It’s a new year, and thanks to the folks in Springfield, we have over 300 new laws to deal with! We’ve read through the list of new legislation and extracted out those relevant to our clients in one way or another. From employment, to housing to regulation, there are a number of new statutes that may affect the way our clients conduct business going forward. As always, if any of them are of interest and you’d like more information, just contact us and let us know.
Employment
HB 1363: Provides an employer may be liable for the actions of an employee if they were performing their employment duties and during it they caused injuries to another under the gender violence act. Establishes a 4-year statute of limitation to bring a claim of gender related violence.
HB 2493: Provides two weeks of unpaid leave for employees whose family or household member was killed in a crime of violence.
SB 2034: Provides extended bereavement leave to employees who have lost a child to suicide or homicide. For employers with 250 or more full-time employees, employees are provided twelve weeks of unpaid leave
Housing
HB 1540: Prohibits the use of electronic cigarettes in public places and within 15 feet of entrances.
HB 1541: Prohibits utility companies from discontinuing gas or electric services for residential users due to nonpayment of bills on days when the temperature exceeds 90 degrees or there is a heat watch,
advisory or warning.
HB 1628: Prohibits a landlord from requiring a tenant or prospective tenant to pay anything owed to the landlord under a lease, renewal, or extension agreement by means of electronic funds transfer.
HB 2217: Aims at reducing the threat radon poses to renters of property and allows a tenant to seek a third-party radon test, which the landlord may contest and challenge.
HB 2562: Provides housing requirements for heating and cooling standards for properties that limit their
ownership, rental, and occupancy to people 55 years old or older.
SB 0040: Creates the Electric Vehicle Charging Act which requires newly constructed single-family homes and constructed or renovated multi-unit residential buildings to include electric vehicle charging systems.
SB 1460: Allows common interest community association boards to contract with the highway commissioners of local road districts to furnish materials related to the maintenance or repair of roads, assuming the association comprises 50% of the population or greater of the relevant township or road district.
SB 1476: Requires more communities to have plans in place to meet the needs of low- to moderate-income families.
SB 1675: Halves the interest rate penalty on delinquent property taxes in Cook County, closes loopholes in Property Tax Code’s sale-in-error statute and other things to reform Cook County’s annual tax sale.
SB 1741: Removes limitations of security deposit protections for buildings with fewer than five units and require landlords to provide an itemized statement of damages before withholding a security deposit for all rental units regardless of the number of units within 30 days of vacation or end of possession.
SB 2005: Requires housing authorities to develop and implement policies granting housing preferences to veterans who are homeless.
Other
HB 2123: Creates a cause for legal action against individuals creating digitally forged material with intent to distribute and cause harm.
HB 2431: Provides that a person may not operate a motor vehicle while using an electronic communication device to participate in any video conference or access any social media site.
HB 3314: Provides that if a consumer contract allows for the recovery of attorney’s fees in an action brought to enforce the contract, then the court can award reasonable attorney’s fees to the prevailing defendant in the action,
SB 1526: Provides that the Department of Transportation must develop a mobile application that provides motorists with updates on various road conditions.
SB 1716/SB 2057: Establishes provisions on submitting a valid address and email address to Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation when applying for renewal of registration.
SB 1866: Waives continuing education requirements for military service members seeking to reactivate their real estate licenses and allows individuals to use Taxpayer ID Number in place of social security.
SB 2047: Makes certain tax credits consistent regarding their treatment of Sub chapter S corporations.
SB 2320: Allows for non-home rule municipalities to adopt a code-hearing unit.