Will’s Bills
Will’s been hard at work in Springfield during his tenure as State Representative. He's sponsored dozens of bills that have since become law in areas ranging from workers’ rights and education to craft beer and local foods. Use the drop-down list below to explore bills Will has passed in past sessions. You can also visit the Illinois General Assembly website to learn more about the legislature.
102nd General Assembly
2020 - 2021
2020 - 2021
Affordable Housing Omnibus (HB 2621): Creates new property tax incentives for the development and rehabilitation of affordable rental housing; directs hundreds of millions of American Rescue Plan dollars to help finance thousands of new affordable units statewide.
Medical Release (HB 3665): Permits incarcerated people who are terminally ill or permanently disabled to apply for early release from the Department of Corrections to spend their final months at home with their families.
Illinois Drug Reuse Opportunity Program (I-DROP) (HB 119): Creates a program that allows people and healthcare facilities to donate safe, unexpired, unopened prescriptions that can then be donated to patients in need.
Fentanyl Test Strip Expansion (HB 4556): This bill allows test strips to be distributed at healthcare settings across Illinois, increasing access and saving lives.
Retirement Savings Expansion (HB 117): Makes sure every employer with five or more employees offers a retirement savings benefit, either on its own or through the state's Secure Choice program.
Documents for incarcerated people (HB 4559): Allows people who are incarcerated to access records about their time in IDOC, including work history and grievances.
Cottage Foods Expansion (SB 2007): Allows home-based food producers to sell their products at festivals, fairs, in home and online, among other changes to help these businesses grow and thrive.Wage Theft Protections (HB 118): Increases the damages paid by employers who steal wages from their workers from 2% a month to 5%.
Student Video Privacy (SB 808): Ends the practice of requiring student teachers to videotape their students for their licensure exams, protecting student privacy and allowing student teachers to focus on their training instead of test preparation.
Waivers for Students Experiencing Homelessness (HB 5265): Prohibits charter schools from charging fees to homeless students, and prevents discrimination against students who can’t afford to purchase textbooks.
Student Subsidy Notification (SB 3149): Requires the Illinois Student Assistance Commission to notify students about childcare subsidies available to them through the state.
Inclusive Athletic Attire (HB 120): Requires schools to let student athletes compete wearing uniforms that reflect their cultural preferences for modest attire, encouraging Muslim girls and others to participate in school sports.
Protecting DREAMers at Work (HB 121): Enshrines protections against discrimination for DACA recipients in the Illinois Human Rights Act.
COVID-19 Death Benefits (HB 275): Allows that front-line government workers who die from COVID-19 are presumed to have contracted the illness on the job, and that their family members are eligible for survivors' benefits.
Business Data Transparency (HB 115): Requires the Secretary of State to make corporate filings searchable in open data format instead of hidden behind a paywall.
Supporting Student Parents (SB 267): Requires public universities to report data about how many of their students are also parents, providing data so the state can serve those students better.
Drivers License Expansion (SB 2662): Expands access to REAL ID-compliant driver's licenses for conditional permanent residents.
Housing Omnibus Trailer (SB 3895): Makes a variety of clarifying changes to ensure the successful implementation of the affordable housing omnibus (HB 2621).
Asset Forfeiture Cleanup (HB 3762): Makes a technical change to ensure the proper functioning of civil asset forfeiture reform (HB 303, 2017).
101st General Assembly
2019 - 2020
2019 - 2020
$15 Minimum Wage (SB1): Raises Illinois’s minimum wage from $8.25 to $15 between now and 2025.
Protection From Predatory Debt Collectors (HB 88): Lowers the interest rate on consumer debt judgments from 9% to 5%, and reduces the amount of time creditors can collect on these judgments from 26 years to 17 years.
Cost Caps for Insulin (SB 667): For Illinoisans with certain types of insurance, caps the copay for insulin products at $100 per month.
Discrimination At Work (HB 252): Expands the Illinois Human Rights Act to cover employers of all sizes. Previously, it was limited to employers with 15 or more workers, allowing legal discrimination at small businesses.
Graduate Student Labor Rights (HB 253): Extends the right to join a labor union to all graduate assistants. It had previously been limited only to graduate teaching assistants.
