First Reading

              September 2008
ILLINOIS GENERAL ASSEMBLY LEGISLATIVE RESEARCH UNIT
Representative
Sara Feigenholtz
Legislative Research Unit
Co-chairs
Volume 22, No. 1
Senator
Larry Bomke
Major Bills Passed by the Illinois General Assembly
This issue of First Reading summarizes selected bills as they passed both houses of the General Assembly, and reports on the Governor’s actions on them. A total of 298 bills passed both houses so far in 2008. This issue sum­marizes 169 bills of general interest, classified into 11 categories.
Major bills that passed both houses will restructure public transit funding in the greater Chicago area, with higher taxes on sales and on real estate transfers; prohibit politi­cal contributions by companies having, or bidding on, sig­nificant state contracts, or their owners; require hospitals to give discounts on request to patients with low or mod­erate incomes and no health insurance; provide more pro­tection to borrowers and tenants in mortgage foreclosures; prohibit more actions as sex crimes and make it easier to prosecute such crimes; offer more scholarships for future teachers; promote recycling of electronic devices; and of­fer more educational benefits to persons in the military, veterans, and their dependents.
Page 14 of this issue gives Public Act numbers for bills summarized here that became law, and information on the outcomes of vetoes. Information on all bills of the session is available at:
www.ilga.gov/
Appropriations & State Budget...................2 Local Government...................................18
Business & Economic Development...........4 Social Services........................................19
Civil Law.....................................................5 State Government & Pensions.................20
Criminal Law..............................................6 Transportation..........................................22
Education...................................................10 Bills with Governor’s Action..................14
Environment & Conservation...................12 Abstracts of reports required to be
Health & Safety.........................................13 filed with General Assembly...............23
Inside this Issue