July 6–12, 2026
Eight state bills became law this week, touching lead pipes under your street, how your kid's teacher gets evaluated, and what minors can access at the pharmacy.
Under your street and in your building. The biggest local win this week is SB4025, now a public act. It speeds up replacement of lead service lines across the state, and it has teeth for Chicago specifically: property owners of rental buildings, daycares, and multi-unit buildings in cities over one million people must let the water utility onto their property to replace the lead pipe on the private side, at no cost to the owner. Chicago's water system has been working through thousands of replacements a year, and large utilities hitting state benchmarks can now skip slower partial-replacement rules to finish the job faster. This one is now law.
In Chicago schools. SB2909 is also now a public act: school administrators cannot use AI software to assign scores or ratings on any part of a teacher's evaluation. A person has to make that call. Software can still handle scheduling and paperwork, just not the judgment calls that affect a teacher's job and pay. If you have kids in Chicago Public Schools, this shapes how their teachers are assessed starting now.
At the pharmacy and the clinic. SB3341, now a public act, lets any Illinois minor independently get contraceptives from a provider without a parent's permission. Clinics no longer have to navigate legal uncertainty about who needs to sign off.
A few other state bills signed this week. SB248 makes it easier for people convicted of felonies committed before age 21 to challenge sentences they believe were disproportionate, without having to prove why they waited to file. SB118 requires casinos and sports betting sites to post help resources for gambling problems on-site, and creates a grant program for local treatment and prevention organizations. SB3967 requires Illinois to publicly report each year how many nursing home inspectors are authorized, how many positions are actually filled, and what vacancies look like, giving families concrete data when choosing a facility. Two other bills this week, SB3113 on credit union digital asset services and SB2968 on a state nonprofit investment pool, affect financial institutions more than individual residents directly.
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Coming up next week:
Millionaire tax on the November ballot. The Cook County Board votes Thursday, July 16 on whether to put a question to residents: should Illinois add a 3% income tax surcharge on income over one million dollars, with half the money going to residential and commercial property tax relief and half to public schools? A yes vote from the Board places that question on your November 2026 ballot. This is the single biggest policy question in front of the Board this cycle. If you want your council member's office to hear from you before Thursday's vote, now is the time.
Cook County Land Bank borrowing extension. Also on the Board's Thursday, July 16 agenda: extending the Land Bank's ability to borrow up to $3 million through July 2028 to buy abandoned homes and vacant properties in lower-income neighborhoods. The Land Bank (a county agency that acquires and clears title on blighted properties so they can be sold and rebuilt) would lose that borrowing authority without this vote.
Federal airport security upgrade bill. HR 8770 cleared committee and heads to a House floor vote, with no firm date set yet. It directs $500 million yearly for baggage screening systems and $250 million for checkpoint technology, funded by the $5.60 security fee already on your airline ticket. O'Hare and Midway both stand to receive upgraded equipment under this formula.
Federal maternal health research. HR 6238 also cleared committee and awaits a House floor vote. It directs NIH (the National Institutes of Health) to fund research on reducing deaths and injuries during pregnancy and childbirth. Cook County Health runs one of the largest public hospital systems in the country and would implement any resulting care guidelines locally.
City budget adjustments and South Side property sales. The City Council has on its agenda a mid-year budget amendment (O2026-0026839) shifting money among departments including police, libraries, public health, and transportation, with no firm vote date confirmed. Separately, the Council is weighing selling three vacant city-owned buildings at 4242, 4244, and 4246 S. St. Lawrence Ave. to a private developer, and a vacant West Side lot at 4306 W. Kamerling Ave. to a construction company. Both property sales are headed to the full Council. Expanded liquor licensing on stretches of South Ashland Avenue and W. Lawrence Avenue are also on the Council's agenda.
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