Will it Pass? New Laws Proposed in Illinois: Part 3

This is 1818’s third article profiling legislation that has been filed in the Illinois Legislature that interests us and hopefully you. As you review these initiatives, it is important to remember that most will not become law, and the few that do will likely be amended before being sent to the governor. In 2019, there were thousands of bills filed; however, only 599 were passed by the general assembly.

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New IDFPR professional license proposed: Athlete Agents

• HB 4540 would require that IDFPR regulate these agents, defined as: “an individual who enters into an agency contract with a student-athlete or, directly or indirectly, recruits or solicits a student-athlete to enter into an agency contract.”
• 1818 Note – Welch has spent a great deal of time on the issue of student-athletes. Will regulating the agents be a solution?

Local Governments that Opt-Out of Marijuana Dispensaries want neighboring governments to follow suit

• Under current law, local municipalities can opt-out of allowing marijuana sales while counties can allow sales in unincorporated territories bordering these towns. HB 4416 would extend the city’s opt-out to the “1.5-mile radius of contiguous unincorporated territory surrounding the corporate limits of a municipality that has prohibited the operation of adult-use cannabis dispensing organizations within the municipality,” and not allow county-permitted sales in these peripheries.
• 1818 Note – Illinois has allowed local governments to prohibit adult-use dispensaries. Individual local governments have voted to ban dispensaries; the question now becomes whether they can force their policy choices on bordering unincorporated territory.

Email addresses become more important for IDFPR Licensees including Credit Unions, Money Transmitters, Payday Lenders and others

• IDFPR is embracing the use of email to communicate with licensees and to serve formal notices to licensees. Current licensees should check that the email associated with their license is an email that is in use and checked regularly.  IF HB 4430 passes, IDFPR will be permitted to serve formal notices by email and rely even more on the disclosed email address to take disciplinary and other actions.
• 1818 Note – Email is quick and, so long as the addresses are correct, very individualized, unlike the Postal system. Licensees should take note today and review their contact information on file with IDFPR.

HB 4452 Would Make Multiple Changes to Real Estate License Act

• Many changes to the Real Estate License Act are proposed in HB 4452. One notable change regards “dual agents,” which, if passed, could not participate in a transaction with the IDFPR licensee or an entity in which the licensee has an interest, is a party to the transaction. 
• 1818 Note – There are numerous changes to the Real Estate License Act in this bill. If this bill moves, there will be much debate in the real estate community and likely amendments, so this something all realtors should follow.

IDFPR Seeks to Update continuing education requirements for Private Detective, Private Alarm, and Security Contractors and their employees.

• Many IDFPR professional licensing acts require continuing education. HB 4506 updates continuing education requirements and specifies which classes may be online or classroom-based.
• 1818 Note – Continuing education is undoubtedly a benefit to the licensee and the public. It is also, however, one of the two most common reasons. Licensees get in trouble with IDFPR. Paying taxes and failure to complete continuing education are two things IDFPR takes very seriously.

Pharmacist in Charge must decide whether an emergency exists

• Pharmacists may only work beyond 12 continuous hours in the case of an emergency. Under current law, what constitutes an emergency could be decided by the pharmacist at hand. HB 4475 would change the rules to require that decisions on whether conditions warrant additional hours to be made by the pharmacist in charge.
• 1818 Note – This bill looks to protect pharmacists and the public and is worth watching by the pharmacy community.

The information in this blog post is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended to be legal advice. You should not make a decision whether or not to contact an attorney based upon the information in this blog post. No attorney-client relationship is formed nor should any such relationship be implied. If you require legal advice, please consult with an attorney licensed to practice in your jurisdiction.