by DCG
Lawmakers have to find a way to promote themselves in order to get re-elected. One way is to make new laws that they can tout in re-election fundraising efforts.
Or they find a way to bring in more “revenue” so they can give voters more free stuff, courtesy of taxpayers.
Along with legalized recreational marijuana, here are some of the over 250 laws set to take effect in Illinois in 2020, as reported by MyFoxChicago:
• Families will have more access to diaper changing tables when they’re on the go. A new law says any building with restrooms open to the public are required to have at least one “safe, sanitary and convenient” diaper changing table in each of the women’s and men’s restrooms.
• Every baby born in Illinois a jump start on saving for college. The Illinois treasurer is authorized to set up a program in 2020 giving every baby $50 in a college savings plan. The program will require roughly $10 million of taxpayer money, which will require either legislative approval or private donations.
• Graduate-student research assistants will be able to unionize and collectively bargain under an expanded state law.
• A new law requiring a gender-neutral option on drivers’ licenses.
• A new law requiring all single-occupancy public restrooms not specify a gender.
Read the whole MyFoxChicago story here.
WGN TV has the full list of the news laws, see it here. Some of the other laws WGN TV mentions:
• Minimum wage increases to $9.25/hour.
• Evidence of a person’s immigration status is inadmissible in a civil proceeding unless it is essential to prove an element of case or is voluntarily given by the person.
• Requires students to take three years of math to graduate high school but provides local school districts with flexibility over required classes to remove barriers to graduation for some students.
• Allows a minor of 12 years of age or older to give consent for health care services or counseling related to the prevention, rather than only for diagnosis and treatment, of STDs.
• Permits noncitizen students to be eligible for State financial aid at all institutions of higher education in the state of Illinois.
DCG