The legislation was introduced in bill HB840 on Jan. 23, when Rep. Joyce Mason (D-61) filed it with the House clerk.
According to the General Assembly website, the bill as introduced was designed to "amend the Public Utilities Act".
After debate, the House passed the bill on April 11 and it arrived in the Senate on April 12, and both chambers agreed to the final version of the legislation on May 16. The bill was sent to the governor and signed into law on July 12. The law is scheduled to go into effect on Jan. 1, 2020.
Illinois legislature enacts laws through bills that can be introduced in either the state House of Representatives or the state Senate. Either chamber of the legislature can reject or amend a bill before it becomes law. Legislators sometimes sponsor "shell bills" devoid of substantive provisions, introduced with the intention of being amended later to include actual legislation.
The following table shows the full history of actions on HB840.
| Date | Chamber | Action |
|---|---|---|
| 1/23/2019 | House | Filed with the Clerk by Rep. Joyce Mason |
| 1/28/2019 | House | First Reading |
| 1/28/2019 | House | Referred to Rules Committee |
| 2/5/2019 | House | Assigned to Energy & Environment Committee |
| 3/26/2019 | House | Do Pass / Short Debate Energy & Environment Committee; 019-012-000 |
| 3/29/2019 | House | House Floor Amendment No. 1 Filed with Clerk by Rep. Joyce Mason |
| 3/29/2019 | House | House Floor Amendment No. 1 Referred to Rules Committee |
| 3/29/2019 | House | Placed on Calendar 2nd Reading - Short Debate |
| 4/1/2019 | House | State Mandates Fiscal Note Requested by Rep. Tom Demmer |
| 4/1/2019 | House | Fiscal Note Requested by Rep. Tom Demmer |
| 4/2/2019 | House | House Floor Amendment No. 1 Rules Refers to Energy & Environment Committee |
| 4/5/2019 | House | House Floor Amendment No. 1 Fiscal Note Filed as Amended |
| 4/9/2019 | House | House Floor Amendment No. 2 Referred to Rules Committee |
| 4/9/2019 | House | House Floor Amendment No. 2 Filed with Clerk by Rep. Joyce Mason |
| 4/9/2019 | House | House Floor Amendment No. 1 Recommends Be Adopted Energy & Environment Committee; 026-000-000 |
| 4/10/2019 | House | House Floor Amendment No. 1 Adopted |
| 4/10/2019 | House | Second Reading - Short Debate |
| 4/10/2019 | House | Added Chief Co-Sponsor Rep. Carol Ammons |
| 4/10/2019 | House | Held on Calendar Order of Second Reading - Short Debate |
| 4/10/2019 | House | State Mandates Fiscal Note Requested - Withdrawn by Rep. Tom Demmer |
| 4/10/2019 | House | Fiscal Note Requested - Withdrawn by Rep. Tom Demmer |
| 4/10/2019 | House | House Floor Amendment No. 2 Rules Refers to Energy & Environment Committee |
| 4/11/2019 | House | State Mandates Fiscal Note Filed |
| 4/11/2019 | House | House Floor Amendment No. 1 Tabled |
| 4/11/2019 | House | House Floor Amendment No. 1 Motion to Table Amendment - Prevailed |
| 4/11/2019 | House | House Floor Amendment No. 2 Adopted |
| 4/11/2019 | House | House Floor Amendment No. 1 Motion Filed to Table Rep. Joyce Mason |
| 4/11/2019 | House | House Floor Amendment No. 2 Recommends Be Adopted Energy & Environment Committee; 029-000-000 |
| 4/11/2019 | House | Third Reading - Short Debate - Passed 073-040-000 |
| 4/11/2019 | House | Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading - Short Debate |
| 4/11/2019 | House | Added Co-Sponsor Rep. Robyn Gabel |
| 4/12/2019 | Senate | Arrive in Senate |
| 4/12/2019 | Senate | First Reading |
| 4/12/2019 | Senate | Placed on Calendar Order of First Reading |
| 4/12/2019 | Senate | Chief Senate Sponsor Sen. Melinda Bush |
| 4/12/2019 | Senate | Referred to Assignments |
| 4/24/2019 | Senate | Assigned to Energy and Public Utilities |
| 5/2/2019 | Senate | Placed on Calendar Order of 2nd Reading May 7, 2019 |
| 5/2/2019 | Senate | Do Pass Energy and Public Utilities; 019-000-000 |
| 5/9/2019 | Senate | Second Reading |
| 5/9/2019 | Senate | Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading May 14, 2019 |
| 5/16/2019 | House | Passed Both Houses |
| 5/16/2019 | Senate | Third Reading - Passed; 055-000-000 |
| 6/14/2019 | House | Sent to the Governor |
| 7/12/2019 | House | Effective Date January 1, 2020 |
| 7/12/2019 | House | Governor Approved |
| 7/12/2019 | House | Public Act . . . . . . . . . 101-0044 |
Alerts Sign-up