North Cook News

Martin J. Moylan introduced HB2780 in the Illinois House on Feb. 5, 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 General Provisions Article of the Illinois Pension Code. With regard to the 5 State-funded retirement systems, provides that the following are forbidden entities for purposes of investment and certain other transactions: Hamas; any company or entity that is wholly or partially managed or controlled by Hamas; any company identified by the Office of Foreign Assets Control in the United States Department of the Treasury as sponsoring terrorist activities in conjunction with Hamas or under specified regulations pertaining to terrorism sanctions; any company that has been fined, penalized, or sanctioned by the Office of Foreign Assets Control in the United States Department of the Treasury for any violation of any United States rules and restrictions relating to Hamas that occurred at any time following the effective date of the amendatory Act; or any company that has business operations that involve contracts with or the provision of supplies or services to Hamas, companies in which Hamas has any direct or indirect equity share, or consortiums or projects commissioned by Hamas. Provides that a retirement system shall not transfer or disburse funds to, deposit into, acquire any bonds or commercial paper from, or otherwise loan to or invest in any entity unless a certifying company certifies to the retirement system that: (1) with respect to investments in a publicly traded company, the certifying company has relied on information provided by an independent researching firm that specializes in global security risk; and (2) 100% of the retirement system's assets for which the certifying company provides services or advice are not and have not been invested or reinvested in any forbidden entity at any time after 4 months after the effective date of the amendatory Act. Requires the Illinois Investment Policy Board to make its best efforts to identify all Hamas-restricted companies and include those companies in the list of restricted companies for purposes of investment distributed to each retirement system and the Illinois State Board of Investment. Makes conforming changes."

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

In essence, the bill amends the Illinois Pension Code to prohibit five state-funded retirement systems from investing in entities associated with Hamas, as Hamas is recognized by the U.S. as a terrorist organization. Forbidden entities under the bill include Hamas, any companies managed or controlled by Hamas, and firms sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control for violations related to Hamas. Retirement systems are barred from engaging in financial transactions with these entities unless verified by a certifying company. The Illinois Investment Policy Board must identify and list restricted companies linked to Hamas to ensure compliance. This act becomes effective four months after its enactment.

Martin J. Moylan has proposed another five bills since the beginning of the 104th session.

Martin J. Moylan is currently serving in the Illinois State House, representing the state's 55th House District. He replaced previous state representative Rosemary Mulligan in 2013.

