Many proposed bills from this year’s legislative session would affect children and families.
The 2025 legislative session runs from Jan. 8, 2025, through May 31, 2025. It’s during this window that Illinois lawmakers move through the process of turning bills into laws.
Some bills, like the controversial Homeschool Act, have stalled out. The bills listed below are in different stages of being passed or not–whether the bill will end up as law may not be confirmed until the end of the legislative session.
In the fall, lawmakers come back to the state Capitol to hear and respond to the governor’s vetoes.
Read on for our list of some of the important proposed laws concerning families.
Changes in schools
- SB0144: New rules for charter schools in the Chicago school district. School closures must be announced by Sept. 1 of the year prior and the school board may approve or deny the closure. It would also introduce more support for students and teachers to transition them to a new school.
- SB2427: Creates a device-free policy for Illinois schools with allowances for students who need a device during the school day, like those students with certain disabilities.
- HB1368: Introduces stricter rules for professional development in English Language Arts to make sure training is aligned with the state’s comprehensive literacy plan.
- SB1970 and SB0044: Provide grant money for districts to purchase electric buses and electric driver’s education cars.
- SB2423: Puts restrictions on suspensions for children in preschool. Only the superintendent of a school district can suspend a preschool aged child for three days or more.
- HB3503: Creates the Illinois Curriculum Overview and Alignment Act. The State Board of Education would conduct a comprehensive review of all mandated units of study every five years.
- HB3039: Allows seventh or eighth graders to enroll in a required high school course if the course is offered by the high school that the student would attend. If students pass the course, they are given high school credit.
Changes to school athletics
- HB2521: Compels officials of any organization providing athletics in schools to undergo a finger-print based background check.
- HB3275: All school coaches would need to obtain and maintain certification in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), first aid and the use of an automatic external defibrillator (AED).
- HB1237: School boards would prohibit a school from using a native name, logo or mascot. The bill gives some allowances for items, like jerseys, purchased before the law went into effect.
Child safety bills
- SB2316: Creates the Parental Consent for Social Media Act. The act would prevent minors from creating social media accounts without a parent’s approval. Plus, it stipulates that a company can’t allow a minor living in the state to access the social media platform between the hours of 10 p.m. through 6 a.m.
- SB0008: Creates the Safe Gun Storage Act. The owner of a firearm would not be able to store or keep any firearm in any premises where a minor could access it. Firearms would need to be safely secured in a locked container or face penalties.
- HB3851: Specifies that cyber bullying includes posting or distributing sexually explicit images–including those made by AI.
Changes for parents
- SB1225: Expands the categories of families eligible for child care assistance to include mental health care workers, teachers or health care providers. To be eligible, family income must be below a certain threshold.
- SB0212: Nursing mothers in the workplace would be paid their normal wage during breaks. Employers cannot make nursing mothers use paid leave for breaks.
- SB2263: Creates a child care credit in an amount equal to 25 percent of the federal tax credit for each qualifying child.
- SB2413: Requires a division within the Department of Labor to establish and administer a paid family and medical leave insurance program for employees.
