The legislation was introduced in bill HB814 on Jan. 18, when Rep. Stephanie A. Kifowit (D-84) filed it with the House clerk.
According to the General Assembly website, the bill as introduced was designed to "amend the Open Meetings Act".
After debate, the House passed the bill and it arrived in the Senate on March 20, and both chambers agreed to the final version of the legislation on May 23. The bill was sent to the governor and signed into law on Aug. 9. The law is scheduled to go into effect on Jan. 1, 2020.
Illinois legislature enacts laws through bills that can be introduced in either the state House of Representatives or the state Senate. Either chamber of the legislature can reject or amend a bill before it becomes law. Legislators sometimes sponsor "shell bills" devoid of substantive provisions, introduced with the intention of being amended later to include actual legislation.
The following table shows the full history of actions on HB814.
| Date | Chamber | Action |
|---|---|---|
| 1/18/2019 | House | Filed with the Clerk by Rep. Stephanie A. Kifowit |
| 1/22/2019 | House | First Reading |
| 1/22/2019 | House | Referred to Rules Committee |
| 2/5/2019 | House | Assigned to Cities & Villages Committee |
| 2/13/2019 | House | Do Pass / Short Debate Cities & Villages Committee; 011-000-000 |
| 2/14/2019 | House | Placed on Calendar 2nd Reading - Short Debate |
| 2/20/2019 | House | Added Co-Sponsor Rep. Sam Yingling |
| 2/20/2019 | House | Added Co-Sponsor Rep. Kathleen Willis |
| 2/22/2019 | House | Added Co-Sponsor Rep. Martin J. Moylan |
| 2/26/2019 | House | Second Reading - Short Debate |
| 2/26/2019 | House | Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading - Short Debate |
| 3/20/2019 | House | Third Reading - Short Debate - Passed 113-000-000 |
| 3/20/2019 | Senate | Arrive in Senate |
| 3/20/2019 | Senate | First Reading |
| 3/20/2019 | Senate | Placed on Calendar Order of First Reading |
| 3/20/2019 | Senate | Referred to Assignments |
| 3/20/2019 | Senate | Chief Senate Sponsor Sen. Linda Holmes |
| 4/24/2019 | Senate | Assigned to Local Government |
| 5/1/2019 | Senate | Do Pass Local Government; 007-000-000 |
| 5/1/2019 | Senate | Placed on Calendar Order of 2nd Reading May 2, 2019 |
| 5/9/2019 | Senate | Second Reading |
| 5/9/2019 | Senate | Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading May 14, 2019 |
| 5/23/2019 | House | Passed Both Houses |
| 5/23/2019 | Senate | Third Reading - Passed; 057-000-000 |
| 6/21/2019 | House | Sent to the Governor |
| 8/9/2019 | House | Public Act . . . . . . . . . 101-0233 |
| 8/9/2019 | House | Effective Date January 1, 2020 |
| 8/9/2019 | House | Governor Approved |
Alerts Sign-up