Rental fee limits, detention center regulations among bills to pass
House
[April 10, 2026]
ByJenna Schweikert, Brenden Moore
SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois House on Wednesday approved legislation that
would prohibit the federal government from operating a new immigration
detention center within 1,500 feet of any home, school, day care center,
park, forest preserve, cemetery or place of worship.
House Bill 5024, sponsored by House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch,
D-Hillside, passed on a largely partisan 72-35-2 roll call and now moves
to the Illinois Senate for consideration. It was one of more than 50
bills advanced out of the chamber on Wednesday as the House begins
several days of floor action.
Welch’s district includes Broadview, the west suburban village of about
8,000 that’s home to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing
center that became a focal point for protesters during Operation Midway
Blitz last year. The facility wouldn’t be affected by the measure.
“The detention center in Broadview sits in the middle of a neighborhood
where there are homes nearby, children nearby, families nearby and a
church,” Welch said. “In what should be a place of peace and routine for
that community has too often become a place of fear, disruption, trauma
and instability.”
The legislation is not retroactive, meaning it would apply to future
facilities, but not the existing facility in Broadview or others
currently owned or leased by the federal government.
The bill is likely to run into legal hurdles. Generally, the federal
government is exempt from state and local zoning restrictions.
Nearly all Republicans opposed the legislation. Rep. Patrick Windhorst,
R-Metropolis, accused Democrats — who hold supermajorities in the
legislature — of “continually picking fights with the federal
government.”
“The result of this effort to not work together with the federal
government to resolve the issues, particularly related to immigration
and enforcement of our laws, has resulted in huge problems in our state
that the majority party attempts to blame the current presidential
administration for,” Windhorst said. “But we need to take a hard look at
what we’re doing as a state to make sure we’re fulfilling our
obligations to protect our citizens and to enforce the laws, including
the federal laws of our country.”
Welch said it was the other way around.
“The federal government’s picking a fight with us,” Welch said. “We have
state’s rights. We know our rights; we know our power. And I wake up
every single day saying, ‘Thank God I live in Illinois,’ because we’re
protecting the people of Illinois.”
Illinois already bans privately owned immigration detention centers. And
under the Illinois Way Forward Act, local governments are prohibited
from entering contracts with ICE to detain immigrants for the agency in
county jails.
Apartment rental fees
One measure passed this week is going to the governor’s desk. The House
voted 64-40 to pass House Bill 3564, which aims to crack down on the
types of fees landlords can charge their renters.
The bill prohibits landlords from charging fees of more than $50 for
applications, background checks, modifying a lease, making after-hours
maintenance requests, or pest abatement or removal, so long as the
renter didn’t cause the issue. It would also require all mandatory fees
to be listed on the first page of a lease, and tenants would not be
required to pay any fees that are not listed on that page.
“I’ve actually heard from several landlords in the negotiation process
of this bill where they have talked about certain bad actors in the
industry that are charging these absurd fees that don’t make sense,”
bill sponsor Rep. Nabeela Syed, D-Inverness, said. “They don’t make
sense to many landlords and they don’t make sense to many tenants. And
this is simply trying to remove the ability to put additional fees that
… are just causing undue burdens on individuals that are looking for
housing.”
Rep. Jeff Keicher, R-Sycamore, worried the bill would lead to higher
rents.
“Their natural inclination is going to be to build these costs into the
base rent and therefore, the tenants are going to be paying additional
higher rents,” he said.
If signed, the bill would take effect July 1.
[to top of second column]
|
Three men in Customs and Border Protection uniforms stand on the
roof of a Broadview immigration facility taking pictures of the
surrounding area on Oct. 9, 2025. (Capitol News Illinois photo by
Andrew Adams)
High school voter registration
House Bill 4339 would require high schools to offer eligible students
the opportunity to register to vote. Although the bill mandates this
action, it provides no consequences if a school does not offer that
opportunity.
The bill passed 77-24 with bipartisan support, although some Republicans
expressed concern about nonprofits that schools would partner with
encouraging students to support one political party over another.
Sponsor Rep. Kimberly du Buclet, D-Chicago, said the bill intends to
increase youth voter registration.
“This bill was inspired by the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. who said, and I
quote, ‘Senior high school graduation must be seen as a passage rite
into adulthood. On that graduation day or night, we must put a diploma
in one hand, symbolizing knowledge and wisdom, and put a voter
registration card in that other hand, symbolizing power and
responsibility,’ and that is the heart of this legislation,” du Buclet
said.
Minimum age of alleged child abuse perpetrators
Under current Illinois law, there is no given age that a minor can be
held liable for child abuse. The House voted 102-2 to pass House Bill
4539 seeks to make the minimum age for liability 14 — the age children
can legally stay home alone without supervision.
Bill sponsor Rep. Barbara Hernandez, D-Aurora, said the measure was
initiated by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services
because the department was investigating cases involving alleged
perpetrators as young as six.
The bill also seeks to provide guidance if an alleged perpetrator is
under 14, in which case the bill directs DCFS to identify if there is an
adult or agency whose disregard allowed maltreatment.
Blue envelope program
The Blue Envelope program would provide individuals diagnosed with
autism spectrum disorder with blue envelopes that identify them as
autistic and provide communication guidance to law enforcement.
Under House Bill 4472, sponsored by Rep. Michelle Mussman, D-Schaumberg,
the secretary of state would establish, design and administer the
voluntary program.
The office would also distribute the envelopes to state and local law
enforcement, fire departments and libraries.
Rep. Amy Briel, D-La Salle, spoke in support of the bill, recalling
experiences she’s had with law enforcement where they did not understand
the effects of her dyspraxia, a condition that affects motor skills and
coordination.
The bill passed unanimously.
Emmett Till Day
House Bill 4323 commemorates July 25 of each year as Emmett Till Day.
Till was born in Chicago on that day in 1941. In 1955, Till was
kidnapped and lynched while visiting family members in Mississippi and
his death became a catalyst in the civil rights movement.
The House passed a similar measure last year, but the bill was gutted in
the Senate on the final day of the session and turned into the state’s
fiscal year 2026 revenue plan.
This year’s version passed unanimously.
Capitol News Illinois is
a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government
coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily
by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.
 |
