May 5, 2023 State Capitol Report

Both the House and Senate were in session this week with both chambers having committee hearings to focus on final amendments to all bills before the scheduled May 19 adjournment date. Both chambers are currently considering bills that are in the passage stage of 3rd Reading and caused long debates and long hours on the floor this week. The House adjourned late Thursday afternoon while the Senate was on the floor until Friday afternoon. With the previously mentioned May 19 adjournment date rapidly approaching, legislative priorities will now shift to finalizing the budget discussions. Below is a highlight of the Bills of Interest that the Illinois REALTOR® Legislative Team were involved in this week.

Bills of Interest

Click the bill number to view additional information

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. In its current form, we OPPOSE this bill. An agreement has been made in the Senate to continue to work with the both the House and Senate sponsors to make acceptable changes before the end of session. The bill remains on 3rd Reading in the Senate.

This bill requires Illinois Commerce Commission to approve an eminent domain action relating to property belonging to a public utility that is subject to the jurisdiction of the Illinois Commerce Commission, provides that the requirement does not apply to property to be acquired by a municipality with 140,000 or more inhabitants or a regional water commission formed under specified provisions of the Illinois Municipal Code or a municipality that is a member of such a regional water commission, only in furtherance of purposes authorized under the specified provisions of the Illinois Municipal Code, and limited solely to interests in real property and not improvements to or assets on the real property belonging to a public utility that provides water or sewer service and that is subject to the jurisdiction of the Illinois Commerce Commission. Illinois REALTORS® SUPPORTS this legislation that was passed by both houses this week and will be heading to the Governor for his consideration.

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

This bill Provides that licensees may allow mortgage loan originators to work from a remote location if specified conditions are met. Provides that “full-service office” does not include a remote location. Defines “remote location”. Illinois REALTORS® is monitoring this bill that was moved to 3rd Reading in the Senate this week.

After the adoption of Amendment 1, the bill provides that a property owner may not be required to utilize specific technology, including, but not limited to solar shingles rather than traditional solar panels. HOAs may impose reasonable conditions so long as such conditions are not more onerous than the association’s analogous conditions for non-solar projects. The Illinois REALTORS® Legislative Team is monitoring this legislation that was amended and moved to 3rd Reading.

As amended, HB 2562 to provide that when a common interest community building, condo building, or residential rental building has a cooling/heating system serving the entire building, including individual units, the building owner is to comply with the specified standards. If no heating/cooling system in common areas exists, then owner to provide at least one indoor common gathering space allowing tenants/condo owners to utilize free of charge. This legislation only applies to buildings where occupants are 55 and older. Illinois REALTORS® is monitoring this legislation that was moved to 3rd Reading in the Senate.

This bill municipalities to make information regarding service lines containing lead. HB 2776 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, Illinois REALTORS® moved from OPPOSE to NEUTRAL on the bill which was moved this week to 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 was passed in the Senate with many new co-sponsors added to the bill.  The bill will now head to the Governor.

This bill provides that beginning July 1, 2024, the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) shall supplement all paper-based certificates and licenses (rather than certificates, licenses, and authorities) with a digitally verified electronic credential. The bill was 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® is monitoring this legislation that moved to 3rd Reading in the Senate this week.

This bill creates the Electric Vehicle Charging Act. Originally as 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, the 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 passed the House on Thursday, May 4 on a vote of 69-38-1. The bill will now be sent to the Governor for his consideration.

This bill requires 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. Illinois REALTORS® is monitoring this Senate Bill now on 3rd Reading in the House.

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 moved to 3rd Reading in the House.

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 moved to 3rd Reading in the House.

This bill 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 that moved to 3rd Reading in the House this week.

With Amendment 1, this bill provides that 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. Illinois REALTORS® is monitoring this legislation that was re-referred to the House Rules Committee and is unlikely to see further action this spring.

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. Illinois REALTORS® is monitoring this bill that was moved to 3rd Reading in the House.

This bill seeks to institute a statewide building code. ILLINOIS REALTORS® is NEUTRAL on this Senate bill that is on 3rd Reading in the House. 

Next Week: At-A-Glance

We have two weeks of scheduled session remaining. Next week the focus of the House and Senate will be on the bills that are on 3rd Reading (passage stage) and the budget discussion. Your Illinois REALTORS® Legislative Team remained heavily involved in several pieces of legislation that will be determined in the coming weeks. As always, STAY TUNED!

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