Where homeschool, cellphone and granny flat bills stand
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The Illinois Legislature has three more weeks in its current session to pass a budget and a slew of bills.
Why it matters: Many of these proposals could have big implications for Chicago, so we checked in to see where five major issues stand today.
Caveat: Nothing is truly dead until the end of session, as lawmakers can — and often do — find ways to pass previously stalled legislation.
Granny flats
House Bill 3553 would prevent municipalities from blocking the building of accessory dwelling units like coach houses and granny flats on a homeowner's own property. Local governments could make rules around location and size, but not stop them unilaterally.
Context: Chicago allows the building of coach houses in five areas, but a proposal to expand it citywide has been stuck in a City Council committee since last year due to concerns of overcrowding and stress on local services.
Status: Co-sponsor Rep. Kam Buckner's office tells Axios "the bill was sent back to Rules and is currently not moving."
Plastic bag and foam bans
Under Senate Bill 1872 and Senate Bill 1531, large stores would have to stop offering single-use plastic bags and most polystyrene food containers would be phased out over four to five years.
Context: The proposal, already adopted in California and New Jersey, aims to cut down on plastic pollution.
Yes, but: The bills arrive as President Trump says America is going back to plastic and some labor unions oppose the idea because they say it will cost jobs in the foam container sector, the Tribune reports.
Status: The foam container bill passed the Senate in late April. The plastic bag bill is awaiting a Senate vote.
School cellphone ban
Senate Bill 2427 would require school boards to adopt a policy by school year 2026–2027 that curbs cellphone use during school hours and creates a storage policy. Some exceptions are allowed.
Context: Some schools and entire districts, including Evanston, have already enacted bans and Gov. JB Pritzker pushed the effort in his State of the State address.
Status: The bill passed unanimously out of the Senate last month and is scheduled to be heard by a House education committee this morning.
Homeschooling notification
This proposal would require parents to notify the state if they choose to homeschool their children and for students to be immunized or obtain an exemption if they return to public schools.
Context: The bill's sponsor, Rep. Terra Costa Howard, said she introduced it to protect children after reading a ProPublica investigation about an abused homeschooled boy in Central Illinois, but opponents call it an "expensive unfunded mandate."
Status: The bill didn't pass out of committee before the deadline last month, but Howard told Capital News she's working on changes to get it passed.