Lawmakers send flurry of bills to governor's desk in final days of spring session

Chicago Tribune

2 days ago

SPRINGFIELD — Along with a budget that passed shortly before Saturday's deadline, Illinois legislators passed a flurry of bills in the final days of the General Assembly's spring session on issues ranging from police hiring practices to traffic safety.
Here are some of the bills heading to Gov. JB Pritzker's desk after passing out of the legislature at the end of the four-month session.
A measure designed to rein in the practices of pharmacy benefits managers, or PBMs — companies that act as intermediaries between drugmakers, insurance corporations and pharmacies — was approved with broad bipartisan support and is backed by Pritzker.
The largest PBMs are part of corporate entities that include pharmacy chain CVS and UnitedHealth Group. Critics blame them for driving up prescription drug costs for patients while pushing independent pharmacies out of business.
The measure awaiting Pritzker's signature would bar PBMs from charging insurance companies more for drugs than they are paid by pharmacies and pocketing the difference; prohibit them from giving better reimbursement rates to pharmacies that are owned by the same company; and require them to pass along rebates negotiated with drugmakers to health plans and patients.
PBMs also would be required to make annual reports on pricing and other practices to the Illinois Department of Insurance, and would be charged an annual $15-per-patient fee, with the first $25 million collected going to a grant fund to support local pharmacies.
'For far too long, pharmacy benefit managers' business practices have operated with little regulation, transparency, and accountability. Illinois is putting an end to that,' Pritzker said in a statement Saturday after the House sent the measure to his desk.
A trade group representing the industry argued that PBMs are 'the only check against drug companies' unlimited pricing power' and said the proposed changes would lead to higher prices at the drugstore counter.
But PBMs have drawn scorn from across the political spectrum. President Donald Trump, Pritzker's frequent sparring partner, in April issued an executive order that aims to lower drug prices through steps that would include increasing 'transparency into the direct and indirect compensation received by pharmacy benefit managers.' And ruby-red Arkansas recently became the first state to bar PBMs from owning pharmacies.
Illinois is set to study safety measures on DuSable Lake Shore Drive, including whether cameras powered by artificial intelligence could reduce crashes under a measure sent to Pritzker.
Democratic Sen. Sara Feigenholtz, the bill's sponsor, has pointed to the use of cameras that could 'track vehicles' as opposed to focusing only on a fixed point, and detect violations beyond just speeding. State law now largely allows automated speed cameras around parks and schools but not on DuSable Lake Shore Drive.
There were disproportionately high rates of collisions and traffic fatalities on the drive compared with the rest of Chicago from 2019 to 2024, according to data provided from transit advocates to Feigenholtz's office.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois has said guardrails are needed to protect people from 'omnipresent AI surveillance,' though neither the ACLU or any other organizations officially opposed the bill.
A bill introduced in response to the 2024 fatal shooting of Sonya Massey in the Springfield area by a downstate sheriff's deputy now awaits Pritzker's signature.
Sean Grayson was fired from his job as a Sangamon County sheriff's deputy after the killing and charged with murder. After Massey's death, it was revealed that Grayson previously worked for five law enforcement agencies and had been the subject of citizen complaints and criticism from superiors who questioned his competence. Grayson also had two DUIs on his record before he went into law enforcement.
The legislation would bar law enforcement agencies from making a final offer for employment without getting a signed release from the applicant directing 'any and all entities that previously employed the individual to produce or make available for inspection all employment records, including background investigation materials collected in connection with making a final offer of employment.'
A statewide office to support under-resourced public defenders throughout Illinois would be created under another criminal justice measure sent to the governor.
The bill, dubbed by advocates as the Funded Advocacy & Independent Representation bill, or FAIR Act, could assist public defenders in rural areas, where the availability of effective public defense for indigent criminal defendants can be sparse.
Advocates, including the Cook County public defender's office, argued the bill would create more of a level playing field for public defense when compared with prosecutors, who can get statewide help on cases through the Illinois attorney general's office.
Some of the assistance provided by the statewide public defender office could be the availability of more public defense lawyers and defense experts who may specialize in various evidentiary or forensic practices.
The Cook County public defender's office also pushed for legislation to expand the jurisdiction of its attorneys representing noncitizen Cook County residents in immigration cases being heard outside the county.
The bill passed the Senate on Friday 37-19 after clearing the House in early April.
'As immigrant communities are grappling with shifting federal policies, we must adapt to ensure there is no lapse in access to counsel,' Sen. Omar Aquino, a Chicago Democrat who sponsored the bill, said. 'Families deserve to know that this resource is available and reliable despite changes happening at the federal level.'
According to Tovia Siegel, a proponent of the bill and the director of organizing and leadership at The Resurrection Project, the Cook County's public defender's office can currently represent immigrants only in Chicago's immigration court, but individuals in that court are being 'sent all over the country.'
'We're even seeing people sent out of the country, and so it's essential that the Cook County public defender's office has the ability to continue representing their clients,' Siegel said.
Another measure the Democratic-controlled General Assembly passed with a specific eye on the Trump administration centered on abortion rights.
The bill is intended provide more protections under Illinois' 2023 shield law, which prevents health care workers from facing disciplinary action by the state if, for instance, they provide abortion care to someone from a state that has more stringent abortion restrictions.
The legislation also would ensure prescribing abortion medications such as mifepristone would remain legal in Illinois even if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration revokes approval, as long as the World Health Organization recommends the drug's use.
Democrats have warned that access to these drugs could be jeopardized following declarations toward that end by Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation policy group thought to have influence on the Trump White House.
Also heading to Pritzker's desk is a bill that aims to strengthen restrictions on how firearms are stored or kept in place where a minor, or someone who isn't allowed to own a gun, has access to them.
Gun owners could be fined up to $1,000 if a prohibited person gets hold of an improperly stored firearm. The fine would increase to $10,000 if the person kills someone with the firearm.
Gun owners could also face civil penalties if they fail more than twice to report the loss or theft of their gun within 48 hours upon acknowledging the crime.
'I'm pleased that we're moving forward with this legislation where I anticipate the governor will agree with its importance,' said state Rep. Maura Hirschauer, a Democrat from Batavia.
'Gun owners and nongun owners alike can agree safe gun storage can reduce unintentional injuries, suicides and intentional harm like school shootings by stopping unauthorized access, and it's time for us to take action,' she said.
Republican state lawmakers took issue with several provisions in the measure and warned the legislation could be challenged in court.
'I wish we had more opportunity to talk this through,' Rep. C.D. Davidsmeyer, a Republican from Jacksonville, said. 'You're trying to do something that makes people safer, but you're actually infringing on our rights.'