North Cook News

Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz introduced HB1374 in the Illinois House on Jan. 15, 2025, during the general assembly session 104, according to the Illinois General Assembly.

According to the Illinois General Assembly site, the legislature summarized the bill's official text as follows: "Amends the School Code. In provisions concerning health examinations and immunizations, requires questions on the safe storage of firearms in a child's home to be included as a part of each health examination. Requires the Department of Public Health to develop rules and appropriate revisions to the child health examination form to implement this requirement."

The following is our breakdown, based on the actual bill text, and may include interpretation to clarify its provisions.

In essence, this bill amends the Illinois School Code by adding requirements for health examinations to include questions about the safe storage of firearms in a child's home. The Department of Public Health is tasked with developing rules and making revisions to the child health examination form to incorporate this requirement. Specific questions to be asked during the examination include whether there are firearms in the child's home and if they are stored in a locked safe, inaccessible to any minor. This bill mandates these questions be part of health examinations to enhance child safety and awareness about firearm storage.

Gong-Gershowitz graduated from Indiana University in 1991 with a BA and again in 1996 from Loyola University School of Law at Chicago with a JD.

Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz is currently serving in the Illinois State House, representing the state's 17th House District. She replaced previous state representative Laura Fine in 2019.

Bills in Illinois follow a multi-step legislative process, beginning with introduction in either the House or Senate, followed by committee review, floor debates, and votes in both chambers before reaching the governor for approval or veto. The General Assembly operates on a biennial schedule, and while typically thousands of bills are introduced each session, only a fraction successfully pass through the process to become law.

You can read more about bills and other measures here.

Bill Number	Date Introduced	Short Description
HB1374	01/15/2025	Amends the School Code. In provisions concerning health examinations and immunizations, requires questions on the safe storage of firearms in a child's home to be included as a part of each health examination. Requires the Department of Public Health to develop rules and appropriate revisions to the child health examination form to implement this requirement.