Lake County Gazette

Passed bill authored by State Sen. Julie A. Morrison aims to enhance student safety by requiring 3-point seat belts on newly purchased or leased school buses, aligning with federal standards, following approval in both chambers, according to the Illinois General Assembly.

In the House, 73 Democrats and 10 Republicans voted in favor of the bill, while 27 Republicans opposed it.

Meanwhile, in the Senate, 37 Democrats and two Republicans voted in favor of the bill, while 13 Republicans voted against it.

Morrison introduced the bill in the Illinois Senate on Jan. 22, 2025 during the 104th session.

The legislation, known as SB0191, was passed on May 21, 2025 during the general assembly session 104.

According to the Illinois General Assembly site, the legislature summarized the bill's official text as follows: "Amends the Illinois Vehicle Code. Requires, beginning January 1, 2027, each designated seating position in any newly purchased or leased school bus to be equipped with a combination pelvic and upper torso seat safety belt system in good operating condition and meeting all applicable federal standards. Provides that the provisions do not apply to a school bus that is legally registered in another state and displaying valid registration plates of that state if the bus is not operated in Illinois on a regular basis and the bus is operated in Illinois in connection with a cultural, tourist, athletic, or other similar activity for students enrolled in a school located outside of Illinois. Effective immediately."

The following is our breakdown, based on the actual bill text, and may include interpretation to clarify its provisions.

In essence, this bill amends the Illinois Vehicle Code to require that, beginning Jan. 1, 2027, all newly purchased or leased school buses must be equipped with a 3-point seat safety belt system for each designated seating position, ensuring compliance with federal standards. The requirement is exempt for school buses registered and displaying valid registration plates in another state if they are not operated regularly in Illinois and are used for cultural, tourist, athletic, or similar activities involving students from schools outside Illinois. The bill defines "school bus" to include school activity buses, multi-function school activity buses, and school-chartered buses. The Act takes effect immediately.

The bill was sponsored by Rep. Bob Morgan (Democrat-58th District), Rep. Jeff Keicher (Republican-70th District), and Sen. Laura M. Murphy (Democrat-28th District), along with one other sponsor.

Bills in Illinois follow a multi-step legislative process, beginning with introduction in either the House or Senate, followed by committee review, floor debates, and votes in both chambers before reaching the governor for approval or veto. The General Assembly operates on a biennial schedule, and while typically thousands of bills are introduced each session, only a fraction successfully pass through the process to become law.

You can read more about bills and other measures here.

Morrison graduated from Knox College in 1978 with a BA.

Morrison, a Democrat, was elected to the Illinois State Senate in 2013 to represent the state's 29th Senate District, replacing previous state senator Susan Garrett.

Lawmakers listed as "Not Voting" were present for the vote but did not cast a vote. Those marked as having an "Excused Absence" were not present and formally provided a reason for their absence, which was accepted.

