April 28, 2023 State Capitol Report

Thank you to the more than 700 Illinois REALTOR® members who traveled to Springfield and made our 2023 Capitol Conference a resounding success. We have heard from several legislators commending our members for the strong showing in numbers, but more importantly the impression you made with your engagement, professionalism and conduct. We are very proud of our REALTOR® family and you showed exactly why!

A Special Thank You

On behalf of REALTOR® members and staff, a big thank you goes to all our State Legislative Contacts (SLC). Illinois REALTOR® SLCs went above and beyond this year in representing their REALTOR® colleagues, local and state associations and the real estate industry. Thank you again for your dedication and all the hard work that went into preparing for this vital event and carrying out such an impactful role. You did a great job and deserve to be congratulated. We could have not done this without you!

Legislative Action This Week

Click the bill number to view additional information

The House and Senate were both in Springfield this week. Today, April 28, was the deadline for bills to make it out of committee in order to be considered on the floor. This week, both chambers focused on bills in committee that have either passed in the House or in the Senate prior to Spring Break. Only three weeks remain before the scheduled adjournment date of May 19 and budget discussions are expected to dominate a lot of the focus moving forward. Your Illinois REALTORS® Legislative Team remains involved in negotiations and discussions on several pieces of legislation. Below is a highlight of the bills we continue to follow closely:

This bill creates the Tenant Radon Protection Act to allow tenants to test for radon and break the lease if radon is found in their rental until. We OPPOSE this legislation as written, but have had productive conversation with the Senate sponsors and have offered language to amend the bill and remove our opposition. Currently the bill is on 3rd Reading in the Senate.

This bill mandates municipalities to provide information regarding service lines containing lead. As HB2776 was introduced it would have amended the Residential Real Property Disclosure Act and requires the seller to disclose on the real estate disclosure form any discovered concentration of or unsafe conditions relating to lead paint, lead water pipes, lead plumbing pipes or lead in the soil on the premises (rather than unsafe concentrations of or unsafe conditions relating to lead paint, lead water pipes, lead plumbing pipes or lead in the soil on the premises). The Illinois REALTORS® Legislative team worked with the sponsor to amend the bill to remove all language regarding the real estate disclosure form. House Amendment 1 was adopted at the suggestion of ILLINOIS REALTORS® to contain no language pertaining to the disclosure form. With the amendment, the Illinois REALTORS® moved from OPPOSE to NEUTRAL. The bill passed the Senate Environment and Conservation Committee Thursday and will be favorably reported to the floor.

This bill prohibits landlords from requiring tenants to use electronic payments for rent. Illinois REALTORS® is monitoring this legislation that is on 3rd Reading in the Senate.

This bill codifies the Governor’s Executive Order establishing a Homelessness Task Force with members being selected by the Governor and legislative leaders. Illinois REALTORS® SUPPORTS this legislation that has moved to 3rd Reading in the Senate.

This bill allows a landlord to accept reusable tenant screening reports that include applicant name, contact information, employment verification, last address and eviction record. Illinois REALTORS® is monitoring this legislation that has moved to 3rd Reading in the Senate.

This bill creates an advisory committee to determine which homes contain windows or doors that cause offensive odors and are eligible for replacement pursuant to the Residential Sound Insulation Program created for municipalities to mitigate aircraft noise. Illinois REALTORS® Legislative Team have met with the sponsor and are currently monitoring the bill. HB 3722 passed the Senate Local Government Committee Thursday and will be favorably reported to the floor.

This bill creates the Electric Vehicle Charging Act. As originally proposed, this legislation would have mandated developers to provide all residential single family and multi-family dwelling parking spaces with a fully wired, very specific circuit electric vehicle charging receptacle for possible future use, which would have increased housing costs significantly at a time when housing costs are at an all-time high and supply is extraordinarily low. As introduced, Illinois REALTORS® strongly opposed this legislation but after four years of negotiations, the proponents accepted our amendment making it clear: 1) that developers will not be required to install wire from an electrical panel through the conduit and 2) requiring a developer converting property from rental building to a condominium association to make EV ready or EV capable if it necessitates excavation in order to retro-fit the parking lot. With our amendment, SB 40 bill is not on 3rd reading in the House.

This bill housing authorities to collect data on their rental vacancies and waiting lists and to report this information to the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority to include in their report to the Illinois General Assembly annually. Defines “federally assisted housing” to mean any housing units or subsidized housing programs funded in whole or in part by the federal government including all properties owned or finance by a housing authority, or a subsidiary or partnership in which the housing authority is a member. SB 1367 passed the House Housing Committee on was placed on 2nd reading and will now be considered on the House Floor.

This bill removes language that requires a lessor of residential real property who is restricted from withholding any part of a security deposit from a lessee without furnishing an itemized statement to the lessee to be a lessor of a residential real property containing five or more units. The Illinois REALTORS® Legislative Team is monitoring this legislation that has passed the House Housing Committee and placed on 2nd reading and will now be considered on the House Floor.

This bill provides that nothing shall prohibit a financial institution from considering immigration status in a real estate transaction in compliance with State or federal law. Illinois REALTORS® is monitoring this legislation that passed to the House Immigration & Human Rights Committee and has been placed on 2nd reading and will now be considered on the House Floor.

This bill makes changes to the Auction License Act, Home Inspector Act, Leasing agents, and Real Estate Appraiser Licensing Act regarding continuing education. Illinois REALTORS® SUPPORTS this clean-up legislation. The bill passed the House Executive Committee and has been placed on 2nd reading and will now be considered on the House Floor.

With Amendment 1, this bill provides that the interest and penalties will be waived by the county collector if the property owner does not receive a property tax bill because the bill was mailed to an incorrect address by no fault of the property owner. The bill did not move out of the House Revenue and Finance Committee and has been re-referred to the Rules Committee.

In provisions concerning the Historic Residence Assessment Freeze Law, the bill provides that the fair cash value of the property shall be based on the final determination by the assessment officer, board of review, PTAB, or court. After the expiration of the 8-year valuation period, the current fair cash value is less than the adjusted base year valuation, the assessment shall be based on the current fair cash value. The bill passed the House Revenue and Finance Committee Thursday and has been placed on 2nd reading and will now be considered on the House Floor.

This bill seeks to institute a statewide building code. ILLINOIS REALTORS® is NEUTRAL on this Senate Bill. The bill passed out of the House Executive Committee and has not been placed on 2nd reading and will now be considered on the House Floor.

Next Week: At-A-Glance

Next week, the House and Senate will be in session. The Senate will consider the passage of House bills in their chamber and the House will consider the passage of Senate bills in their chamber. It will be another busy week in Springfield. Your Illinois REALTORS® Governmental Affairs Team will continue to work with the sponsors of the Tenant Protection Act and other proposed legislation possibly affecting the real estate industry.

Thank you for reading the April 28, 2023 State Capitol Report. Click here to read previous reports.