* Politico…

Gov. JB Pritzker is set to sign a pair of bills aimed at helping law enforcement agencies fill vacancies and stiffening consequences for some of the most serious violations of Illinois’ Move Over Law.

One measure, sponsored by state Sen. Bill Cunningham and state Rep. Mary Gill, loosens age restrictions for certain sheriff’s department hires in an effort to address staffing shortages. Beginning in 2027, individuals as young as 20 will be able to serve as county police officers if they have completed two years of approved law enforcement studies. The age at which correctional officers and full-time deputy sheriffs not employed as county police officers can be appointed would be lowered from 21 to 18 under the measure.

The second bill, sponsored by state Sen. Julie Morrison and state Rep. Jay Hoffman, expands penalties tied to Illinois’ Scott’s Law, which requires drivers to slow down and move over for emergency vehicles. Under the new law, drivers convicted of causing injury or death while violating the law will face license revocation rather than suspension, making it more difficult to regain driving privileges.

It’s all part of an effort by the Pritzker administration to support law enforcement recruitment while strengthening safety measures on Illinois roadways.

* WAND…

A plan on Gov. JB Pritzker’s desk could help schools alert first responders about emergencies faster.

The bill requires public and private schools to consider using a mobile panic alert system for emergency and crisis response. Sponsors said the Illinois State Police will work with the State Board of Education and Illinois Emergency Management Agency to develop rules for the panic alert system.

“This law is named for Alyssa Alhadeff, a young student who was killed in a school shooting,” said Rep. Nabeela Syed (D-Palatine). “Her parents asked a basic question afterward: ‘Why wasn’t there a faster way to alert first responders?’ States across the country responded with Alyssa’s law, and today, Illinois joins the movement.”

House Bill 5107 received unanimous support in both chambers.

* National Federation of Independent Business…

The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), the state’s leading small business association, applauds the Illinois General Assembly’s passage of legislation expanding career and technical training opportunities for Illinois students.

“There is a skills gap in Illinois’ workforce,” said NFIB Illinois State Director Noah Finley. “SB 3070 addresses this challenge head-on, creating pathways for students to pursue career and vocational training. It’s a win for students, a win for small-business employers, and a win for the state.”

SB 3070, sponsored by Senator Willie Preston (District 16) and Representative Will Davis (District 30), grants high school students the option to meet graduation requirements by taking career and technical courses instead of foreign language classes.

Small-business owners are struggling to find skilled workers in today’s economy. In NFIB’s April Jobs Report survey, 29% of small-business owners reported openings for skilled workers.

Small business owners in Illinois overwhelmingly support career and technical training. In a recent NFIB member ballot, 96% of NFIB small-business owners in Illinois supported this proposal.

The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) is the largest small-business advocacy organization in Illinois and the nation, representing more than 10,000 small-business owners in Illinois alone. NFIB member businesses are independently owned and reflect the diversity of Illinois’ small-business community, including small businesses in retail, construction, transportation, hospitality, professional services, manufacturing, and agriculture.

* WAND…

Legislation on Gov. JB Pritzker’s desk could help local governments lower their default speed limit to improve safety.

The bill would let communities adopt lower speed limits through resolutions or ordinances.

The statutory speed limit in Illinois is 30 miles per hour in urban districts, but many drivers speed into or through cities. IDOT wants to let local governments lower the limit without conducting costly speed studies. […]

The proposal could also let communities lower speed limits in residential areas to 20 miles per hour and 10 miles per hour for alleys.

House Bill 5081 passed out of the Senate on a 51-5 vote. It received a 116-1 vote in the House.

* Press release…

A measure—sponsored by state Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz, D-Glenview, and state Sen.Willie Preston, D-Chicago—that would help parents better protect children online passed both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly and awaits Gov. JB Pritzker’s signature.

Gong-Gershowitz’s House Bill 5511 would create the Children’s Online Social Media Safety Act, a landmark bill that would enable parents to more effectively control the types of content their children can consume online, standardizing and improving on many existing private-market parental controls.

The bill would have device-makers supply a settings panel where parents could input their child’s age while setting up a new device. When new software is installed or a new website is visited, a number of settings will trigger by default, unless a parent authorizes otherwise. These settings include:

- Prohibitions against social media companies using addictive algorithms and limiting social media notifications to daytime hours.
- Requiring apps to obtain parental consent for in-app purchases or any transaction between children and third-party users.
- Requiring companies to apply default privacy settings based on a user’s age to protect the user’s location data and profile information.

Parents would be able to tailor these restrictions to meet their child’s needs and better monitor their online activity.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is calling on the governor to veto HB5511…

The Illinois legislature recently passed House Bill 5511, which imposes a sweeping, device-level age-gating framework across nearly all internet-enabled hardware, operating systems, and online services. This well-intentioned but deeply flawed piece of legislation will harm young people who rely on the internet to access essential information and find community. That’s why we’re urging the Illinois governor to veto the measure.

Under this new regime, digital platforms are forced to collect and share users’ ages to platforms and websites. It also strips away basic, everyday features like personalized content feeds and overnight notifications for young people unless they can secure “verifiable parental consent.”

Much of H.B. 5511 is modeled after controversial legislation passed in California (A.B. 1043) and New York’s Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation (SAFE) for Kids Act, both of which have already drawn immense blowback from open-source communities, privacy advocates, and tech stakeholders. For Illinois to copy this suspect age-bracketing regime before either law has even gone into effect, been tested in court, or proven functional is premature, economically risky, and legally wasteful.

For a deeper look at the constitutional, policy, and technological concerns with H.B. 5511, you can read our full letter here.