It’s only April, yet we are at the midway point in the state legislative session, with about seven weeks remaining. Conservation bills and conservation advocacy were a highlight this past week. April 11 is an important deadline in the Illinois House, where bills must reach “third reading” status, receive a vote in their originating chamber, or be granted a special timeline exception to continue advancing through the legislative process. With that, our team has been hard at work this week rounding up roll call votes for many of the bills we’ve been tracking at this critical juncture in session.
Check out IEC’s Environmental Legislative Agenda for a comprehensive look at the legislation we’re most actively working on during this legislative session. Read on to learn more about the latest legislative movement on significant environmental bills:
Conservation Advocacy Makes a Difference.
Over 50 people came to Springfield for Conservation Lobby Day this week! We were thrilled to have conservation experts put aside their duties conducting prairie burns, invasive species removals, and scientific studies for just one day to travel to the State Capitol and share their expertise with lawmakers.
We’ve already heard from legislators that those advocates had a significant impact. Conversations with key legislators during the lobby day directly assisted in the passage of HB1605, a bill allowing property owners to enter into land protection agreements, also known as conservation easements, with indigenous tribes. That bill passed out of committee with a partisan roll call, but as a direct result of lobby day, House Republicans and Democrats voted for the bill by a wide margin. It passed with 97 votes on the House floor! Click here to tell your Senators you support this bill.
We were also thrilled to host teams working on expanding solar access for municipal-run utilities and rural electric cooperatives and to join the Illinois Stewardship Alliance as part of Food and Farms Advocacy Day.
Important Legislation Advances
Many plastic reduction bills moved out of the Illinois House and Senate. Starting with the production of plastic, a bill to halt plastic pellet pollution (HB3278) sponsored by Rep. Joyce Mason passed the House. HB1600, sponsored by Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz, which will fine third-party delivery apps if restaurants deliver undesired utensils, passed the Illinois House.
On the “forever chemicals” front, Rep. Abdelnasser Rashid moved bills to ensure our state targets the prevalence of PFAS. HB2955 creates a PFAS action plan through a Citizen Protection Committee, and HB2516 is pushing for the ban of PFAS products that have direct contact with food or skin.
Some of the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition priorities advanced early, including HB3650—the State Navigator Program to help connect Illinoisans with electrification opportunities sponsored by Rep. Camille Lilly and Sen. Robert Peters, as well as the Thermal Energy Networks and Jobs Act (HB3609) sponsored by Rep. Ann Williams and Sen. Robert Peters (SB2258). Click here to send lawmakers a note supporting these bills.
In conservation, Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth and Rep. Maurice West advanced HB1605, a bill granting tribes the ability to enter into land protection agreements with the property owners to oversee the care and stewardship of important sites. HB2726 by Rep. Anna Moeller adds rewilding as an IDNR conservation strategy to prioritize returning developed sites to nature. Additional notable bills moved, including HB3760 to protect gray foxes and HB1367 overseeing township open space.
We updated language to the Climate Displacement Task Force (SB1859) with Sen. Graciela Guzmán at the request of the Governor’s office to ensure we included agencies that can access our water and road infrastructure in the event of climate-driven population displacement.
SB1723, legislation sponsored by Sen. Paul Faraci that will ban carbon capture and sequestration in the area of the Mahomet Aquifer passed the Illinois Senate, but more negotiations may be required in the House to keep this proposal as strong and proactive as we’d like to see.
Delayed Priorities
Unfortunately, both SB1531, which bans foam foodware, and SB1872, which bans plastic bags, were delayed because of time constraints this week and will receive an extension. Click here to contact your legislators in support of these plastic reduction bills. Wetlands protections legislation (SB2401) is also being held for discussion. Click here to send a note of support for protecting our wetlands. During the two-week Senate break, we’ll need all hands on deck to ensure lawmakers know this is a priority when they return.
Climate progress on our important energy and transportation priorities will likely wait until the end of May. Join us for Climate Action Lobby Day on May 21 to help us ensure these proposals remain strong on climate emissions reductions. Click here to register!
IEC in DC
Last week, our new Sr. Policy Manager, Cate Caldwell, and our Chief of Staff, Chelsea Biggs, joined fellow advocates with the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) for a fly-in to Washington, D.C. to meet with the Illinois congressional delegation and their staff members. Our team primarily focused on defending the historic climate and clean energy provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), resisting the Trump administration’s sweeping executive actions to deregulate environmental protections, and advocating for strong opposition to the SAVE Act and related attacks on voting rights.
