(The Center Square) – In announcing action on about 95 bills Friday, Gov. JB. Pritzker vetoed one measure at the request of the bill’s sponsors.
Senate Bill 1515 was intended to increase protections for workers, the governor’s office said.
“However, due to irreconcilable drafting errors, the bill will have an adverse effect on the workers it seeks to protect,” Pritzker’s veto message said. “My administration appreciates the hard work of the sponsors in the House and Senate and the workers’ rights advocates who worked to get this bill passed. I look forward to working together with sponsors and advocates to craft legislation to increase worker protections.”
The measure dealt with employers and the E-Verify program, but the entirety of the bill was vetoed.
Pritzker also signed dozens of bills into law.
Effective immediately, House Bill 1120 requires all charter schools in Illinois to include a union neutrality clause in the requirements for their formation.
Beginning next July, House Bill 1122 creates the Freelance Worker Protection Act aiming to “protect freelance workers from intimidation, harassment, and discrimination from hiring parties, requires timely compensation and requires employers to provide freelance workers with written contracts,” the governor’s office said.
Beginning Jan. 1, 2024, House Bill 2954 provides a private right of action for individuals who have been doxed, or had their personal information maliciously shared online. Also beginning next year, House Bill 3677 creates a new three-year license for fishing, hunting, sportsmen and trapping.
State agencies will have to track single-use plastic purchases within state government beginning July 2024 and establish goals to reduce such use.
Effective immediately, Senate Bill 1488 puts a two-year hold on new teachers taking a teacher performance assessment. The measure also convenes a working group to evaluate potential teacher performance assessments to replace the current system. Senate BIll 1872 removes the fourth year of a teacher’s probationary period to make it quicker for a teacher to reach tenure status.
Community colleges and public universities must make emergency contraception available through at least one on campus wellness kiosk in Senate Bill 1907, effective immediately.
Effective Jan. 1, 2024, Senate BIll 2034 creates the Child Extended Bereavement Leave Act that allows employees of businesses with 250 or more full-time workers to use a maximum of 12 weeks of unpaid leave if the employee experiences the loss of a child by suicide or homicide. Six weeks of unpaid leave is provided for those working at businesses with between 50 to 250 employees.
Separately Friday, Pritzker held a bill signing ceremony for three measures recognizing Native Americans. In Schaumburg, Pritzker enacted legislation to allow the state to create cemeteries protected from public use on state lands, allows the expansion of public school curriculum to include Native American history and requires schools to allow student celebrations during graduation ceremonies.
His office separately announced a bill signed that provides for state agencies the option of classifying someone as Middle Eastern or North African. House Bill 3768 expands the racial classification categories when reporting statistical data within state government. The MENA category is in addition to white, Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander.
Around 60 bills remain on the governor’s desk.
See the entire list of bills acted upon below, as provided by the governor’s office.
