July 6–12, 2026
Illinois wrapped up a busy state week, with new laws on lead pipes, teacher evaluations, and minor health access, while DuPage County locked in legal help for highway and road projects.
On the water front. Illinois signed SB4025 into law this week, speeding up the replacement of lead service lines statewide. This one mostly affects Chicago-scale water systems (those replacing 4,000 or more lines per year), but the rule change means landlords of rental buildings and daycares anywhere in Illinois must now let the water utility onto their property to replace the lead pipe on their side, at no cost to the landlord. The law is now in effect as a public act.
In your child's school. State law (SB2909) now bans Illinois schools from using AI software to score or rate any part of a teacher's evaluation. A human administrator must make those calls. AI can still handle paperwork and scheduling, just not the judgment calls that affect a teacher's job or pay. This is now law.
For families and young people. Two state measures cleared both chambers and became law Friday, July 10. Under SB3341, any Illinois minor can now get birth control from a health care provider without a parent's permission. Separately, SB248 lets people convicted of felonies they committed before age 21 challenge their sentences more easily in court, by removing a procedural hurdle that previously blocked many filings.
For families with relatives in nursing homes. SB3967 is now law and requires the Illinois Department of Public Health to include more detail in its yearly nursing home inspection report: how many inspector positions exist, how many are actually filled, average job tenure, and where recruitment is falling short. If you have a parent or grandparent in a facility, this data will be publicly available starting with the next annual report.
Around DuPage County. The DuPage County Board adopted two resolutions Tuesday, July 7. Both hire outside law firms at up to $30,000 each, one (DT-R-0031-26) to handle highway-benefit agreement talks and one (DT-R-0030-26) for environmental legal questions tied to road and transit projects through November 2027. The county gets fully reimbursed on these costs, so no net expense to taxpayers. Both are now in effect.
Several other state bills became law this week on narrower topics: a new state-run investment pool for Illinois nonprofits (SB2968), a public education and treatment program for gambling addiction that requires casinos and sports betting sites to post help resources (SB118), and a change letting credit unions offer cryptocurrency and digital asset services if they choose (SB3113).
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Coming up next week:
ALS research funding extension. HR 8205 would keep federal money and fast-track drug approval programs running for ALS patients through 2031, giving research labs and universities a five-year funding horizon. The bill cleared committee and is awaiting a floor vote in the House; no firm vote date is set yet. If someone in your household has been affected by ALS, now is the time to contact your U.S. representative.
Maternal health research at NIH. HR 6238 directs the National Institutes of Health to fund studies on reducing deaths and injuries during pregnancy and childbirth. Results would go to hospitals and doctors nationwide, including Edward-Elmhurst Health (the regional hospital system serving Naperville). The bill cleared committee and is still awaiting a House floor vote.
Airport security upgrades. HR 8770, the SAFEGUARDS Act, is out of committee and headed to a House floor vote. It directs the $5.60 security fee already on your airline ticket toward $500 million per year for new baggage scanning systems and $250 million for checkpoint technology, affecting every traveler through O'Hare or Midway.
DHS community outreach reorganization. HR 7574 is in committee and would give the Department of Homeland Security 120 days to submit a restructuring plan for its community engagement office. It does not change services directly, but could affect how DHS communicates with local and immigrant community groups in the Chicago suburbs.
See what's up for a vote now · Find your representatives