Legislator	Party	District	Vote
Aarón M. Ortíz	Democrat	1st District	Yea
Abdelnasser Rashid	Democrat	21st District	Yea
Adam M. Niemerg	Republican	102nd District	Yea
Amy Briel	Democrat	76th District	Yea
Amy Elik	Republican	111th District	Yea
Amy L. Grant	Republican	47th District	Yea
Angelica Guerrero-Cuellar	Democrat	22nd District	Yea
Ann M. Williams	Democrat	11th District	Yea
Anna Moeller	Democrat	43rd District	Yea
Anne Stava	Democrat	81st District	Yea
Anthony DeLuca	Democrat	80th District	Yea
Barbara Hernandez	Democrat	50th District	Yea
Blaine Wilhour	Republican	110th District	Yea
Bob Morgan	Democrat	58th District	Yea
Brad Halbrook	Republican	107th District	Nay
Brad Stephens	Republican	20th District	Absent, excused
Bradley Fritts	Republican	74th District	Nay
Brandun Schweizer	Republican	104th District	Yea
Camille Y. Lilly	Democrat	78th District	Yea
Carol Ammons	Democrat	103rd District	Absent, excused
Charles Meier	Republican	109th District	Nay
Chris Miller	Republican	101st District	Nay
Christopher "C.D." Davidsmeyer	Republican	100th District	Nay
Curtis J. Tarver, II	Democrat	25th District	Yea
Dagmara Avelar	Democrat	85th District	Yea
Dan Swanson	Republican	71st District	Nay
Dan Ugaste	Republican	65th District	Nay
Daniel Didech	Democrat	59th District	Yea
Dave Severin	Republican	116th District	Nay
Dave Vella	Democrat	68th District	Yea
David Friess	Republican	115th District	Absent, excused
Debbie Meyers-Martin	Democrat	38th District	Yea
Dennis Tipsword	Republican	105th District	Nay
Diane Blair-Sherlock	Democrat	46th District	Yea
Edgar González, Jr.	Democrat	23rd District	Yea
Elizabeth "Lisa" Hernandez	Democrat	2nd District	Yea
Eva-Dina Delgado	Democrat	3rd District	Yea
Fred Crespo	Democrat	44th District	Yea
Gregg Johnson	Democrat	72nd District	Yea
Harry Benton	Democrat	97th District	Yea
Hoan Huynh	Democrat	13th District	Yea
Jackie Haas	Republican	79th District	Yea
Jaime M. Andrade, Jr.	Democrat	40th District	Yea
Janet Yang Rohr	Democrat	41st District	Yea
Jason R. Bunting	Republican	106th District	Nay
Jawaharial Williams	Democrat	10th District	Yea
Jay Hoffman	Democrat	113th District	Yea
Jed Davis	Republican	75th District	Yea
Jeff Keicher	Republican	70th District	Yea
Jehan Gordon-Booth	Democrat	92nd District	Yea
Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz	Democrat	17th District	Yea
Jennifer Sanalitro	Republican	48th District	Nay
Joe C. Sosnowski	Republican	69th District	Nay
John M. Cabello	Republican	90th District	Nay
Joyce Mason	Democrat	61st District	Yea
Justin Slaughter	Democrat	27th District	Yea
Kam Buckner	Democrat	26th District	Yea
Katie Stuart	Democrat	112th District	Yea
Kelly M. Cassidy	Democrat	14th District	Yea
Kevin John Olickal	Democrat	16th District	Yea
Kevin Schmidt	Republican	114th District	Nay
Kimberly Du Buclet	Democrat	5th District	Yea
Kyle Moore	Republican	99th District	Nay
La Shawn K. Ford	Democrat	8th District	Yea
Laura Faver Dias	Democrat	62nd District	Yea
Lawrence "Larry" Walsh, Jr.	Democrat	86th District	Yea
Lilian Jiménez	Democrat	4th District	Yea
Lindsey LaPointe	Democrat	19th District	Yea
Lisa Davis	Democrat	32nd District	Absent, excused
Marcus C. Evans, Jr.	Democrat	33rd District	Yea
Margaret Croke	Democrat	12th District	Yea
Martha Deuter	Democrat	45th District	Yea
Martin J. Moylan	Democrat	55th District	Yea
Martin McLaughlin	Republican	52nd District	Nay
Mary Beth Canty	Democrat	54th District	Yea
Mary Gill	Democrat	35th District	Yea
Matt Hanson	Democrat	83rd District	Yea
Maura Hirschauer	Democrat	49th District	Absent, excused
Maurice A. West, II	Democrat	67th District	Yea
Michael Crawford	Democrat	31st District	Yea
Michael J. Coffey, Jr.	Republican	95th District	Nay
Michael J. Kelly	Democrat	15th District	Yea
Michelle Mussman	Democrat	56th District	Yea
Mr. Speaker	Democrat	7th District	Yea
Nabeela Syed	Democrat	51st District	Absent, excused
Natalie A. Manley	Democrat	98th District	Yea
Nicholas K. Smith	Democrat	34th District	Yea
Nicole La Ha	Republican	82nd District	Yea
Nicolle Grasse	Democrat	53rd District	Yea
Norine K. Hammond	Republican	94th District	Nay
Norma Hernandez	Democrat	77th District	Yea
Patrick Sheehan	Republican	37th District	Nay
Patrick Windhorst	Republican	117th District	Nay
Paul Jacobs	Republican	118th District	Nay
Regan Deering	Republican	88th District	Nay
Rick Ryan	Democrat	36th District	Yea
Rita Mayfield	Democrat	60th District	Yea
Robert "Bob" Rita	Democrat	28th District	Yea
Robyn Gabel	Democrat	18th District	Yea
Ryan Spain	Republican	73rd District	Absent, excused
Sharon Chung	Democrat	91st District	Yea
Sonya M. Harper	Democrat	6th District	Yea
Stephanie A. Kifowit	Democrat	84th District	Yea
Steven Reick	Republican	63rd District	Nay
Sue Scherer	Democrat	96th District	Absent, excused
Suzanne M. Ness	Democrat	66th District	Yea
Terra Costa Howard	Democrat	42nd District	Yea
Thaddeus Jones	Democrat	29th District	Yea
Theresa Mah	Democrat	24th District	Yea
Tom Weber	Republican	64th District	Nay
Tony M. McCombie	Republican	89th District	Nay
Tracy Katz Muhl	Democrat	57th District	Yea
Travis Weaver	Republican	93rd District	Yea
Wayne A. Rosenthal	Republican	108th District	Nay
Will Guzzardi	Democrat	39th District	Yea
William "Will" Davis	Democrat	30th District	Yea
William E Hauter	Republican	87th District	Nay
Yolonda Morris	Democrat	9th District	Yea

