The legislation was introduced in bill HB2491 on Feb. 13, when Rep. Lawrence Walsh, Jr. (D-86) filed it with the House clerk.
According to the General Assembly website, the bill as introduced was designed to "amend the Environmental Protection Act".
After debate, the House passed the bill on April 11 and it arrived in the Senate on April 12, and both chambers agreed to the final version of the legislation on May 16. The bill was sent to the governor and signed into law on July 26. The law is scheduled to go into effect on July 1, 2020.
Illinois legislature enacts laws through bills that can be introduced in either the state House of Representatives or the state Senate. Either chamber of the legislature can reject or amend a bill before it becomes law. Legislators sometimes sponsor "shell bills" devoid of substantive provisions, introduced with the intention of being amended later to include actual legislation.
The following table shows the full history of actions on HB2491.
| Date | Chamber | Action |
|---|---|---|
| 2/13/2019 | House | Filed with the Clerk by Rep. Lawrence Walsh, Jr. |
| 2/13/2019 | House | First Reading |
| 2/13/2019 | House | Referred to Rules Committee |
| 2/26/2019 | House | Assigned to Energy & Environment Committee |
| 3/19/2019 | House | House Committee Amendment No. 1 Referred to Rules Committee |
| 3/19/2019 | House | House Committee Amendment No. 1 Filed with Clerk by Rep. Lawrence Walsh, Jr. |
| 3/20/2019 | House | House Committee Amendment No. 1 Rules Refers to Energy & Environment Committee |
| 3/26/2019 | House | Do Pass as Amended / Short Debate Energy & Environment Committee; 022-008-000 |
| 3/26/2019 | House | House Committee Amendment No. 1 Adopted in Energy & Environment Committee; by Voice Vote |
| 3/29/2019 | House | Placed on Calendar 2nd Reading - Short Debate |
| 4/5/2019 | House | House Floor Amendment No. 2 Referred to Rules Committee |
| 4/5/2019 | House | House Floor Amendment No. 2 Filed with Clerk by Rep. Lawrence Walsh, Jr. |
| 4/9/2019 | House | House Floor Amendment No. 3 Referred to Rules Committee |
| 4/9/2019 | House | House Floor Amendment No. 2 Rules Refers to Energy & Environment Committee |
| 4/9/2019 | House | House Floor Amendment No. 3 Filed with Clerk by Rep. Lawrence Walsh, Jr. |
| 4/9/2019 | House | House Floor Amendment No. 2 Recommends Be Adopted Energy & Environment Committee; 020-004-000 |
| 4/10/2019 | House | Second Reading - Short Debate |
| 4/10/2019 | House | Added Chief Co-Sponsor Rep. Norine K. Hammond |
| 4/10/2019 | House | Held on Calendar Order of Second Reading - Short Debate |
| 4/10/2019 | House | House Floor Amendment No. 3 Rules Refers to Energy & Environment Committee |
| 4/10/2019 | House | Added Co-Sponsor Rep. David A. Welter |
| 4/11/2019 | House | Added Co-Sponsor Rep. Chris Miller |
| 4/11/2019 | House | Added Co-Sponsor Rep. Brad Halbrook |
| 4/11/2019 | House | Third Reading - Short Debate - Passed 106-004-001 |
| 4/11/2019 | House | House Floor Amendment No. 2 Adopted |
| 4/11/2019 | House | House Floor Amendment No. 3 Recommends Be Adopted Energy & Environment Committee; 029-000-000 |
| 4/11/2019 | House | Added Co-Sponsor Rep. Monica Bristow |
| 4/11/2019 | House | Added Co-Sponsor Rep. Mark Batinick |
| 4/11/2019 | House | Added Co-Sponsor Rep. Dave Severin |
| 4/11/2019 | House | House Floor Amendment No. 3 Adopted |
| 4/11/2019 | House | Added Co-Sponsor Rep. Jay Hoffman |
| 4/11/2019 | House | Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading - Short Debate |
| 4/12/2019 | Senate | Arrive in Senate |
| 4/12/2019 | Senate | Placed on Calendar Order of First Reading April 30, 2019 |
| 4/24/2019 | Senate | Chief Senate Sponsor Sen. Pat McGuire |
| 4/24/2019 | Senate | First Reading |
| 4/24/2019 | Senate | Referred to Assignments |
| 4/30/2019 | Senate | Assigned to Environment and Conservation |
| 5/9/2019 | Senate | Added as Alternate Chief Co-Sponsor Sen. Jason Plummer |
| 5/9/2019 | Senate | Placed on Calendar Order of 2nd Reading May 14, 2019 |
| 5/9/2019 | Senate | Do Pass Environment and Conservation; 007-000-000 |
| 5/15/2019 | Senate | Second Reading |
| 5/15/2019 | Senate | Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading May 16, 2019 |
| 5/16/2019 | House | Passed Both Houses |
| 5/16/2019 | Senate | Added as Alternate Co-Sponsor Sen. Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant |
| 5/16/2019 | Senate | Third Reading - Passed; 056-000-000 |
| 6/14/2019 | House | Sent to the Governor |
| 7/26/2019 | House | Public Act . . . . . . . . . 101-0141 |
| 7/26/2019 | House | Effective Date July 1, 2020 |
| 7/26/2019 | House | Governor Approved |
Alerts Sign-up