* Evanston RoundTable…

The Illinois House of Representatives passed a bill Thursday that would require all internet-connected devices and platforms in the state to ask for and verify users’ ages, a measure intended to restrict minors from accessing “addictive feeds” and other harmful aspects of social media. […]

As currently drafted, HB 5511 would require that by 2028, every “internet-enabled device,” operating system and application store must prompt users to “indicate the birth date, age, or both, of the primary user of that device” during initial account setup. Devices would use this information to tell websites, apps and other platforms what “age bracket” the user is in, defined as under 13, between 13 and 15, between 16 and 17, or 18 and older.

The bill does not specify which methods devices should or should not use to request age information, which range from simply asking the user to attest their age to scanning government-issued IDs, like some states now require to access pornographic content. Additionally, all websites, online services and apps would be required to request every user’s age bracket, regardless of whether their content would actually be age-restricted. […]

[Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz] did not respond to a request for comment about how the age verification will work and why all websites would have to check users’ age brackets. […]

[Christopher Whitaker, a former digital service expert for the federal government,] said the bill’s amended version filed April 10 fixes many of the group’s concerns from the first version, including by tightening restrictions on how age data can be used and specifically protecting access to information on sexuality, reproductive health and other topics. But he said a stronger approach to the issue is to focus on data protections, like those provided in the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation.

* Rep. Mary Beth Canty…

Five pieces of legislation sponsored by State Rep. Mary Beth Canty (54th District-Arlington Heights) have passed the Illinois House of Representatives ahead of last week’s third reading deadline. These bills strengthen protections for survivors of gender-based violence, shield sensitive health records related to abortion, expand end-of-life options, and more. […]

HB5425 - Legalizes natural organic reduction, giving Illinoisans the ability to choose an environmentally sustainable alternative to traditional burial and cremation. The legislation creates regulations and safety procedures for licensed operators to provide natural organic reduction as an end-of-life option. Passed the Illinois House 64-36-0.

HB3169 - Protect families from medically-based wrongful allegations of child abuse from child abuse pediatricians. The bill ensures parents know who is evaluating their child, have information about the investigative process, have access to the child abuse pediatrician’s forensic opinion, and are notified of the right to obtain and submit an independent second opinion. Passed the Illinois House 110-0-0.

HB5295 - Creates the Reproductive Health Records Privacy Act to protect sensitive medical records related to abortion care from being inappropriately shared, including with out-of-state entities. Passed the Illinois House 73-34-0.

HB5078 - Protects survivors of gender-based violence from retaliation by creating an early dismissal process for civil actions filed against survivors so they can seek justice and support without fear of lawsuits designed to intimidate and silence them. It allows courts to award prevailing survivors their attorney’s fees and costs, injunctive relief, and punitive damages, which should also discourage retaliatory lawsuits. Passed the Illinois House 78-30-0.

HB4990 - Updates the Preventing Sexual Violence in Higher Education Act to address sexual harassment and new technology, ensure confidentiality, add anti-retaliation protections, clarify supportive measures, and create an enforcement option. Passed the Illinois House 72-27-0.

Each piece of legislation must now pass the Illinois Senate and then be signed by Gov. JB Pritzker before becoming law.

* Tri States Public Radio…

The Illinois House has passed a bill requiring high schools to provide the opportunity to register eligible students to vote.

The bill, which would take effect in the 2026-27 school year, is in honor of the Rev. Jesse Jackson who died in February. To offset some of the potential cost, non-profits are allowed to support schools when registering students to vote. The bill sets no penalties if a school does not follow the law. […]

Republican state Rep. Bill Hauter, representing an area between Peoria, Bloomington-Normal and Decatur, opposed the bill. He said parents need to be involved in the process, and it is an unfunded mandate. […]

Republican state Rep. Jason Bunting, representing a rural area stretching from McLean County to the suburbs of Chicago, supported the bill, saying it’s a non-partisan issue and that every student should have the opportunity to register to vote.

Bunting said when he was in high school, his school helped him register to vote and was surprised to learn his daughter did not get that same opportunity.

* AAA director of public affairs Nick Jarmusz, Mothers Against Drunk Driving regional executive director Erin Doherty and Families for Safe Streets president Amy Cohen…

[Traffic deaths] are predictable and preventable, driven largely by reckless behavior such as excessive speeding and impaired driving. Two key pieces of pending legislation, House Bill 4333 and House Bill 4948, would help get Illinois back on track.

House Bill 4333 would address impaired driving by lowering the state’s alcohol concentration threshold from 0.08 to 0.05. Research shows impairment begins well before 0.08, and crash risk rises as blood‑alcohol concentration increases. A 0.05 standard would set clearer expectations for drivers, saving lives and preventing millions of dollars in economic losses each year.

House Bill 4948 [, which passed through the House last week,] would create an Intelligent Speed Assistance Program focused on the small number of high‑risk drivers whose repeated or excessive speeding endangers everyone. The technology limits a vehicle’s speed to stop this dangerous behavior before it causes a tragedy. The program creates an alternative to license suspension for this small population of high-risk drivers.

These bills target two leading causes of deadly crashes and would help our state go from a lagging outlier to a leader in preventing roadway deaths. We urge the public to ask their legislators to advance these bills.

* WCIA…

On April 16, it was announced that State Senator Paul Faraci advanced an initiative that would honor the legacy and impact of the late State Senator Scott Bennett by renaming the railroad trestle bridge on the Kickapoo Rail Trail.

“Scott Bennett was not only a mentor to me, he was also a dear friend whose dedication to his communities has inspired much of my work in the Senate to date,” Faraci (D-Champaign) said. “Renaming the bridge on Kickapoo Rail Trail in honor of his life and work is common sense. He made tangible, necessary and valuable change for our communities with our residents’ best interest always at the forefront, and nothing deserves recognition more than that.”