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
HB2780	02/05/2025	Amends the General Provisions Article of the Illinois Pension Code. With regard to the 5 State-funded retirement systems, provides that the following are forbidden entities for purposes of investment and certain other transactions: Hamas; any company or entity that is wholly or partially managed or controlled by Hamas; any company identified by the Office of Foreign Assets Control in the United States Department of the Treasury as sponsoring terrorist activities in conjunction with Hamas or under specified regulations pertaining to terrorism sanctions; any company that has been fined, penalized, or sanctioned by the Office of Foreign Assets Control in the United States Department of the Treasury for any violation of any United States rules and restrictions relating to Hamas that occurred at any time following the effective date of the amendatory Act; or any company that has business operations that involve contracts with or the provision of supplies or services to Hamas, companies in which Hamas has any direct or indirect equity share, or consortiums or projects commissioned by Hamas. Provides that a retirement system shall not transfer or disburse funds to, deposit into, acquire any bonds or commercial paper from, or otherwise loan to or invest in any entity unless a certifying company certifies to the retirement system that: (1) with respect to investments in a publicly traded company, the certifying company has relied on information provided by an independent researching firm that specializes in global security risk; and (2) 100% of the retirement system's assets for which the certifying company provides services or advice are not and have not been invested or reinvested in any forbidden entity at any time after 4 months after the effective date of the amendatory Act. Requires the Illinois Investment Policy Board to make its best efforts to identify all Hamas-restricted companies and include those companies in the list of restricted companies for purposes of investment distributed to each retirement system and the Illinois State Board of Investment. Makes conforming changes.
HB2751	02/05/2025	Amends the Illinois Vehicle Code. Provides that if a vehicle is displayed for sale or for transfer of ownership with a vehicle identification number that has been destroyed, removed, covered, altered, or defaced, its removal by a towing service may be authorized by a law enforcement agency having jurisdiction. Prohibits a motor vehicle dealer or person acting as a motor vehicle dealer from parking a motor vehicle for the primary purpose of displaying the vehicle for sale or for transfer of ownership on: (1) a public street or highway; (2) a public parking lot; (3) any other public property; or (4) any private property if the public may lawfully drive a motor vehicle on the property. Creates the Unlicensed Motor Vehicle Dealer Enforcement Task Force to: (1) meet at least quarterly to review unlicensed motor vehicle dealer enforcement activities in the State; and (2) submit a report to the Secretary of State at least quarterly that contains the status of the Task Force's findings and provide a copy of the report to the General Assembly. Allows the license of a person to be denied, revoked, or suspended if the licensee has offered for private sale a motor vehicle in the licensee's or exhibitor's inventory. Increases the administrative penalties for violation of certain provisions from $50 per violation to not less than $1,000 and no more than $3,000 per violation. Provides that if the Secretary of State has reasonable cause to believe from information furnished to the Secretary or from an investigation made by a Secretary of State Police that a person is engaged in a regulated business without being licensed as required by law, the Secretary shall immediately issue and serve on the person a cease and desist order requiring the person to immediately cease and desist from further engaging in the business and shall notify the person that the person has the right to contest the cease and desist order in proceedings before the Secretary of State's Department of Administrative Hearings and that penalties may be imposed.
HB2938	02/05/2025	Appropriates $90,000,000 to the Department of Transportation for various passenger rail services. Effective July 1, 2025.
HB2675	02/04/2025	Amends the Illinois Vehicle Code. Provides that the authority having maintenance jurisdiction over publicly owned paved bicycle trails in the State shall erect permanent regulatory or warning signage alerting pedestrians or cyclists of highway crossings, unless the intersection where the trail crosses the highway is controlled by an official traffic control device or sign. Provides that if the authority having maintenance jurisdiction over publicly owned bicycle trails has actual knowledge of an emergency or safety hazard that creates a dangerous condition on a publicly owned paved bicycle trail, the authority shall take reasonable steps to erect temporary signage or other warning markers, including, but not limited to, cones, barricades, or drums, alerting pedestrians or cyclists of the dangerous condition. Makes other changes. Effective immediately.
HB2684	02/04/2025	Amends the Chicago Firefighter Article of the Illinois Pension Code. Provides that the Retirement Systems Reciprocal Act (Article 20 of the Code) is adopted and made a part of the Chicago Firefighter Article, but only with respect to a person who, on or after the effective date of the amendatory Act, is entitled under the Chicago Firefighter Article to begin receiving a retirement annuity or survivor's annuity and who elects to proceed under the Retirement Systems Reciprocal Act. Amends the State Mandates Act to require implementation without reimbursement by the State.
HB1803	01/27/2025	Amends the Illinois Income Tax Act. Creates an income tax credit for taxpayers who employ qualified employees. Provides that the term "qualified employee" means an individual who (i) is employed by the taxpayer as an engineer and (ii) graduated from an engineering program at an accredited institution of higher learning with a Bachelor's degree or higher within the 5 years immediately preceding the taxable year. Provides that the credit shall be equal to (i) 10% of the compensation paid by the taxpayer during the taxable year to qualified employees who graduated from an engineering program at an accredited institution of higher learning in Illinois or (ii) 5% of the compensation paid by the taxpayer during the taxable year to qualified employees who graduated from an engineering program an accredited institution of higher learning not located in Illinois. Effective immediately.
HB1713	01/24/2025	Amends the Chicago School District Article of the School Code. Provides that any appointments to the Chicago Board of Education made by the Mayor of the City of Chicago shall be made with the advice and consent of the Chicago City Council. Effective immediately.