Reducing Class Sizes (HB 254): Requires school districts to track data on class sizes, and the State Board of Education to make that data public, so resources can be dedicated to districts with the largest class sizes
Reusable Containers At The Supermarket (HB 3440): Allows all grocery stores in Illinois to permit consumers to use reusable containers to purchase goods from bulk bins; prior to this law, this practice was prohibited in Cook County.
Craft Beer Sales (HB 3610): Permits craft breweries to fill growlers and crowlers on premises, among other technical changes to craft beer law.
Apprenticeship Study (SB 2024): Creates a study group to address the expansion of apprenticeship opportunities in Illinois, specifically designed at including women and people of color, populations that have been traditionally excluded from apprenticeships.
Pension Code Cleanup (SB 1765): Removes inactive provisions in the state’s pension laws.
Pension Code Cleanup (HB 2884): Clarifies technical language governing the applicability of sick days to pensionable time.
100th General Assembly
2017 - 2018
2017 - 2018
Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform (HB 303): Completely overhauls the state’s civil asset forfeiture procedures, vastly limiting law enforcement's ability to seize property from civilians without due process.
Student Loan Bill of Rights (SB 1351): Protects borrowers from predatory practices by student loan servicing companies; creates state licensure for those servicers that can be revoked if they engage in abuses.
Professional Licenses for Immigrants (SB 3109): Allows people to apply for professional licenses with an ITIN number, and provides that no application for a professional license shall be denied solely on the basis of immigration status.
Cottage Foods at Farmers Markets (HB 3063: Gives local food producers the ability to sell a much wider variety of products at farmers markets and other venues.
Representation on Boards and Commissions (SB 1670): Permits applicants to executive boards and commissions to report their sexual orientation; requires the Governor to report to the General Assembly about the makeup of those boards in order to ensure representation for LGBT+ people.
Birth Certificates for the Homeless (HB 3060): Allows for people who are experiencing homeless to receive copies of their birth certificates without paying the usual fee.
Birth Certificates for Youth in Care (HB 4909): Allows for youth in the DCFS system and alumni of that system up to the age of 26 to receive copies of their birth certificates without paying the usual fee.
Investigating Abuse Allegations (SB 3237): Creates a process for a victim or their guardian to appeal a finding by the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Human Services if the OIG’s investigation was insufficient.
Craft Beer Expansion (HB 4897): Allows craft brewers to transfer quantities of beer between a brewery and a brewpub owned by the same entity without requiring the use of a middleman.
Registry Reform (SB 3489): Enables people who are told they must register under the Murderer and Violent Offender Against Youth Registration Act to have that decision reviewed, and to be removed from the registry if they are on it in error.
Foods Cleanup (SB 457): Makes changes to the cottage foods law to clarify health and safety regulations in statute.
Asset Forfeiture Cleanup (SB 564): Makes technical changes to ensure the proper functioning of civil asset forfeiture reform (HB 303).
Asset Forfeiture Cleanup (SB 2342): Makes additional technical changes to ensure the proper functioning of civil asset forfeiture reform (HB 303).
99th General Assembly
2015 - 2016
2015 - 2016
Tampon Tax Repeal (SB2746): Treats feminine hygiene products as medical necessities, not luxuries, exempting them from sales tax.
Inclusive Housing Plan (SB 2271): Revitalizes and modernizes the state's Comprehensive Housing Planning Act, mandating the inclusion of formerly incarcerated people, homeless veterans, and other populations in the state's housing plan
Mental Health Privacy (SB 818): Guarantees confidentiality of health records for people receiving mental health treatment
Press Freedom for Students (HB 5902): Creates the Speech Rights of Student Journalists Act, protecting student journalists from censorship of reporting critical of their school's administration
Standardized Test Transparency (HB 5901): Requires schools to report on how much standardized testing they're using, and for the state to publish that data on its website
Employee Social Media Protections (HB 4999): Prohibits employers from forcing employees or applicants to disclose their personal social media, or requiring them to use personal accounts for work purposes
Undocumented Wage Theft Protections (HB 3554): Ensures that undocumented workers can have access to unpaid wages that they're legally entitled to without having to provide a social security number
Transgender Funeral Rights (HB 3552): Guarantees that transgender people can specify their name, pronouns, and preferred gender presentation in their wills, and that those wishes must be respected after their deaths
Hearing Aid Licensure (SB 731): Reauthorizes the state's Hearing Instrument Consumer Protection Act