This proposal would honor Bennett’s memory in Vermilion County by designating the bridge on the trail as the “Senator Scott Bennett Memorial Bridge.” The measure would also allow the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to put up plaques in recognition of the designation, pending the agency’s funding availability.

In his time as state senator of the 52nd District, Bennett served communities in East Central Illinois from 2015 until his death in 2022. Senator Faraci said Bennett worked tirelessly to promote the environment, and that as a Central Illinois native, he was a longtime supporter of the Kickapoo Rail Trail and fought for funding to expand regional connectivity through the trail.

* Sen. Laura Ellman…

According to Saint Augustine’s University, investing in water infrastructure delivers compelling returns: every $1 spent on water and sanitation generates $4 in benefits, with improved health, education and labor productivity. With this in mind, State Senator Laura Ellman advanced a new measure through the Senate to make water infrastructure projects more efficient and cost-effective across Illinois.

“This bill puts Illinois’ water infrastructure on a path toward 21st-century excellence,” said Ellman (D-Naperville). “It’s about giving our local governments the flexibility they need to plan, build, and deliver clean water more effectively.”

Under Senate Bill 3381, water commissions, such as the DuPage Water Commission, would be able to utilize design-build contracts, in which design and construction professionals collaborate under a single contract to streamline project delivery.

Additionally, they may utilize construction-manager-at-risk contracts, which allow a dedicated construction manager to oversee project design and execution from start to finish while providing cost guarantees.

The measure also would remove outdated compensation restrictions affecting water commissioners who serve on multiple local boards, ensuring fair treatment across all water commissions statewide. […]

Senate Bill 3381 passed the Senate on Thursday.

* WCIA…

State Rep. Barbra Hernandez (D-Aurora) bill would give couples more power in deciding who keeps their furry companions.

HB 4540 would give the court system authority to assign sole or joint ownership of a pet, particularly in cases such as divorce.

Judges will consider the well-being of pets when determining custody in certain legal disputes.

Other states have passed similar laws in the past including New York and California.

* More…

* Capitol News Illinois | 150,000 Illinois households may lose federal food assistance beginning May 1: “Not feeding people is a choice,” Guzmán said at the rally. “This is not about waste. This is not about fraud, and this is not about responsibility. This is about cruelty. This is about power.” Guzmán is a sponsor on Senate Bills 3277, 3276 and 3167, the three bills that Save our SNAP is championing. The House versions have all missed the committee deadline, although that doesn’t mean they won’t come back later. The Senate bills are still being considered in committee. The measures call for funding but don’t provide funding sources, meaning lawmakers would have to separately allocate money in the budget process.

* Press release | Belt’s measure to ban AI for teacher evaluations passes Senate: Senate Bill 2909 would prevent school administrators from using AI to write teacher evaluations. A teacher evaluation is a formal process used to measure an educator’s effectiveness, instructional skills and classroom performance. The use of AI while writing these evaluations brings up many transparency and privacy concerns for teachers. The measure recognizes that AI might become an integral part of the teacher evaluation process one day, but the technology is not there yet. The measure would not stop evaluators from using AI for administrative tasks. If the evaluator chooses to use AI assisted tools, they must name and specify the purpose of the tool used in the evaluation and share that information with the teacher being evaluated.

* WAND | Home for Good: IL House passes bill expanding housing, support services for people returning from prison: State representatives passed a bill Friday to create safer and stronger communities by improving housing and support services for people returning home from prison. Roughly 15,000 people leave Illinois prisons annually, but the vast majority of those Illinoisans are unable to find stable housing. Sponsors said that is due to inequities in the housing market and gaps in human services. […] House Bill 624 passed out of the House on a 63-34 vote. It now heads to the Senate for further consideration.

* Center Square | Reentry housing bill draws support from advocates; debate centers on cost, public safety: Critics argue public housing assistance should have stricter eligibility rules based on criminal history, especially for violent offenses, to balance rehabilitation with public safety. Vollen-Katz disagreed, saying conviction history alone doesn’t reliably predict future behavior and that many people do not reoffend due to rehabilitation and aging out of crime. “Too often we exclude people based on their history without looking at who they are now,” she said, emphasizing the role of reentry programming and skill development in reducing risk after release.

* Press release | Rep. Morgan Passes Bill in House Establishing New Illinois Department of Disability Advocacy and Guardianship: In a landmark step to strengthen protections for Illinoisans with disabilities, chief bill sponsor State Representative Bob Morgan passed House Bill 862 in the Illinois House of Representatives. Pending Senate passage, this bill establishes the Illinois Department of Disability Advocacy and Guardianship (DAG), transforming the existing Guardianship and Advocacy Commission from a quasi-independent body into a Cabinet-level state agency. HB 862 creates a new department which will be led by a Governor-appointed Director and confirmed by the Senate, bringing greater transparency and accountability to agency leadership. The legislation also creates an 11-member Advisory Council (also appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate) to provide guidance on guardianship services, legal representation, and disability rights.

* Press release | Mason Passes Bill Protecting Against Stormwater Pollution: House Bill 4418 expands the Environmental Protection Act to require the development of a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan. This plan directly targets small lentil-sized plastic pellets, also known as nurdles, that are often found in the plastic product manufacturing process. These small bits of plastic are melted and molded into everyday products, but have often found their way outside of the production process. Because of their small size, these pellets are regularly spilled during transport to manufacturing facilities, easily swept into drains or are thrown away when they fall on the manufacturing floor and become contaminated. When not properly disposed of, these pellets can pollute stormwater, which typically runs into larger bodies of water, causing an environmental threat to marine life and human health.