May 20, 2024 – Lawmakers passed more than 200 bills last week ahead of their scheduled May 24 adjournment.
Many of the measures will soon head to Gov. JB Pritzker, including a bill that changes how damages accrue under Illinois’ first-in-the-nation biometric data privacy law.
The Illinois House last Thursday approved Senate Bill 2979 with several Republicans joining supermajority Democrats in its passage. The Senate last month also OK’d the measure on a bipartisan vote.
The measure is a response to an Illinois Supreme Court ruling last year that “respectfully suggest(ed)” lawmakers clarify the state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act.
The legislation would change BIPA’s violation accrual so that each initial collection of a fingerprint or other biometric data would amount to one violation, rather than a violation occurring for each individual scan. Employees might scan their fingerprints dozens of times per shift if they’re unlocking doors or cabinets with those scans.
Illinois is the only state that grants residents the right to sue over businesses’ improper collection and mishandling of biometric data – whether they are an employee or a customer. A business is in violation of BIPA if it doesn’t have a storage policy in place, doesn’t properly protect the data, or if it does not get consent from customers or employees for the data being collected.
Under SB 2979, businesses could get that consent via an electronic signature, which the bill defines as an “electronic sound, symbol, or process.”
Business groups have been clamoring for changes to BIPA in recent years as upwards of 2,000 lawsuits have been filed under the law since roughly 2018, resulting in a few high-profile settlements – including a $650 million class-action payout from Facebook in 2020. The social media giant paid more than 1 million Illinoisans roughly $400 each.
Some business groups are still opposed to SB 2979 because it wouldn’t be applied retroactively and doesn’t specifically shield data centers from liability for storing biometric information on behalf of companies who may have violated BIPA.
Juvenile human trafficking victim records
Legislation that would allow human trafficking victims to have their juvenile disciplinary records expunged has now passed both chambers of the General Assembly.
House Bill 5465 would make it easier for former human trafficking victims to have those records sealed or expunged for offenses they were involved in while they were being trafficked. The bill is an expansion of a law passed last year that allows adults to have their criminal records pertaining to being trafficked sealed or expunged.
The bill is part of a package of human trafficking-focused legislation House Republicans are pushing this year. House Bill 5467, which would remove the statute of limitations for a victim to press charges from being trafficked as a minor, is the only other bill to pass the House and is waiting to be assigned to a committee in the Senate.
Foster care regulations
The House passed two bills amending foster care policies.
House Bill 4781, known as the Kinship in Demand (KIND) Act, would allow the Department of Children and Family Services to use a “kin-first approach” to foster placement by considering placing children with relatives before other foster or guardian options.
The bill unanimously passed the House last Wednesday and is waiting to be assigned to a committee in the Senate.
Senate Bill 2824 passed the House unanimously last week after also clearing the Senate unanimously. The measure would allow foster children to attend school in their former district and not be charged with nonresident tuition if they were moved out of the district by DCFS as part of a safety plan.
Homeowner landscaping rights
House Bill 5296, dubbed the Homeowners’ Native Landscaping Act, would prohibit homeowners associations from restricting residents from planting native plants on their property.
Associations would still be able to mandate that properties be free from weeds, invasive species and trash. The homeowner would also need to keep the plants from growing onto common areas or neighboring properties.
It passed 42-17 and needs only a signature from the governor to become law.
Garbage truck littering
Garbage trucks that lose trash because they are not properly covered could soon be fined after a bill unanimously advanced out of both chambers.
House Bill 4848 would create a specific violation for law enforcement to cite when garbage or other debris falls from a truck and litters highways. Each infraction would result in a $150 ticket.
Sen. Donald DeWitte, R-St. Charles, said the legislation is an attempt to eliminate unsightly waste.
“You don’t have to drive very far to see the fences along the farm fields, the trees, all decorated with various pieces of plastic bags and garbage that might have flown off trucks,” DeWitte said.
By HANNAH MEISEL
COLE LONGCOR
& ALEX ABEDDUTO
Capitol News Illinois
news@capitolnewsillinois.com
