Lake County Gazette

Several of the nearly 300 new state laws taking effect Jan. 1 are aimed at service members, veterans and their families, including Senate Bill 505, which will allow a state flag to be presented to the next of kin of a deceased Illinois National Guard member.

Sen. Craig Wilcox (R-McHenry) detailed the new law, set to take effect alongside several new bills in the new year, in a Facebook post Dec. 26

“As a small gesture of appreciation to our servicemen and women, upon their death, their next of kin will be presented with a State of Illinois flag,” Wilcox wrote in his Facebook post 

New legislation also includes laws raising the minimum wage to $12 per hour, allowing students to take up to five excused absences for mental health days, prohibiting discrimination against natural and ethnic hairstyles, and requiring public universities to make the submission of SAT and ACT scores optional for admissions decisions, among many others. 

According to the state website, 16 new pieces of legislation passed during the 2021 spring legislative session relate to veterans and the military. These include an expansion of the state definition of honorable discharge to include veterans who were discharged due to sexuality or gender identity, and the designation of Veterans Gardening Day. 

Another new law related to the military is House Bill 20, which will offer free Gold Star license plates to widows, widowers or parents of a deceased member of the Armed Forces if the member had died while in wartime service. These speciality plates previously had a $151 registration fee, NBC Chicago reports.