Legislator	Party	District	Vote
Adriane Johnson	Democrat	30th District	Yea
Andrew S. Chesney	Republican	45th District	Yea
Bill Cunningham	Democrat	18th District	Yea
Celina Villanueva	Democrat	12th District	Yea
Chapin Rose	Republican	51st District	Nay
Chris Balkema	Republican	53rd District	Not vote
Christopher Belt	Democrat	57th District	Yea
Craig Wilcox	Republican	32nd District	Nay
Cristina Castro	Democrat	22nd District	Yea
Dale Fowler	Republican	59th District	Nay
Darby A. Hills	Republican	26th District	Not vote
Dave Syverson	Republican	35th District	Nay
David Koehler	Democrat	46th District	Yea
Donald P. DeWitte	Republican	33rd District	Nay
Doris Turner	Democrat	48th District	Yea
Elgie R. Sims, Jr.	Democrat	17th District	Yea
Emil Jones, III	Democrat	14th District	Yea
Erica Harriss	Republican	56th District	Nay
Graciela Guzmán	Democrat	20th District	Yea
Jason Plummer	Republican	55th District	Nay
Javier L. Cervantes	Democrat	1st District	Yea
Jil Tracy	Republican	50th District	Nay
John F. Curran	Republican	41st District	Not vote
Julie A. Morrison	Democrat	29th District	Yea
Karina Villa	Democrat	25th District	Yea
Kimberly A. Lightford	Democrat	4th District	Yea
Lakesia Collins	Democrat	5th District	Yea
Laura Ellman	Democrat	21st District	Yea
Laura Fine	Democrat	9th District	Yea
Laura M. Murphy	Democrat	28th District	Yea
Li Arellano, Jr.	Republican	37th District	Nay
Linda Holmes	Democrat	42nd District	Yea
Mark L. Walker	Democrat	27th District	Yea
Mary Edly-Allen	Democrat	31st District	Yea
Mattie Hunter	Democrat	3rd District	Not vote
Meg Loughran Cappel	Democrat	49th District	Not vote
Michael E. Hastings	Democrat	19th District	Yea
Michael W. Halpin	Democrat	36th District	Yea
Mike Porfirio	Democrat	11th District	Yea
Mike Simmons	Democrat	7th District	Yea
Mr. President	Democrat	39th District	Yea
Napoleon Harris, III	Democrat	15th District	Yea
Neil Anderson	Republican	47th District	Nay
Omar Aquino	Democrat	2nd District	Not vote
Patrick J. Joyce	Democrat	40th District	Yea
Paul Faraci	Democrat	52nd District	Yea
Rachel Ventura	Democrat	43rd District	Yea
Ram Villivalam	Democrat	8th District	Yea
Robert F. Martwick	Democrat	10th District	Yea
Robert Peters	Democrat	13th District	Yea
Sally J. Turner	Republican	44th District	Nay
Sara Feigenholtz	Democrat	6th District	Yea
Seth Lewis	Republican	24th District	Nay
Steve McClure	Republican	54th District	Not vote
Steve Stadelman	Democrat	34th District	Yea
Sue Rezin	Republican	38th District	Yea
Suzy Glowiak Hilton	Democrat	23rd District	Yea
Terri Bryant	Republican	58th District	Nay
Willie Preston	Democrat	16th District	Yea