (6) effectively calm victims and reduce their fear and alienation through direct, ongoing official communication regarding the bias incident. Provides that the Illinois State Police must identify patterns and analyze the information reported to it for the purpose of connecting the information to other reported crimes or incidents, create a reporting form or process to receive this information, review all reports, and disseminate to potentially affected law enforcement agencies and create a process for the sharing of all the reported incidents with law enforcement agencies across the State. Provides that each law enforcement agency shall identify a point of contact in regard to hate crime reporting within the agency and provide the Illinois State Police with that person's name and contact information. Provides that the Illinois State Police shall adopt rules identifying other bias-related complaints that must be reported. Makes a conforming change. Amends the Freedom of Information Act to exempt reports and information received under the hate crime and bias-related incident reporting under the Uniform Crime Reporting Act.

Appropriates $36,365,100 to the Office of the State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor for its ordinary and contingent expenses for the fiscal year ending on June 30, 2027. Effective July 1, 2026.

Provides that the amendatory Act may be referred to as the Voter Choice and Fair Access Act. Amends the Election Code. Provides that, if a candidate who is the current holder of the elective office for which nomination papers have been filed withdraws his or her candidacy anytime up until 10 business days before the ballot is finalized, the State Board of Elections or the appropriate election authority shall reopen the filing period for that office. Sets forth additional requirements for the filing of petitions for nomination by incumbent office holders. Makes other changes.

Creates the Noncitizen Population Spending Transparency Act. Provides that the Department of Human Services, in collaboration with relevant State agencies, shall prepare an annual report identifying all State spending on services and resources for noncitizen and asylum-seeking populations. Sets forth reporting requirements. Provides that, on or before November 15, 2026, and each year thereafter, the Department of Human Services shall submit the report to the General Assembly. Provides that the Department of Human Services shall post and maintain the report on its publicly available website. Provides that the Department of Human Services is authorized to coordinate efforts with other State agencies to prepare and submit a cohesive report for the General Assembly. Amends the State Budget Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois. Provides that, beginning with budgets prepared for fiscal year 2028, the budgets submitted by the Governor and appropriations made by the General Assembly for all executive branch State agencies must include a detailed accounting of all proposed spending on noncitizen and asylum-seeking populations. Effective immediately.

Amends the Illinois Controlled Substances Act. Provides that, if any substance, scheduled as a Schedule I controlled substance by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, is rescheduled for the purpose of treating mental health disorders, including, but not limited to, anxiety, depression, and post traumatic stress disorder, the Department of Human Services shall reschedule the substance accordingly within 30 days from the publication in the Federal Register of the final order rescheduling the substance.

Creates the Foreign Agents Registration Act. Provides that no person shall act as an agent of a foreign principal from a country of concern unless he or she has filed with the Attorney General a true and complete registration statement and supplements thereto or unless he or she is exempt from registration under the provisions of the Act. Provides that, except as otherwise provided in the Act, every person who becomes an agent of a foreign principal from a country of concern shall, within 10 days thereafter, file with the Attorney General, in duplicate, a registration statement, under oath on a form prescribed by the Attorney General. Provides that the obligation of an agent of a foreign principal from a country of concern to file a registration statement shall, after the 10th day of his or her becoming such agent, continue from day to day, and termination of such status shall not relieve such agent from his or her obligation to file a registration statement for the period during which he or she was an agent of a foreign principal from a country of concern. Provides that any person who acted as an agent of a foreign principal from a country of concern at any time after January 1, 2014 and until the effective date of the Act shall file with the Attorney General a true and complete retroactive registration statement and supplements thereto. Provides that the registration provisions do not apply to certain agents and foreign principals. Provides penalties for violation. Provides that the Attorney General may at any time make, prescribe, amend, and rescind such rules and forms as the Attorney General may deem necessary to carry out the provisions of the Act. Defines "country of concern" as the People's Republic of China, the Russian Federation, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the Republic of Cuba, the Venezuelan regime of Nicolas Maduro, or the Syrian Arab Republic, including any agent of or any other entity under significant control of such foreign country of concern, or any other entity deemed by the Governor in consultation with the Director of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency and Office of Homeland Security.

Amends the Motor Fuel Sales Act. Authorizes motor fuel blends containing 10.5% to 15% ethanol, by volume, to be sold in the State at any time during the year if permitted under federal law. Provides that, if a federal authorization must be obtained to provide for the year-round sale of those motor fuel blends, then the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency shall take all actions necessary to obtain the federal authorization on behalf of the State.