The legislation was introduced in bill HB1659 on Feb. 1, when Rep. Michael Halpin (D-72) filed it with the House clerk.
According to the General Assembly website, the bill as introduced was designed to "amend the River Conservancy Districts Act".
After debate, the House passed the bill and it arrived in the Senate on March 20, and both chambers agreed to the final version of the legislation on May 21. The bill was sent to the governor and signed into law on Aug. 9. The law went into effect immediately.
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 HB1659.
| Date | Chamber | Action |
|---|---|---|
| 2/1/2019 | House | Filed with the Clerk by Rep. Michael Halpin |
| 2/4/2019 | House | First Reading |
| 2/4/2019 | House | Referred to Rules Committee |
| 2/13/2019 | House | Assigned to State Government Administration Committee |
| 2/20/2019 | House | Do Pass / Short Debate State Government Administration Committee; 009-002-000 |
| 2/21/2019 | House | Placed on Calendar 2nd Reading - Short Debate |
| 2/26/2019 | House | Second Reading - Short Debate |
| 2/26/2019 | House | Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading - Short Debate |
| 3/20/2019 | House | Third Reading - Short Debate - Passed 075-038-000 |
| 3/20/2019 | Senate | Arrive in Senate |
| 3/20/2019 | Senate | First Reading |
| 3/20/2019 | Senate | Placed on Calendar Order of First Reading |
| 3/20/2019 | Senate | Chief Senate Sponsor Sen. Neil Anderson |
| 3/20/2019 | Senate | Referred to Assignments |
| 4/23/2019 | Senate | Added as Alternate Chief Co-Sponsor Sen. Linda Holmes |
| 4/24/2019 | Senate | Assigned to Local Government |
| 5/1/2019 | Senate | Do Pass Local Government; 007-000-000 |
| 5/1/2019 | Senate | Placed on Calendar Order of 2nd Reading May 2, 2019 |
| 5/9/2019 | Senate | Second Reading |
| 5/9/2019 | Senate | Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading May 14, 2019 |
| 5/21/2019 | House | Passed Both Houses |
| 5/21/2019 | Senate | Third Reading - Passed; 053-001-000 |
| 6/19/2019 | House | Sent to the Governor |
| 8/9/2019 | House | Effective Date August 9, 2019 |
| 8/9/2019 | House | Public Act . . . . . . . . . 101-0241 |
| 8/9/2019 | House | Governor Approved |
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